“I Told You Shut Your A** Up”: When Michael Jordan Taught a Rookie Kevin Garnett a Harsh Lesson

The air around Michael Jordan was always different. People, including his teammates, were afraid of him. So, when a rookie comes and talks trash to the NBA legend, you know it’s not going to end well.

Thankfully, the rookie in question had himself a savior.

When Michael Jordan stopped a trash talk segment by using just his presence

It was a matchup between the Chicago Bulls and the Minnesota Timberwolves on February 27, 1996. The Bulls were leading, 82-76, going into the fourth quarter, and wound up winning, 120-99.

This particular story includes Minnesota teammates Kevin Garnett and Isaiah Rider. The internet has a sliced up version of two separate interviews of Garnett and Rider telling the same story about the 1996 game against Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.

Apparently, Rider was having a splendid game, and Garnett, a rookie at the time, was hyping him up. Garnett consistently kept yelling at Garnett to having a go at MJ. He said things like, “Man, keeping going at his a**, serve him, he can’t guard you. Keep killing him, keep killing him, straight up, you’re having a good game.”

Rider always stayed quiet against Jordan. So, in that moment, he did his best to calm Garnett down, but he kept going. “I don’t care. Keep going at him”, KG continued.

Knowing he couldn’t stop KG from inviting MJ’s wrath, Rider went with a different strategy. He decided to just tell Jordan that KG was a rookie and didn’t know any better. He said, “Mike, he don’t know the rules of the game, man, he’s just a young pup.”

Then KG realized his mistake and apologized to Rider. Rider told him that everything was good. He reminded KG that, “I told you shut your a** up”.

Unfortunately, an apology wasn’t going to help the Timberwolves. It seems Michael Jordan used the disrespect that KG threw at him and came back roaring in the last quarter.

The Bulls dominated the fourth quarter. They outscored the Timberwolves 38-23 on the way to an easy victory. Jordan finished with a game-high 35 points, seven assists, and six rebounds, leaving both Garnett and Rider exhausted.

Kevin Garnett made it a point to never talk trash to or around Michael Jordan ever again after that incident. Well, at least Rider was there to handle the situation for him.