National Basketball Association

Cruel or Calculated?

Updated Jul. 17, 2020 6:14 p.m. ET

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Before the release of The Last Dance docuseries, Michael Jordan expressed concern, saying that the 10-part documentary would make him look like a "horrible guy."

Now, we see why.

Thursday, Sam Smith, author of the 1992 best-seller, The Jordan Rules: The Inside Story of a Turbulent Season with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, shared a story about Michael Jordan and former Chicago Bulls teammate Horace Grant on the Tolbert, Krueger and Brooks podcast, a story that shocked many.

Said Smith: “Players would come to me over the years and say, ‘You know what he did? He took Horace’s food away on the plane because Horace had a bad game.' [Michael] told the stewardesses, ‘Don’t feed him. He doesn’t deserve to eat.'”

Even though this morsel wasn't actually revealed on The Last Dance, its release continues to spark conversation regarding Jordan and the Bulls, and Jordan's brand of leadership has been the topic of discussion for several weeks.

It's well-known that Jordan was maniacal in his approach to the game, pushing his teammates to the brink in order to draw out the best in them. But at times, Jordan's competitive drive potentially pushed him over the line.

He punched teammates Will Perdue and Steve Kerr in separate practices.

And his tormenting of teammate Scott Burrell has become legendary.

However, Jordan did lead the Bulls to six NBA titles during the 1990s.

Does that mean his leadership tactics, even if aggressive, were justified? Or, were they flat cruel?

Skip Bayless, who covered the Bulls in the 90s, said that Jordan motivated through fear, which led to a 6-0 record in the Finals for the Bulls.

"This is the way he led. This is like General Patton led. This is where you let nobody beneath you see any sign of weakness. You're going to show them that nobody is going to challenge you."

Of course, comparisons are always drawn between Jordan and LeBron James, which Stephen A. Smith did on Friday morning.

"There were no concession speeches coming from MJ. As a matter of fact he didn't give a damn about friendship or getting along either. He was about the final result. It was about winning. You either won or he was going to have a major, major attitude if you lost."

While Bayless and Smith were understanding of Jordan's leadership methods, Shannon Sharpe was not.

In fact, when referencing the Horace Grant situation, Sharpe said on Thursday that if he were Grant, him and Jordan would have had a squabble.

"Michael said he had a feeling that this documentary would have people look at him in a negative light ... Mike would have had to whip me or I'm going to whip him ... You think because you Michael Jordan that you can say don't feed me? I'm not a child."

After the news surfaced,  Sharpe said Grant called him on Thursday afternoon to confirm the story.

"He said, 'Sharpe, I'm telling you 100 percent, that did happen. The flight attendants were serving us and [Jordan] touches the flight attendant and says, 'He doesn't eat because he played like poop.' ... [Grant] said there are several times that he and Mike almost came to blows and he told me that it started from the day he got there, that Mike started what we would term 'bullying.'"

Quite the response from Horace Grant.

Just for good measure, Thursday represented the 25th anniversary of Grant getting a semblance of revenge against Jordan back in the 90s as a member of the Orlando Magic.

Jordan and The Last Dance sure have brought us a lot of joy over the past three weeks.

We're ready for more.

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