Sometimes audacity has no boundaries. You can say that about NBA rookie Corey Benjamin when he challenged NBA superstar Michael Jordan to a game of 1-on-1.
Many of us grew up in the late ’80s and early ’90s, and we considered Michael Jordan to be the greatest NBA player of all time. Yes, today’s generation has LeBron James. But, for us, it was Jordan. Jordan earned it, too. He retired from the Chicago Bulls with six championship rings and a bunch of other accolades.
But this story is a different angle about Michael Jordan. It’s about how he responded when another player–a rookie, no less–called him out. That player was Corey Benjamin.
Benjamin grew up in California, attending Fontana High, where he averaged 27 points a game his senior year. He was named to the McDonald’s All-America team, and some analysts thought he might be the second coming of Jordan.
Corey with the Bulls (photo, Westside Story Newspaper)
Benjamin went on to play college ball for the Oregon State Beavers, where he ended his career as one of the most talented players–along with Gary Payton–to ever suit up in Corvallis.
Benjamin entered the 1998 NBA Draft, where he was picked #28 overall by the (guess who?) Chicago Bulls. That pick came shortly after Jordan had retired, and not long after the Bulls had won yet another NBA championship.
At the time, Jordan was trying to distance himself from the Bulls because of drama he felt was coming out of the team’s front office. But that distance would close quickly.
One day at practice, Benjamin was talking with Jordan’s teammate and friend Randy Brown. Benjamin told Brown that he could beat Jordan easily if they played in a one-on-one game. It didn’t take long before Brown spread the news–to his teammates and (of course) to Jordan himself.
Not long after that–in November 1999, to be specific–Jordan stopped by practice. He walked in with sweats and a top with cut-off sleeves like he was there to play. And he was.
The practice came to a halt as players gathered at the edge of the court. Jordan grabbed a basketball and told Benjamin to check the ball.
It didn’t take long for Jordan to show Benjamin who was boss. One of the Bulls players shouted, “8-3, Michael,” as Jordan barely broke a sweat and started talk trashing, telling Benjamin what he was going to do next.
After hitting a jump shot and telling Benjamin that he could do that all day, Michael looked up at the banners hanging around the practice facility. “Look around you!” Michael declared. “What do you see?” The question needed no answer.
After a few more easy baskets, the game was over. It was Jordan, not Benjamin, who won easily.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuepAl8yizQ
After the last shot, Jordan asked Benjamin to sit down with him. “Don’t call me out of retirement to do this again,” he said. Talk about a 1-on-1 game had gotten out around the league, and Jordan made it clear to the media how he felt about it.
A contrite Benjamin reportedly replied, “There is no shame in losing to the best player ever.”
