Bryon Russell on Michael Jordan: 'I'll Play His A-- Right Now'

Michael Jordan Byron Russell I'll Play His Ass Right Now NBA Hall of Fame

Michael Jordan's Hall of Fame speech has made waves in the NBA community -- everyone seems to think, for some ridiculous reason, that Jordan shouldn't have smack-talked his opponents in what was supposed to be his moment of glory.

I'm of the other opinion; trash-talking was Jordan's legacy and he used people who challenged him as motivation to get better. Bryon Russell was one of those people: Jordan cited Russell's claim that he could guard Jordan (um, whoops, guy) after MJ retired the first time, only to get absolutely torched by His Airness several years later in the very famous "non-push-off" from the 1998 NBA Finals. Naturally, Russell took exception to that part of the speech.

"I'll play his a- right now," Russell told Yahoo! Sports. "This is a call-out for him to come play me. He can come out here in his private jet and come play. He's got millions of dollars. He can pay for the jet. He can meet me at the Recreation Center in Calabasas.

"We can have Mark Jackson do the commentating. We can have Mitch Richmond do the officiating. We can put it on TV and see if Michael's still got it."

Well, those comments would certainly be worth a "Zing!" if Jordan hadn't consistently burned Russell and cost Bryon, John Stockon AND Karl Malone all a championship ring. And sure, maybe that play was a push-off ... but does it matter?

Answer: Of course not. No one remembers "push-off." They remember "Michael Jordan: GOAT." Which means that regardless of how MJ responds to this, people are more than likely to point and laugh at Russell for being really frustrated.

Then again, given Jordan's competitive nature, I wouldn't be surprised in the least bit to see him land in Calabasas 48 hours from now, stroll into Russell's gym and beat him up and down the court in front of a large contingent of television cameras. Then things will be really awkward.