Last week, an ex-Warriors star had enough of Skip Bayless’ relentless criticism of LeBron James. And he wasn’t the only one. Even one of LeBron’s close friends, ‘Cuffs The Legend,’ took to social media to call out Bayless, writing, “You saw what Bron did to Stevie and now you’re trying your best to get him to reply to you in some way, so you can have some content to milk forever like Stevie.” The frustration was real, but tensions escalated when Bayless attempted to defend himself by invoking Michael Jordan.
“Back in my days when I did columns for the Chicago Tribune, my sports editor would have loved it if I had criticized Michael Jeffrey Jordan,” Bayless said. And Not only did Bayless stand by his claim, he escalated it, “I wouldn’t have gotten fired for criticizing Jordan, I’d have gotten a raise.” That was it for ex-Warriors star Gilbert Arenas.
Donning his MJ 23 jersey, Arenas sprang from his chair during the live stream, directly confronting Bayless. “Cap. Why the f-ck are you lying, Skip?” he snapped. Gilbert argued that Bayless never had the guts to criticize Jordan during his prime, instead choosing to remain silent. And then, Arenas explained MJ’s influence in the 90s.
“I wanted to be like Mike. Hey, you remember that, Skip?” he said. He went all in, describing how kids in the ’90s shaved their heads, walked like MJ, and even chewed gum just like him. “You know how many juicy fruit packs I bought as a child? Oh my god, 25 cents, Skip. We wanted to chew like Michael. Damn whole tongue numb.” But just when it seemed like a fun trip down memory lane, Arenas dropped a personal embarrassment.
“If you ever been to the barbershop, Michael Jordan was requested so much that the barbers had to be artists. Everybody wanted the logo in they fucking hair,” he said.
But his experience? A disaster. “Come to find out my barber wasn’t an artist. It looked more like Kareem. It looked kind of like the Scott Hook. I got teased for about two fucking weeks.” Clearly, not all MJ tributes achieve the intended success.
Gilbert Arenas schooled Skip Bayless for the Michael Jordan story
So, when Skip Bayless used a Michael Jordan story to back himself up, Gilbert Arenas wasn’t having it. He immediately brought up the infamous Sports Illustrated cover story from March 14, 1994. Back then, Jordan had stepped away from basketball to chase his baseball dreams, but things weren’t exactly going smoothly.
SI didn’t hold back. Criticizing Jordan’s short-lived baseball career, author Steve Wulf wrote, “Bag It, Michael! Jordan and the White Sox are embarrassing baseball.” But the real punch? The cover itself. It showed Jordan swinging wildly and missing the ball by a mile, with the headline “Err Jordan.” It was brutal.
Then, Arenas reminded Bayless of what happened next. Jordan, furious over the article, swore he’d never do another interview with Sports Illustrated again. Meanwhile, Wulf got fired. “Skip, Wulf has been begging Michael Jordan for his forgiveness longer than you’ve been hating on LeBron James,” Gil said, making sure Bayless got the point.
By 2001, Wulf had even written an apology for MJ, but SI refused to publish it. That’s when Arenas really let loose. He called out Bayless for lying about what he would’ve said if Jordan wasn’t the greatest in his eyes. “You couldn’t say sh-t. Stop it. ‘Cause if you could, you would’ve,” Arenas said, exposing Bayless for bluffing once again.
The post After Schooling Skip Bayless, Ex-Warriors Star Confesses to “Failed” Michael Jordan Tribute That Led to Humiliation appeared first on EssentiallySports.
