"I wouldn't have had no respect for Mike if he would have said things that he said" - Gary Payton on Michael Jordan laughing at him on 'The Last Dance'

Michael Jordan produced one of the most iconic images of "The Last Dance" in Episode 8 when he laughed at Gary Payton. "The Glove" said some things about defending Jordan during the 1996 NBA Finals. MJ laughed at his comments and Payton explained that he has no problem with it.

In Episode 8 of "The Last Dance," Payton made these comments:

"A lot of people backed down to Mike, I didn't. I made it a point, I said, 'Tire him out. Tire the f**k out of him. You just gotta tire him out.' And I kept hitting him and banging him and hitting him and banging him, it took a toll on Mike... And then, the series changed and I wish I could have did it earlier. I don't know if the outcome would have been different."

Michael Jordan laughed at Gary Payton's comments, with the image of him reacting to it becoming a meme. Even the GIF of him laughing was one of the top memes of 2020 and still used to this day. Here's what MJ said:

"The Glove. I had no problem with The Glove. I had no problem with Gary Payton."

But does "The Glove" have a problem with MJ's reaction? In a recent appearance on "The Rich Eisen Show," Payton was asked about it. The one-time NBA champ responded by saying that he has no problem with Jordan's laughter and his comments about him. Payton said:

"I don't care about that, that was his production. I wouldn't have had no respect for Mike if he would have said things that he said. I would have no respect for him because if I'm writing my own movie or script or whatever, I'm going to talk crazy to everybody. I really don't care."

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Did Gary Payton really shut down Michael Jordan at the 1996 NBA Finals?

Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls

Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls took on Gary Payton and the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1996 NBA Finals. The Bulls would triumph over the Sonics in six games, with Jordan earning his fourth championship and Finals MVP trophy. But did Payton really shut down Mike back then?

According to CBS Sports, Payton did a masterful job defending Jordan in Games 4, 5 and 6. The Bulls were up 3-0 when then-Sonics head coach George Karl put his best defender on "His Airness." The result was astonishing, since Payton limited Jordan to just 23.7 points on 36.7% shooting from the field. Seattle would go to win Games 4 and 5.

But the Sonics lost Game 6 because they went cold and put up just 75 points. And Jordan did find ways to outsmart Payton, eventually taking over the game. The interesting stat from that postseason? MJ averaged 32.1 points on 47.6 percent shooting in the first 15 games of the 1996 playoffs.