NBA legend Michael Jordan and sharpshooter Steve Kerr experienced a ton of success during their time together in Chicago. Kerr and Jordan played 231 games over four seasons together from 1994 to 1998. The Chicago Bulls won three of Jordan’s six titles during that stretch in 1996, 1997 and 1998. However, Jordan and Kerr’s relationship wasn’t always smooth sailing as the two got into some arguments, including one that resulted in Jordan punching Kerr.

The incident took place shortly before the 1995-1996 NBA season during practice. Jordan punched Kerr in the face after Kerr stood up to him. Jordan was then kicked out of practice by coach Phil Jackson. Jordan later expressed remorse for his actions.

In an excerpt from Phil Jackson’s book ‘Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success,’ Jordan spoke about how foolish he was to punch Kerr. Jordan then said he knew he needed to show his teammates more respect. Here’s how he put it:

“It made me look at myself and say, ‘You know what? You’re really being an idiot about this whole process.’ I knew I had to be more respectful of my teammates.”

Jordan later spoke about how he called Kerr following the altercation to apologize. The two made up and went on to help the Bulls achieve their second 3-peat.

Steve Kerr on infamous Michael Jordan punch

As for Steve Kerr’s side of the story, he touched on it during ESPN’s ‘The Last Dance’ documentary series. Kerr said that standing up to Michael Jordan in practice was one of his best decisions as he earned Jordan’s respect.

“We talked it out, and it was probably, in a weird way, the best thing that I ever did, was stand up for myself with him because he tested everybody he played with, and I stood up to him.”

Kerr then said that his and Jordan’s relationship improved drastically from that point on:

“From that point on, our relationship dramatically improved and our trust in each other, everything. It was like, ‘All right, we got that out of the way. We’re going to war together.’”

Kerr also added the following during an interview on TNT:

“I feel like I passed the test and he trusted me more afterwards.”

Steve Kerr went on to hit one of the biggest shots in Chicago Bulls franchise history. That was when Kerr knocked down the game-winning jumper against Utah in Game 6 of the 1997 NBA Finals. So between Kerr’s feisty personality and his sharpshooting ability, he turned out to be the perfect teammate for Michael Jordan.

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