Brian McKnight recalls seeing Michael Jordan humiliate NBA stars 'like they were his children: 'You think I've been gone? I'm still the king'
There have been a ton of Michael Jordan documentaries out there, but there are still many untold stories about the so-called GOAT. And that’s only within the NBA. But in reality, even some famous people outside the basketball world also have their own MJ stories. One of them is award-winning R&B singer Brian McKnight.
A real Bulls fan
Unlike other Jordan fans who began following him after winning the NBA titles, McKnight was no bandwagon, as he had been a real Chicago Bulls fan even when the team was losing more than it was winning. And even though he never played professionally, McKnight loves basketball, and he can actually ball.
Backing down from MJ
Sometime in the 90s, when Jordan was filming Space Jam, McKnight crossed paths with MJ in Burbank. According to the musician, the place had a basketball gym, and “all the guys in the league were flying here to work out” with Jordan.
So at one point, McKnight was there “shooting around” and was thinking
“I wanna play with these guys.” As confident as he is about his game,
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McKnight suddenly backed down after seeing how MJ “treated everybody” who failed to deliver… and yes, those “who” were real “NBA stars.”
“It’s the only time I’ve ever back down from something because I watched how he [Jordan] treated everybody who was on his team who didn’t make a shot,” McKnight told Fair Game in 2019. “[He treated them] Like they were his children [laughter]… Listen, it wasn’t like we’re talkin’ about a couple of college guys these were NBA stars that were in there.”
When asked to recall what the things Jordan was telling them were, McKnight said he was basically reminding them that he might have been gone for a while, referring to his one-season hiatus after his father died, but he’s “still the king.”
“He would make a shot and he said, ‘this isn’t television. I’m not gonna make it a little less colorful. This is real! This is the real thing right here. You think I’ve been gone? I’m still the king, I’m still the man!,” he recounted.
Indeed, McKnight’s experience was just one of the many stories entailing the extreme competitiveness of Jordan, which could be triggered anytime and anywhere. And after McKnight witnessed it right before his own eyes, it’s safe to say that he made the right decision to save himself from humiliation.
