Michael Jordan warned Byron Scott he would score 50 after he found out he was out with injury

It didn’t take much for things to become personal with Michael Jordan. Byron Scott witnessed it firsthand.

Peeler vs. MJ

Scott appeared on the “Dan Patrick Show” and shared a story about a matchup between the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers on November 20, 1992. The Lakers no longer had Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at that point; instead, they turned to Scott, Sam Perkins, Vlade Divac, and Sedale Threatt to lead their new era. 

Before the game, Jordan learned that Scott, the Lakers' go-to MJ defender, would not play due to an ankle sprain he had sustained days earlier. When he found out Anthony Peeler would guard him instead, MJ warned Scott about the type of performance he was about to have.

"So they’re getting off the bus, we’re done with shootaround, and we’re walking out and MJ says, ‘B Scott, what’s going on?’ I said, ‘What’s up, MJ?’ he said, ‘Man, I hear that you’re not playing tonight.’ I said, ‘No, I sprained my ankle.’ He said, ‘Who’s guarding me?’ I said, ‘Anthony Peeler.’ He’s like, ‘50.’ [laughs]. So I told Anthony Peeler, ‘Listen, MJ is probably going to go for about 50 tonight on you. So just don’t piss him off. Just be cool.’ He ended up with 54,” Peeler said.