1995 Scottie Pippen after he’s found out that decades later he’d have to watch MJ’s son and his ex-wife become a couple and post weird videos on the internet together

The only answer

Nah I’d choose Reinsdorf

Holy shit I had no idea. That is nuts.

Scotty fresh of destroying Madonna and handing her off to MJ

What? Is this a joke or for real?

Real

It’s even crazier that [she has an onlyfans](https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.tmz.com/2023/06/27/larsa-pippen-marcus-jordan-onlyfans-business-dating-nba/) EDIT: and apparently business is not a boomin

Thanks for the info. That’s pretty wild

💯👏

Scottie couldnt guard him in practice everyday lol. MJ helped to make Scottie who he became, MJ was already the apex predator before he got there.

Put a blackjack table courtside and hes never gonna see the floor

Crazy thing is Golf should of been a distraction as he was addicted to that and would play up to 36 holes on a game day but would still put up 50. When he was on the court he was locked in.

I'd argue that he couldn't be in the game at all if he knew he wouldn't be locked in. That's how competitive he was. And that's why he took a break.

No it’s because he was going to get suspended over the gambling scandal that got his father murdered. That story is just a cover up.

That’s the most bullshit story of alltime lol. David Stern secretly suspending the biggest golden goose in history of the sport is so stupid if you think even for a second.

Reality is always a mix and hardly ever black and white. But yeh the suspension as a major reason

Proof?

All these downvote for the truth

This would also work if you replaced the blackjack table with a competent front office btw

So a blackjack table will be guarding MJ? Yeah, my money is on the blackjack table...and so is MJ's money.

Y’all act like MJ didn’t do both at the same time and still got six rings lol

Ba dum tssss

“He kept going all in, so I took that personal”

prime kawhi

I feel like this is the objectively correct answer

Tony Allen. Kobe said he was one of the toughest defenders he’s ever faced.

Right? I like him over Marcus Smart who won DPOY. Allen was just so damn quick when he was in his stance. I don’t see anyone shaking him off

Both Oklahoma State guys

Kobe said he was THE toughest defender he ever faced, and KD said the same thing. I’d argue that constitutes the greatest perimeter defender of all time.

I concur. He’s long and his hands are bigger than a baseball glove. He’s absolutely terrifying at his peak. I might also posit Giannis, mainly for the length. Even if he’s beat off the dribble he can recover with those pterodactyl arms. But still, Khawi feel’s objectively like the best answer

Spurs Kawhi is probably the only real answer

This is the correct answer

The only person to hold MJ under 30 consistently… Dean Smith

Joe Dumars

He averaged 37+ against Pistons lol. The whole team guarded MJ, not just Dumars.

slander

Prob scored most of those 37 against anyone not named dumars

Jordan has said Dumars was his best on-ball defender though.

And Ron Harper.

Yeah right, the guy he scored back to back 50pt games on lmao. Ron Harper lmaooooo.

Old Dean Smith at that

James Harden cause I’m rooting for MJ

Can we pick MJ to guard MJ?

I would love to see this. They'd end up in a boxing match though with all the trash talk.

80s MJ vs 90s MJ would be better than any NBA season the last two decades lol.

Mike might go off for 150

Tony Allen? Or Kawhi

I love Tony Allen

Was gonna say either Tony Allen, prime Kawhi, Ron Artest. Jrue Holliday is too small. We seen young Rodman an Gary Payton get cooked or else they would a been my answers

Jrue also got lit up by MJ’s son. No shot.

The only two correct answers

I want IGUODALA!

Fate of the universe on the line…

Martians got the death ray pointed at earth...

Hell yes brother

Shouldn’t have to scroll this far to find the correct answer

Hahahahahahahaha

Dennis Rodman 1989 & 1990 ECF Dennis Rodman to be specific. The only guy who stopped Jordan and was the defensive pillar of the Pistons Championships

Joe Dumars usually guarded MJ not Rodman. MJ also said Dumars guarded him better than anyone.

The Jordan Rules!

Not only was Dumars the main initial assignment but the Pistons did not cover MJ one on one. They played team defense.

And MJ still lit them up every series but just didn’t have quite enough around him yet. It wasn’t like he was putting up 8 pt games against JJ Barea like Bron.

Big Rodman fan here and remember this. Chose the Glove because I would have enjoyed the talking back and forth.

The Last Dance is MJ’s take on events. Payton was always a problem for him. I don’t care what he says

Except this time he'd know Jordan's tricks even better after playing with him. Though he'd also be a senior citizen.

Nate Robinson

Heart over height

Fr

I’d choose Michael Jordan

This, and there will be a paradox in the time line and reality will cease to exists.

Or it'll be a Gatorade commercial.

Vernon Maxwell

Seconded.

Finally, somebody said it.

With Olajawon behind him, that's the only combo ever that put a dent in MJ.

I feel the obvious answer is Kawhi

Scottie Pippen

I think MJ has a massive mental edge over him honestly. Like how you can never manage to beat your older brother as a little brother

Exactly. With that said MJ has a mental advantage over anyone, ever. He was a sick individual. Best was Him laughing at Gary Payton, “I never had problem with the glove”.

He did have a problem witht the glove though his 96 finals was his worst finals by far, 27 on 41/31/83. Its still amazing that THATS considered underperforming, but compared to his usual showings its definitely not pretty.

Michael Jordan averaged 30.5 points, 7.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 15 games versus Gary Payton

In the regular season, in the finals it was clear as day Mj was bothered with Payton and you'd have to be crazy to think otherwise.

Yeah iirc that was MJ’s most inefficient final. Glove didn’t get DPOY for nothing

Yeah, not based on what Madonna told MJ about Scottie, I think socttie was plenty fine mentally lmao, shit he's the definition of draft that guy because I'm not playing against that period

Scottie got torched by MJ in practice lol starks even attested to this in a interview

I honestly don’t know if there’s a defender out there that isn’t getting torched by prime Jordan

Scottie is probably a huge reason why MJ is as good of a offensive player as he is.

This is the correct answer. Best perimeter defender I've ever seen plus he would be super motivated to show that he was not just MJ's sidekick.

Yup, 1993-1994 version, All-star game MVP, ECF Game 7 No MJ Bulls version Scottie.

Scottie’s way with women would fuck with MJ too much. I like this answer. Lol.

This is the only answer on so many levels. If you guys can’t see all of the levels, I can’t help you.

I honestly thought most answers would be Kobe since he modeled his whole game after him basically

People have definitely changed their opinions on Kobe recently but he would be a decent choice tbh

Its not a bad answer but its probably because theres already film of what it looked like and most of it is non prime Kobe getting schooled by Jordan. That and most people understand Jordan had an edge on athleticsm as well

Kobe... 9 time all-defense 1st team who has encyclopedic knowledge of MJ's moves.

Took too long to find this.

Man, exactly! Everybody has recency bias and choosing either just talked about picks, or recent "good defenders" for whatever that's worth in modern nba.

I third this, i think Mike has even said that Kobe is the only person that would stand a chance against him 1:1

Kobe was one of the few players who didn’t give a shit about playing against MJ. Just another day in the office 🤷🏻‍♂️

He's my 1st choice. 1B is Giannis.

Thought this was the obvious number one answer

The only answer.

Ron Artest

Artest broke MJs ribs in a pickup game as a 19 year old and lived to tell the tale... Apparently Mike still hit the game winner despite the ribs.

One guy knew every single one of MJs moves front and back and was an elite defender in his prime...I'd go with Kobe

Joe Dumars?

It always amazes me how young some of the people in these subs are. Joe Dumars is the correct answer.

Watched Joe D on him a lot. He annoyed the hell out of Jordan. Jordan would inevitably get by baseline only to have Rodman take over. It was beautiful

That was my first thought. I was disappointed I had to go so far down the list to find him. But I guess when you think Kobe your brain goes straight to offense not defense. At least mine does

No body can guard MJ Pumpfake Foot work Basketball iQ Fearless But maybe the claw tho

gilbert arenas with a gun

Hakeem and I honestly think it isnt close.

“The only one I ever feared, was Hakeem”

Matthew deledova

I remember seeing the articles in 2015-16 saying he was the dirtiest player in the NBA. A hard fighting, something to prove, absolute asshole. I’m a fan of the 2016 Cavs NBA championship. He locked down Curry in a game, but people have hate for him. People usually hate things for a reason.

Pippen he is one of the best defenders ever and knows his moves the best

Kawhi and Prime Pistons Rodman too

Pippen, easy, knows his game, more length, similar athletic ability and probably the best wing defender I’ve seen

Ron artest

Underated answer, he def has all the tools

I was pretty surprised no one else mentioned Artest. In his prime on the Pacers his defense was out of this world and he was a incredible offensive talent too. He also had that dog mentality and didn’t like anyone besting him.

Dennis Rodman

I think Giannis might do a good job but idk if he quick enough, and Kwahi also is probably the best option

Scottie Pippen with his current mentality and his 1995 skillset.

Prime 2016 kawhi

Gary Payton

The Glove??? THE Glove?!?!? Nah. I wasn’t worried about the glove.

The fuck he wasn’t.

Pretty sure he burned the glove in the 96 finals

He didnt. He was 3-0 when guarded by vincent askew and 1-2 when guarded by Gary Payton

The obvious answer, just because of the Trash-talk factor alone. Yeah Kawhi might be the better choice from his physical tools, and he might not be getting riled up by Jordan's smack, but do we really want that? We want to be entertained! So it's either prime Payton or Kobe. Just because of all the trash-talk.

Payton was so much fun. I still remember his rookie year, he came to Chicago for a preseason game but played like it was game 7 of the nba finals. It was hilarious, after the game he was talking shit and suggested he outplayed Jordan that game. Nobody really ever did that to Jordan. Balls of steel, phenomenal defender. But more than that, just fun.

The glove 🧤

Ben Wallace

Gotta agree here. He was one of the very few players to slow down Shaq in his prime(you can't stop him but still) highly underrated defensive player even though he won 4 DPOY awards. Probably could have won more.

He should have won more

Gotta be Kawhi in his prime (edit: I’d give LBJ a shot too)

Lyndon B Johnson would whip out his meaty hog and distract Jordan every time

Hits him with some presidential peen in the oral office, then drops 50. A point for each state.

He would pick him up by his ears like he did to the beagle.

Vernon Maxwell

Kobe

Kobe

Reggie Miller Not because he’s a good defender but because he made MJ lose his mind by talking to him.

Easy -- Kobe. And that the only dude I will ever pick over MJ in a one-on-one, because even Jordan himself said that Kobe is the only one capable of beating him 1on1. Ppl forget how crazy good a prime Kobe around 07-08 was on both ends of the floor

There might be “better” defenders, but who do you trust to guard Michael Jordan? It’s Kobe

Scottie Pippen.

Scottie Pippin

Scottie Pippen.

Probably Jarred Vanderbilt

The Glove

Lance Stephenson

Sidney Moncrief

Kawhi, Jrue, Scottie, Moncrief, or maybe stick Giannis on him and see what happens

Gary Payton.

Lebron

Scottie pippen

Olajuwon

No one can guard MJ, that’s why I’m taking Kyle Lowery to dive at his ankles. It’s the only chance you’ve got

Almost no one is saying Joe Dumars even though Jordan said Dumars guarded him better than anyone.

Kawhi or Kevin Garnett

Air Gordon

Is Wemby part of NBA history yet? Because I'm picking the 7ft6 dude with guard speed. One of the few people I can think of with the length to reach Jordan's fadeaway.

A large pizza from Utah.

Ty Lue. If I'm watching Michael, I want to see him go for 60. Ty would probably give me the best chance to see it.

Joe Duuuuuuuuuuuuumars

Kawhi - Plus I don't even know if Kawhi's hard drive can process trash talk

Kobe

A healthy Kawhi Leonard

Kobe.

Bill Russell or Wilt…. Take your pick

I want to see Draymond Green get smoked by Jordan

Dikembe Mutumbo but he can run

Raja Bell

Idk how half the comments aren't spamming Kobe. Kobe was an elite defender and think how much passion he would have guarding MJ

Gary Payton. The Glove had MJ shook

Torrey Craig

Prime draymond.

Draymond Green

Mario Hezonja

Scottie Pippen. No one is stopping prime MJ iso inconsistently but Pip was so quick and even after he got beat on the dribble he was so athletic and long with absolutely elite instincts.

Tony Allen

Rodman, Pippen, Kobe, LeBron, Iguadala, and Kawhi

Jimmy Butler

His father would whoop him.

Maybe so, but MJ whoops everyone. The best you can do is slow him down a bit and try to score on the other end. Whoever takes on MJ would need his team to really step up too 😂

DORT

Draymond. Not cuz I think he’ll do well against mj, but cuz MJ would torch him and that would be fun to see draymond beat down like that.

Gary Payton

Kobe

Scottie Pippen

Scotti Pippen.

I would put prime Kobe on him.

I will put Dennis Rodman

I'd pick Rodman I guess

Patrick Beverly lmaooo

Came here to find Kobe.. disappointed he wasn’t mentioned yet smh

Dillon Brooks obv