• The first two episodes of “The Last Dance” – the 10-part docuseries about Michael Jordan and the 1997-1998 championship Chicago Bulls – aired on ESPN on Sunday night.
  • During a look at the Bulls’ 1986 playoff series against the star-studded Boston team, the Celtics’ general manager, Danny Ainge, who was then a Celtics guard, said Jordan warned him before his legendary 63-point Game 2 performance.
  • Ainge and Jordan played golf the day before Jordan’s on-court eruption, and after Jordan took a beating on the golf course, he told Ainge, “Tell your boy” – Dennis Johnson – “I got something for him tomorrow.”
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Michael Jordan has a well-documented competitive streak and, apparently, that comes with a knack for predicting his own explosive performances.

During the second episode of “The Last Dance” – ESPN’s highly anticipated 10-part docuseries about Jordan and the 1997-1998 championship Chicago Bulls – a look back at the Bulls’ first-round playoff series against the star-studded Boston Celtics in 1986 provided yet another example of his ruthless mentality as a competitor.

Jordan and Danny Ainge, who is now the Celtics’ general manager but was then a shooting guard on the team, went golfing together the day before Game 2 of the series. Jordan – widely known for his gambling – bet Ainge throughout the affair and, unsurprisingly, was quite unhappy after performing poorly and ultimately losing.

michael jordan

Foto: Michael Jordan. Source: AP Images

To add insult to injury, Ainge, whose team then owned a one-game lead over the Bulls - acknowledged smack-talking throughout the day on the links.

"I talked some trash to him that day," Ainge said during a sit-down interview for the series. "That might have been a mistake."

Not to be outdone, the future six-time NBA champion issued a warning to Ainge and the rest of his Celtics teammates before they parted ways.

"Tell your boy" - Dennis Johnson - "I got something for him tomorrow," Jordan said.

Johnson - a six-time NBA All-Defensive first-team selection and Hall of Famer - was tasked with containing Jordan throughout the series, including the game that following day. And, as promised, Jordan had something for him that game: an iconic 63-point performance that remains the NBA record high for points scored in a playoff game.

In a series debut full of memorable moments, Jordan's early-career antics stood out to many. Twitter had a field day reacting to Jordan's and Ainge's exchange.