“He embarrassed me in my own house” – When an All-NBA Bernard King was humbled by a young Michael Jordan

Despite being confident, Bernard King found himself helpless in trying to stop Michael Jordan at Madison Square Garden.

Michael Jordan didn’t earn the respect of battle-tested veterans by just showing up; rather, he took it one game at a time from the very beginning. Still, the buzz surrounding him before he even stepped foot in the NBA was so immense that even established stars couldn’t ignore it. Some, like Bernard King, used that to fuel their desire to dominate against “His Airness” when the latter visited their city. Thus, when Mike was scheduled to make his first appearance at Madison Square Garden, the four-time All-Star had already marked that date on his calendar. Only until he realized the 6’6″ shooting guard was unstoppable.

Bernard King was hellbent on containing Michael Jordan

By 1984, when MJ was entering the league, King had just come off an MVP runner-up finish to Larry Bird and earned his first All-NBA First Team selection by dropping then career-high points. Unsurprisingly, he was reckoned as the king of New York, both literally and figuratively – and no one, especially a rookie, wasn’t going to outshine him in an arena where his name was repeatedly chanted. So, when the Chicago Bulls were scheduled to play the Knicks on November 8, 1984, King zeroed in on the 6’6″ shooting guard from North Carolina.

While doing well in MSG, the mecca of basketball, is a dream for every NBA player, King saw his confidence turn into overconfidence when he matched up against a young Mike. Recalling that matchup on Cedric Maxwell’s podcast, the Brooklyn native laughed off at how he found himself helpless in trying to contain the future five-time MVP.

“I hadn’t seen him in college. I saw the championship game when he performed but he was restricted offensively in that system,” King said. “He’s what I thought going into that game, ‘Not in my house. You’re not gonna come in here, in my house… Madison Square Garden is my house, and embarrass me in my house. But he embarrassed me anyway. There was nothing I could do about it.”

Michael Jordan set the record straight with King

Even though King scored a game-high 34 points, it was Jordan’s 33 points on an astonishing 68.2 percent shooting, paired with eight rebounds, five assists, and three steals, that made the difference. The Bulls would go on to win by 15 points, and a statement was made.

More impressively, in total, Jordan and King would face off 23 times during their careers (each time in the regular season). MJ walked away with 16 wins while averaging 29 points per game against the four-time All-Star. Though King never got the chance to battle Jordan at the height of his championship dominance, he still saw firsthand how uncontainable he was, even as a rookie.

By King’s admission, it does seem safe to say that Jordan had his sights set on becoming the best and most dominant player, no matter the pressure or the hyped venue. Unfortunately for King, he was among the first to witness this in his home arena.