The Last Dance: What we learned from the final episodes

4. Mike’s “hit list”

It didn’t take much to piss Michael Jordan off.

Something so simple as outplaying him on any given night could be enough to incite a vengeance ploy within him towards you, but as we’ve come to realize throughout The Last Dance, his personal vendettas stretched far beyond the court of play.

There were a plethora of ways to get under his skin and deem yourself worthy enough to carve your name out on his “hit list.” But once you did, you were a marked man for life.

Just ask George Karl. His Seattle SuperSonics were set to face off with Chicago in the 1996 NBA Finals, and prior to the initial game of the tilt, Jordan and Karl happened upon each other at a local restaurant. The two had a storied history between them, one that dated back to Jordan’s playing days at the University of North Carolina, of which Karl was an alum.

But that was nowhere near the forefront of Karl’s mind that night, and, seeing Jordan as his forthcoming impediment foe, Karl withheld any cordial conversational offerings, walking past Jordan and his entourage on the way to his own seat at the establishment.

Well Jordan didn’t take too kindly to his neglect, and six 20+ point outings later, he could rest assured that Karl would never resist directing a friendly “hi” his way again.

So if failing to speak was enough to make No. 23 want to flat-out destroy you, then just imagine what fate was incumbent upon those who dared to hurl verbal taunts his way.

Few were bold enough. But all who ran the risk reaped exactly what they sowed.

Reggie Miller and the Indiana Pacers. The “Bad Boy” Detroit Pistons (although that one did take some time). Magic Johnson and Larry Bird at the 1992 “Dream Team” intersquad practices. LaBradford Smith. Nick Anderson. Gary Payton. Several of his OWN teammates. And a slew of others whose words never even saw the light of day after Mike was done with them.

Karl Malone even found himself with an X next to his name after besting Jordan for the Most Valuable Player award in ’97.

And then there’s Malone’s teammate – Bryon Russell.

Everyone remembers “The Shot,” Jordan’s famed step-back jay against Russell as time expired in Game 6 of the 1998 Finals. That play became etched forever in Jordan’s career as his crowing pinnacle moment, but it’s also the most widely recognized snapshot of Russell’s NBA endeavors as well, and the motion picture-esque replay of Russell scrambling back from stumbled embarrassment to try and contest Jordan’s shot has sickened Jazz fans to this day.

But Russell brought in upon himself – and did so long before he became the scapegoat for Utah’s basketball infamy.

Jordan’s first encounter with Russell came in 1994 during his baseball excursion, and he recalled the young hothead lambasting his decision to venture towards the diamond upon visiting a Jazz practice during the time. He also remembers Russell telling him flat out “I can guard you.”

That was Russell’s first mistake. His second: continuing the chastisement once Jordan announced his return to basketball, and that led to two more blunders: both coming while guarding Jordan, and both ending up in game-winning sequences for the Bulls.

The first – Game 1 of the ’97 Finals. And we all know the second.

Now, Russell caught the harshest brunt of reactionary dismemberment for trash-talking Jordan.

But he, along with the rest of his league opponents came to know one undeniable fact when facing No. 23: his memory was elephant-like, and if you talked s***, you got hit, and hit hard.