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Michael Jordan said his treatment of Scott Burrell was one of the reasons why he thought “The Last Dance” documentary would have made him look like a bad guy.
Apparently, being around Jordan gave Burrell a thick skin even as the NBA legend was harping on him for partying too much.
In one of the shots filmed during the 1997-98 season, Jordan and Burrell are going back-and-forth at each other on the team plane when the basketball superstar started to rib Burrell about his habits with drinking, partying and being with several women.
MICHAEL JORDAN WOULD KEEP GROCERY STORES OPEN TO SHOP ALONE AS HIS FAME ROSE, EX-TEAMMATE SAYS
“Mom and dad, he’s an alcoholic,” Jordan says while Burrell pleads with the film crew to edit that part out.
Burrell addressed the moment in an interview Tuesday with The Undefeated and said he and his wife brushed the moment off.
“People have been asking about what my wife thinks, and we laughed about it,” Burrell said. “If my wife has a problem with something I did when I was 22, then we're probably not the right couple.”
Burrell was 27 during the 1997-98 season and was on the team during the height of Jordan’s popularity during that era. He played one season in Chicago before playing for the New Jersey Nets for two seasons.
Jeane Coakley, Burrell’s wife, was asked about the moment between the former Bulls player and Jordan.
“I was in high school when ‘baby Rodman’ was at his peak,” the current SNY anchor tweeted.
Jordan had initially been worried about making the documentary because of the way he may have been perceived, "The Last Dance" director Jason Hehir told The Athletic in April.
“I said to him, ‘why do you want to do this?’ And he said, ‘I don’t.’ And I said, ‘Why not?’ And he said, ‘When people see this footage I’m not sure they’re going to be able to understand why I was so intense, why I did the things I did, why I acted the way I acted, and why I said the things I said,’” Hehir said. “He said there was a guy named Scotty Burrell who he rode for the entire season and, ‘When you see the footage of it, you’re going to think that I’m a horrible guy.'"
Hehir said Jordan explained that he needed to be harsh on Burrell to toughen him up for the NBA Playoffs.
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For an insider's perspective on "The Last Dance," check out Fox Nation's new show "Guarding Jordan," where former NBA star and coach Jeff Hornacek reflects on going head-to-head against the NBA superstar in the 1997 and 1998 NBA Finals.
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