Michael Jordan destroyed a teammate so bad the Bulls traded him away: “One of the saddest things I ever saw” originally appeared on Basketball Network.
Michael Jordan was the type of leader who would push his teammates to become the best version of themselves. While it was a positive trait, his ways were sometimes a bit too harsh.
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According to former Bulls big man Scott Williams, Jordan once got a teammate traded away because of this approach or the lack thereof. Years have passed, but Williams still remembers how MJ tried to bring the best out of Dennis Hopson, a backup shooting guard for the Bulls in the early ’90s.
Jordan thought Hopson would step his game up when constantly challenged. However, Williams said it didn’t work out that way. Instead, the Bulls traded Hopson because MJ made him look weak and incompetent.
“One of the saddest things I ever saw during my professional career was the way [Jordan] went at Dennis Hopson every day in practice,” Williams told Yahoo Sports in 2018. “He got physical. He got mental with Dennis to the point where [Hopson was] so physically and mentally busted down, having to try to stop MJ every day in practice, that he was a shell of a player, and they traded him off to Sacramento.”
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“And that wasn’t a reflection of how MJ treated people. It was just a reflection of his intensity. He only had one gear.”
Jordan would have still get players traded in today’s NBA
Hopson wasn’t the only Bulls player who experienced Jordan’s ruthlessness. Former Bulls forward Scott Burrell also dealt with the same situation during his stint in Chicago. Unlike Hopson, Burrell wasn’t traded away by the Bulls for the same reason. However, Burrell confirmed that MJ could get guys traded if he sensed they didn’t fit the mold.
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Burrell thinks that if Jordan played in the current era where social media exists, he might tone down a bit. However, he is certain Mike could still have a say on who’s getting traded away.
“Well, MJ would change. Everybody changes with the times. So, he wouldn’t have been as strong, I’m sure, if there were cameras everywhere, following him second-to-second,” Burrell told HoopsHype in 2020.
“But he would have been the same competitor,” Burrell continued. “He might have done something [similar] behind closed doors, which means it’s now on the other player to say, ‘This is what he did,’ or, ‘I can’t take this!’ Then, that’s when MJ gets them traded. (laughs) So, I think things would happen the same maybe, but he would have changed in that he wouldn’t have done things in front of cameras. And if people had a problem with it, they would have asked to get traded, or he would have told them, ‘Trade them.'”
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MJ had zero tolerance for weakness
Williams and Burrell’s reflections about Jordan’s intensity prove that “His Airness” had zero tolerance for any kind of weakness. As a fierce competitor, MJ believed that every member of his team should carry the same mentality and aim at the same goal.
Though some of Jordan’s teammates did not totally agree with his leadership style, it doesn’t change the fact that his relentlessness helped make him the most dominant player of his generation. Moreover, MJ has proven to everybody that sometimes you must step on people to be the best and win.
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This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 19, 2025, where it first appeared.