bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Jonathan White

Michael Jordan’s former Chicago Bulls teammate Horace Grant has accused the player at the heart of the ESPN and Netflix series The Last Dance of lying in the “documentary”.
“Lie, lie, lie. … If MJ had a grudge with me, let’s settle this like men,” Grant said during an interview with ESPN radio on Tuesday.
This came in response to Jordan accusing Grant of leaking information on what went on in the Bulls’ locker room to Sam Smith, the journalist who wrote the tell-all The Jordan Rules book in 1992, focused on the team’s first NBA championship in 1991.
“I didn’t contribute to that,” Jordan said during The Last Dance. “That was Horace. He was telling everything that was happening within the group.”  

Michael Jordan said in the Last Dance documentary that Horace Grant was the leak in the “Jordan Rules” book.
Horace went on ESPN 1000’s Kap and Company and had this to say about it.pic.twitter.com/qZ68DPqdiq
— Daniel Greenberg (@ChiSportUpdates) May 19, 2020

Grant took issue with that claim on Tuesday.
“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,” he told the Kap and Co show on ESPN 1000 in Chicago.
Smith and Grant were interview subjects in the 10-part series that focused on the Bulls’ 1997-98 NBA season and quest for a sixth championship. Grant had left by that point, joining the Orlando Magic in 1994 after six seasons and three championships with Jordan.

Horace Grant calls out Jordan pic.twitter.com/Da1aQKbjsQ
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 19, 2020

“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?”
This was backed up by another former Chicago Bulls player, BJ Armstrong, who said in the documentary that Smith did not base the book on just one person’s claims about Jordan.
Grant also took aim at the documentary credentials of the ESPN and Netflix series. The Guardian was among the media outlets that reported it was co-produced by Jordan’s own production company, Jump23, despite them being omitted from the credits and promotional material.
The Last Dance was perfect nostalgia for coronavirus times
“I would say [the documentary was] entertaining, but we know, who was there as teammates, that about 90 per cent of it [was] BS in terms of the realness of it,” Grant said in the radio interview. “It wasn’t real – because a lot of things [Jordan] said to some of his teammates, that his teammates went back at him. But all of that was kind of edited out of the documentary, if you want to call it a documentary.”
Grant, who revealed that he and Jordan have not spoken in three years, put it down to a grudge.
“It’s only a grudge, man, and I think he proved that during this so-called documentary,” Grant said. “When if you say something about him, he’s going to cut you off, he’s going to try to destroy your character.”

Grant said that he is not the only person to see their relationship with Jordan sour in recent years.
“Charles Barkley, they’ve been friends for over 20, 30 years,” Grant said of another former player interviewed for The Last Dance. “And he said something about Michael’s management with the Charlotte Bobcats or the Charlotte Hornets, and then they haven’t spoken since then.”
Grant then turned the tables on Jordan, claiming that he was a “snitch” as proved by his rookie year at the Bulls.
Jeremy Lin on Kobe’s bye to Lakers’ ‘bums’ and playing for Jordan
“And my point is, he said that I was the snitch, but yet and still after 35 years he brings up his rookie year going into one of his teammate’s rooms and seeing coke, and weed and women. 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.”
With the series concluded, reports are emerging that a number of Jordan’s former teammates are upset with how they were portrayed.

Help us understand what you are interested in so that we can improve SCMP and provide a better experience for you. We would like to invite you to take this five-minute survey on how you engage with SCMP and the news.



LeBron James snubbed as an NBA All-Star Game starter for first time in 21 years

EuroLeague boss slams NBA’s ambitious European plan as a ‘bit of a broken record’

US charges 26 people with rigging college, Chinese basketball games

NBA targets US$1 billion team valuations as it courts investors for Europe league

NBA (National Basketball Association)

Michael Jordan a ‘liar’ and a ‘snitch’, says former Chicago Bulls teammate Horace Grant about The Last Dance

Michael Jordan supporting the University of North Carolina Tar Heels in 2009. Photo: Reuters

Michael Jordan is all smiles along with coach Dean Smith as Jordan announces at a 1984 press conference that he will forgo his senior year in college to play professional basketball. (Raleigh News & Observer/TNS)

The Last Dance – perfect nostalgia for coronavirus times

Michael Jordan celebrates the Bulls win over the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1992 NBA Finals in Chicago. Photo: AP

Jeremy Lin on Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan – Lakers’ ‘bums’ and life at Charlotte Hornets

Jeremy Lin playing against Kobe Bryant when he was at the New York Knicks. The pair were teammates at the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2014-15 NBA season. Photo: EPA

Air Jordan memorabilia soars in value amid ‘The Last Dance’ nostalgia

Trainers like this pair of Air Jordan 1 Retro are selling for record prices. Photo: AP

This June 14, 1998 file photo shows Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan shooting the game-winning shot in the closing seconds of Game 6 of an NBA Finals basketball game against the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City to give Chicago their sixth NBA Championship. Craig Ehlo still believes he played great defense. He shared an ultimate moment with Michael Jordan, and Jordan came out on top each time. He’ll be on highlight reels forever and “The Last Dance” — the ESPN and Netflix 10-part documentary series about Jordan’s Chicago Bulls that ends on Sunday, May 17, 2020 only freshened the familiarity fans have with two of the most-replayed shots in NBA history. (Robert Deutch/USA Today via AP, file)

FILE - In this May 25, 1992 file photo Cleveland Cavaliers guard Craig Ehlo (3) drives past Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls during an Eastern Conference Championship basketball game in Richfield, Ohio. Ehlo still believes he played great defense. He shared an ultimate moment with Michael Jordan, and Jordan came out on top each time. He’ll be on highlight reels forever and “The Last Dance” — the ESPN and Netflix 10-part documentary series about Jordan’s Chicago Bulls that ends on Sunday, May 17, 2020 only freshened the familiarity fans have with two of the most-replayed shots in NBA history. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on June 4, 1997 Chicago Bulls player Michael Jordan sticks out his tongue as he goes past Jeff Hornacek of the Utah Jazz during game two of the NBA Finals at the United Center in Chicago, IL. - The immense global success of the documentary "The Last Dance" amid the coronavirus lockdown has boosted sales of collectibles related to NBA icon Michael Jordan, some of which are trading in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. (Photo by VINCENT LAFORET / AFP)

People wearing protective face masks walk past the closed Nike store on a nearly empty 5th Avenue, during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Manhattan, New York city, New York, U.S., May 11, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Segar

Michael Jordan says ‘The Last Dance’ Chicago Bulls series might make him seem a ‘horrible guy’

Basketball legend Michael Jordan is worried about how he will be perceived after a new documentary about his incredible career airs on Netflix. Photo: Reuters

Sport

Basketball

Response to the ESPN and Netflix series comes after Jordan claimed Grant was the leak for infamous The Jordan Rules book in 1992
Former teammate pulled no punches on ‘so-called documentary’, telling ESPN the truth was glossed over by producers


Response to The Last Dance comes after Jordan claimed Grant was the leak for infamous The Jordan Rules book in 1992.


Netflix

Michael Jordan