Even though Michael Jordan is already considered one of the greatest of all time, he still likes to prove it on occasion.
At one of Jordan’s summer camps in 2006, the six-time NBA champion decided then-high schooler, now Milwaukee Bucks shooting guard O.J. Mayo was in dire need of a reminder of just how great he could be. In an interview to promote the release of NBA 2K14, Jordan told Larry Brown Sports about his run-in with Mayo — then considered the top high school prospect in the country.
Once word got out, Bucks TV asked Mayo, who remembered it all too well.
“I happened to be the only high school player [at the camp],” Mayo said. “It was mainly freshmen in college. So [Jordan] came on the court and he guarded me, so instantly I thought, ‘Man, he must think I’m not the strong link over here.’
“I got a few buckets and I think the campers knew I was only a high school kid, so they got rowdy a little bit. We got a little bit of jawing. We played two games — it was a team game. I think we split one and one.
“And then he said ‘OK, now let me handle my business.’ And he looked me in my face and I said ‘whatchu mean?'”
That was when Jordan cleared the gym of all the campers so only the players and some staff remained. Mayo should have thanked him for that, because what the 42-year-old Jordan did to him in the next few games was so bad, the video needed a seven-year moratorium before it got out. Jordan drained jumper after fadeaway after runner with Mayo right on top of him.
“He was jawing a little bit and really getting into me defensively,” Mayo recalls. “He was backing me down and said, ‘You better scream for mama. Mama, mama!’”
Mayo remembers Jordan hitting a shot, turning to him and saying, “‘Fella, let me tell you something. You may be the best high school player in the world, but I’m the greatest ever. Don’t you ever disrespect the great like that!'”
Check out the video below of Jordan showing Mayo what’s what.
