"You grew up watching me" - Michael Jordan once shut down 2 rookies trash-talking him during his last stint in NBA

In an Andscape article by Jerry Bembry, an interesting back-and-forth between Michael Jordan and two Denver Nuggets rookies was highlighted. While playing for the Washington Wizards, Jordan faced some trash talk from the rookies whenever he missed a shot. They even went on to mention his shoes and suggest that he "take them ugly a** shoes off."

Despite his age at the time, Michael Jordan, known for his competitive nature, didn't back down and retaliated with his own smack talk during the game.

"Hold on now, you little b**ch," Jordan said. "You grew up watching me, I didn't grow up watching you."

For the rest of the night, Michael Jordan was a man possessed, similar to how he usually was when he was playing for the Chicago Bulls at the prime of his career.

The article mentioned that Jordan went on to drop 10 of his 25 points in the crucial fourth quarter. When it was time to silence his doubters and haters, Michael Jordan delivered on that end.

Following the game, Jordan talked about all the trash-talking that transpired and gave a confident summary of what happened.

"At the end of the day, winning can shut up a lot of people," Jordan said. "And once we got the lead, some of the conversation disappeared."

In his two seasons with the Washington Wizards, the NBA legend averaged 21.2 points per game (43.1% shooting, including 24.1% from 3-point range) and 5.9 rebounds.

Michael Jordan's comments on trash-talking in the NBA

Regarded as a player that doesn't back down from any form of challenge or competition, Michael Jordan backs up his competitiveness by talking trash.

From Jordan's perspective, however, he isn't fond of players that can easily talk trash when their team is in the lead but would resume going silent when the favor isn't on their end.

"Let's see if all that trash talking starts when it's 0-0, instead of a 5-6 lead," Jordan said. "That's where it starts. That's the sign of a good man, if he can talk shit when it's even score. Or talk s**t when you're behind. When you're ahead, it's easy to talk."

The line from the Bulls' superstar has become a popular line ever since it was included in ESPN's "The Last Dance" documentary.

The famous Jordan line happened when the Bulls were in the middle of a 1998 playoff series against the Charlotte Hornets. Interestingly enough, his former Bulls teammate B.J. Armstrong talked trash after he won Game 2 for the Hornets.

The Chicago Bulls would win the series in five games.