‘He trusted me more afterward’: Steve Kerr once revealed how Michael Jordan punching him in the face helped their relationship

Jordan and Kerr began a verbal exchange during Bulls training camp during the 1995-96 season, when the Bulls won an NBA-record 72 games.

ESPN’s review of the 2013 brawl tells us that Jordan was physically more dominant than the slender Kerr, but used that to try to take down mentally. As described in Phil Jackson’s book Eleven Rings, Cole decided to retaliate after a forearm slammed into his chest.

Kerr suffered a black eye after a brief boxing match with Jordan that required intervention from teammates to end. Kerr described the incident in a 2016 VICE interview as similar to the situation in Jurassic Park when children were attacked by velociraptors.

While discussing the incident on TNT’s NBA show, Kerr explained that his relationship with Jordan took a positive turn following the fight. Although it seemed strange, he admitted that the incident strengthened their bond. Kerr believes his reaction to Jordan’s testing earned him greater trust from Jordan.

“For me, Michael was definitely testing me and I responded. I felt like I passed the test and he trusted me more after that.”

Kerr later played an important role with the Bulls. In Game 6 of the 1997 NBA Finals, he scored the game-winner on a double-team pass from Jordan to give Chicago its fifth championship.

Also read: ‘He was like a little brother’: Michael Jordan threatened to leave Bulls if they traded Scottie Pippen after 1996 NBA Finals win

The significance of Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls No. 23 jersey

Jordan donated three numbers during his career: 12, 23 and 45, with No. 23 undoubtedly being the most iconic of them all.

In an interview, Jordan explained why he chose this legendary number. He said that his brother’s jersey number is 45, and since they played on the same team, he chose half of his brother’s number, which is 22.5. I prefer whole numbers, so I round it to 23.

Jordan wore No. 23 for most of his career and had great success with the number. He led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships and was named NBA Finals MVP in all of those championship runs.

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