The Chicago Bulls of the 1990s were arguably the greatest team to ever play in the NBA. Spearheaded by the talents of Michael Jordan, the team achieved great success as they won 6 championships in 8 years. Jordan along with Dennis Rodman and Scottie Pippen became one of the greatest trios in NBA history as the Bulls dominated an entire era of basketball. During this time, the franchise became a household name across the world, with MJ’s popularity seeing a similar trajectory.

The Jordan brand’s immense success is a clear reflection of that, with the company having an estimated net worth of $10 billion today. Although the legend of MJ continues to grow every year, not many understand the influence the legend had 30 years ago. While the Netflix documentary, The Last Dance, put things into perspective for newer audiences, it still was unable to grasp the hype that this man brought. This unrivaled stardom was recently revived by a 9x NBA champion as he reminisced about the GOAT’s massive influence.

9x NBA champion speaks of unrivaled stardom of Michael Jordan

Before Steve Kerr became the reputed coach of the Golden State Warriors, the Lebanese-born American was part of MJ’s locker room for 5 years. Suiting up for the Bulls between 1993-98, the eccentric guard was quite close to the legend as he shared a “bizarre” tale involving him. He spoke of the tale in Jordan’s biography, There’s No Next, by Sam Smith.

The 9x champion recalled the effect of Jordan’s popularity as he put his unrivaled stardom into words, stating, “To watch the mayhem that would ensue when he would walk into a place was bizarre and thrilling and weird.”

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Recounting one such experience in Phoenix, Kerr reminisced, “We once went to a place in Phoenix, a pool house. It was a Tuesday night, and nobody was there.” Taking place in a time without the internet, Steve recalls how swiftly the word of mouth spread as within an hour the bar was filled with people. Speaking of it, he stated, “It was bizarre. But really cool at the same time. Like, ‘Hey, I’m kind part of this‘”.

Kerr and Jordan’s infamous bust-up

One of the few highlights of Netflix’s The Last Dance was when Michael Jordan and Steve Kerr were in an altercation during practice. Stemming from the former’s constant verbal abuse, the scuffle left the current GSW coach with a black eye as he tried to stand up against MJ.

Speaking of it during the docuseries, Kerr stated. “I knew that if we were in an actual fight, he could actually probably kill me if he wanted to. […] It was more just I’m going to stand up for myself.” Although forced to “bail” Michael out a few years later, the altercation seemed to have brought the two together as they went on to win 5 championships together.