Michael Jordan 's competitive fire comprised a significant part of his mythical lore. The man was infamous for being so ruthless and uncompromising in his pursuit of recognition as the NBA's top dog that anyone who dared to challenge him for that title was considered an enemy.
Unfortunately, that proved to be tricky during MJ's time on the Dream Team, as he had to be teammates with players he had just competed against in the NBA Finals. In 1991, he toppled Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers to win his first-ever NBA title. The following season, he took down Clyde Drexler and the Portland Trail Blazers for his second straight ring.
However, with the Dream Team targeting gold at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, His Airness was left with no choice but to play nice with everyone, including Glide, a player many thought was near him in the rankings for best shooting guard in the NBA.
Even though Drexler's numbers fell way short of Jordan's, they shared similar styles of play. A 6'7" wingman who played college ball at Houston with Hakeem Olajuwon, Drexler soared through the air with so much grace and smoothness that it seemed like he was gliding to the rim, thus earning him his famous nickname.
However, to Jordan, hearing Drexler's name being named in the same sentence as his was akin to slander. And Dream Team center Patrick Ewing knew it was only a matter of time before MJ tried to get under Drexler's skin.
"Clyde is a great guy. He's a great competitor. But Michael… Anybody Michael viewed, or people viewed, as someone close to Michael," Ewing explained. "He tried to do everything he could to demoralize them or show them that he was number one."
In typical Jordan fashion, he used his sharp tongue to needle Drexler. It wasn't anything humiliating or earthshaking. Just a jab here and there, but the impact was so profound that there were times when Drexler felt like he didn't belong on the same court as the other legends on the Dream Team.
"He played those mind games with guys. I think both he and Charles were trying to play mind games with Clyde," Ewing added.
In fact, he got so flustered that he once went to practice wearing two left sneakers. As the story goes, the Dream Team had a lot of gear delivered, and amidst the rush, Clyde picked up two left shoes. However, aware that if word of his blunder got out to his teammates, especially Mike, he wouldn't hear the end of it, so he chose to play with those shoes in practice.
"Clyde grabbed two left shoes, but he didn't want to say anything, so he went through practice with two left shoes," Dream Team forward Chris Mullin shared. "Until someone actually noticed and I can remember Michael saying, 'That's kinda' why you guys lost to us.'"
Jordan was undoubtedly an equal-opportunity attacker. It didn't matter if the man wore the same uniform as him; if the opportunity to put him down a peg or two presented itself, he never hesitated to take it.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Jul 16, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
