Facing Michael Jordan during the Bulls dynasty era was a task. And only a very few could excel at it. Especially at the time when the league had players Patrick Ewing, Isiah Thomas, Hakeem Olajuwon, and others. But none could stop MJ and his Bulls to win three-peat twice. And one such opponent explained the thought process where he believed guarding Steve Kerr was challenging.

“When I checked in the game to guard Michael, I always looked at it like this I got nothing to lose.” Tim Legler, on a podcast, explained that facing His Airness did not make him nervous. “I said no, not at all because he’s not gonna do anything to me he hasn’t done to much better players. So I’m not worried about it all. If he goes 0 for three in the seven minutes, I guard him, guess what? I might get a standing ovation checking out of the game.”

At the time, during the second three-peat of Michael Jordan, Legler was with the Washington team. The player-turned-analyst also explained the issue of guarding other players in the Chicago franchise. “My issue would be if I’m going head-to-head with Steve Kerr, he bust me up for 15 now I got a problem now.” So conceding more points to MJ wasn’t a problem, but letting the other players on the team score was a problem for Legler.

During the interaction on CHGO Sports, the 57-year-old also spoke about the Eastern Conference first-round game. It’s the only playoff appearance Legler has against Michael Jordan. Unsurprisingly, the Bulls sealed a sweep with a 3-0 win and MJ had an astonishing average of 37.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5.3 assists. In Game 2, the 6x NBA Champion scored 55 points. Interestingly, it was 50% of the team’s total (109).

In that series, Kerr was not a starter. Still, he scored 13 points off the bench in Game 1. So, Legler called facing Michael Jordan an “opportunity” rather than feeling intimidated by the aura. “On that given night, they happen to miss a few shots while you’re guarding them, then it’s a win-win.” This was indirect praise for MJ, and previously, the former Warriors player picked the Bulls legend as his undisputed number one.

Not the only time Legler praised Michael Jordan

During the conversation with JJ Redick’s ‘The Old Man and The Three’ podcast, the question of GOAT arose. “So for me, when that conversation-even back then-was a given. No, this[Jordan] is the greatest player of all time.” Legler only played 7 games against Michael Jordan, but they were enough for him to speak about MJ’s greatness.

“He’s the only guy I ever played against in my life that never took his foot off the gas. As like, I wanna annihilate what’s in front of me every time I touch the ball.” The Sirius XM NBA Radio co-host also explained that MJ did not give an inch to his opponents. “The mental and physical pressure he put on you was unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”

Similarly, another opponent, Dominique Wilkins, who faced Michael Jordan 48 times, called him “possessed.” “And I used to say to myself, I got to go work tonight, Jesus is coming you know, and so he and I you know we had so much respect.” Against Wilkins, the 6x Finals MVP had an average of 31.8 points, and against Legler 36 points. After 15 seasons in the league, his average was 30.1 points when he retired. That’s why Legler knew MJ would score any given day, so he wanted to contain other Bulls stars.