'If Scottie was on me, I was like, 'Thank God'' - Dan Majerle opens up about the challenge of being in Jordan's crosshairs during the '93 NBA Finals

Throughout the NBA's history, many superstars have shown how they use pettiness to drive their competitive fervor. However, nobody did that better than Michael Jordan, who was famous and notorious for his ability to take any slight—real or perceived—personally and use it as fuel to dominate his opponents on the court.

One prime example was during the 1993 NBA Finals when Jordan's Chicago Bulls faced Dan Majerle's Phoenix Suns. Throughout the series, "His Airness" made it a personal mission to shut down Majerle, primarily because he discovered that Bulls general manager Jerry Krause—a man Mike deeply despised—was a fan of the Suns' wingman.

Just cause

As MJ detailed in the documentary series "The Last Dance," the mere fact that Krause liked Majerle's game was just cause for Jordan to view the Suns' ace as an enemy.

"I knew that Jerry Krause loved Dan Majerle and just because Krause liked him was enough for me," Mike said. "You think he's a great defensive player? OK, fine. I'm going to show you he's not."

Krause's belief was not unfounded. Majerle's performance during the 1992-1993 season was the best of his 14-year career, as he averaged 16.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.7 steals per game. He earned an All-Star berth and finished fifth in the Defensive Player of the Year award race.

That said, Dan later admitted that he had no idea about this until he watched the docu-series in 2020.

"I didn't know that that was one of his motivations, and now it kind of makes sense," Majerle disclosed in 2021.

In the 1993 finals, "Money" played like a man possessed, averaging 41.0 points a game in the six-game affair. Dan said they tried every defensive tactic in the book but to no avail.

"We kept on switching because I tried it, Kevin (Johnson) tried it, they put Richard Dumas—we put everybody on him, Danny Ainge… Like I said, the guy was unbelievable, and he carried their team. He was that good," Majerle stressed.

At 215 pounds, Dan had a bulky advantage over MJ, which he tried to use to throw the latter off balance.

"All I tried to do was beat him up because the only thing that I was stronger than him—I wasn't faster, quicker, obviously not more talent, anything—so I just tried to hold, grab, beat him up, hold him, try not to let him get to his spots. That didn't work either," "Thunder Dan" stated with a smile.

Dan encountered difficulty on the offensive end

Already burdened with trying to slow "His Airness" down, Majerle said he also had a difficult time getting his rhythm going on the offensive down. With Jordan bearing down on him like a pitbull, Dan found it hard to get open and create scoring opportunities. In fact, the Suns wing stressed Mike defended him with such ferocity that he found reprieve when Scottie Pippen—also one of the NBA's all-time great defenders—took him on.

"I'll be honest with you—if Scottie was on me, I was like, 'Thank God,'" "Thunder Dan" remarked. "Anybody's a reprieve from Jordan. I'm telling you, he was the best. Whatever he did, he was the best. If he wanted to guard you and not let you score or touch the ball, you weren't touching the ball."

Mike was undoubtedly an unstoppable force on one end and a menace on the other. As Majerle found out in the '93 finals, life was a nightmare when MJ was on the prowl, and you were the prey.