Former NBA forward Horace Grant, who played with Michael Jordan in the early 1990s, vehemently denied he fed author Sam Smith information about the team for his book “The Jordan Rules.”
Jordan made the claim during “The Last Dance” documentary and Grant got his chance at a rebuttal Tuesday during an interview on ESPN 1000’s “Kap and Co.”
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“Lie, lie, lie. ... If MJ had a grudge with me, let's settle this like men,” Grant told the Chicago-based radio station. “Let's talk about it. Or we can settle it another way. But yet and still, he goes out and puts this lie out that I was the source behind [the book]. Sam and I have always been great friends. We're still great friends. But the sanctity of that locker room, I would never put anything personal out there. The mere fact that Sam Smith was an investigative reporter. That he had to have two sources, two, to write a book, I guess. Why would MJ just point me out?
“It's only a grudge, man. I'm telling you, it was only a grudge. And I think he proved that during this so-called documentary. When if you say something about him, he's going to cut you off, he's going to try to destroy your character.”
Grant also took issue with Jordan talking about walking into a hotel room during his rookie season and seeing his teammates doing drugs. He wondered why he would want to bring any of that up.
“My point is: Why the hell did he want to bring that up? What's that got to do with anything? I mean, if you want to call somebody a snitch, that's a damn snitch right there,” Grant said.
Grant confirmed a story from Smith earlier this month. Smith told KNBR that Jordan took Grant’s food away when the forward had a bad game. Grant said he didn’t take it lightly.
“Anybody [who] knows me, as a rookie, if anybody comes up and tries to snatch my food away, I'm going to do my best to beat their a--,” he said. “And believe me, back then, I could have took MJ in a heartbeat. Yes, it's true that he told the flight attendant, 'Well, don't give him anything because he played like crap.' And I went right back at him.
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“I said some choice words that I won't repeat here. But I said some choice words and stood up. 'If you want it, you come and get it.' And of course, he didn't move. He was just barking. But that was the story. But anybody [who] knows me, where I come from and what I stand for, come on, man. There's nobody in this Earth would ever come and try to take food off my plate and not get their rear ends beaten.”
Grant, who helped the Bulls to three of their championships, said he last spoke to Jordan about three years ago but wasn’t concerned whether they were still on good terms.