Former Bulls Forward Scott Williams Shares a Different Side of Michael Jordan

Scott Williams provided valuable minutes at power forward or at center for the Bulls team that won a three-peat from 1991 to 1993. Williams had three NBA Championships in his four years with the Bulls, averaging 4.7 points and 4.4 rebounds in 13.6 minutes over 223 games.

Williams then spent 11 more years in the NBA, with teams like the 76ers, Bucks, Nuggets, Suns, Mavericks and Cavaliers. As such, he is qualified to speak about Michael Jordan and the Bulls’ first three-peat.

Appearing as a guest on the Sixers Talk podcast recently, Williams revealed that if it wasn’t for MJ, he might not have had an NBA career. Williams went undrafted after four seasons at North Carolina and Jordan invited him to a scrimmage with NBA pros like Charles Oakley and Rod Higgins. The scrimmage is what earned Williams a longer NBA look.

“We find ourselves down one late in the game, I’ve got the ball in my hands – I believe it was off an offensive rebound because they really didn’t throw the young college kid the ball very much – and fire one of these textbook, two-hand chest passes that Dean Smith taught me right over to MJ, who’s on the baseline about 19-20 feet out and he goes up, tongue out of his mouth, patented Jordan form on the jumper, right up over the defender and cans the bucket for the win.

So he’s the one that makes a call to Jerry Krause leaving that game saying, ‘Hey, I think Scott Williams might be able to help us out.’ I always say I am the luckiest undrafted player in the history of the NBA, if there is such a thing.”

Scott Williams was the only rookie on the 1990-91 Bulls team. Players like Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant were tough on him. Still, he doesn’t think that MJ was a bully. He actually praised his drive to win at any cost.

“One thing I will say is, Jud Buechler had kind of a big thing where he said, ‘Guys were afraid of Michael Jordan.’ Well, I don’t think I was afraid of Michael Jordan. I loved being his teammate. He was hard on me – not the way he was hard on Scott Burrell, but he was hard on me being a Carolina guy,” Williams explained.

“That was one side of him. He’d get on you. I remember having a holey sweater one day and he said, ‘I could play 18 holes on your sweater. Nine holes on the front, nine holes on the back.’

Just embarrass you in front of the team and stuff like that. But that was MJ. The same cat would call me up my first year in the league and say, ‘Hey Scottie, Juanita’s cooking dinner. Come on over. We’re gonna break some bread, have a few beers. Watch the basketball game on TV and shoot pool.’

So that was the other side of it. There was a double-edged sword to that, and everyone’s got their own little stories.”