When former Vancouver Grizzlies guard Darrick Martin sparked a legendary Michael Jordan late-scoring surge

Martin learned that trash-talking His Airness never ends well.

The Grizzlies didn’t have memorable moments during their six years in Vancouver, but one Michael Jordan story from their inaugural season in the NBA is still talked about.

After a surprising 2-0 start in the 1996-97 season, the Grizzlies lost 12 straight games, as Jordan and the Bulls visited Vancouver for the first time.

On paper, it was a massive mismatch for the Grizzlies, but they held their ground against one of the greatest teams of all time. The Grizzlies led the Bulls 64-62 after three quarters, and they extended their lead to eight points with 8:42 to play after a Darrick Martin basket. Then, Martin decided to run his mouth.

Darrick Martin’s trash talk to Jordan

“So Darrick decides because there’s about 10 minutes to go in the game and we’re winning, he decides to say to Michael Jordan, who’s having an off-night, ‘Hey Mike! Sh*t’s not falling tonight, Mike! You’re having an off-night, Mike!’” Martin’s former Grizzlies teammate Antonio Harvey explained.

At the time, Martin was in his second season in the NBA, and he knew the six-time NBA champion from playing with him in the legendary pick-up games at the ‘Jordan Dome’ while Jordan filmed Space Jam in Los Angeles.

“Told you we were going to whoop your ass tonight,” Martin said to Jordan.

“Little man, I told you about talking trash to me,” Jordan replied to Martin while returning to the court.

MJ teaches Martin a lesson

Jordan wasn’t playing well—he had just nine points—but he was ready to teach Martin a lesson. Jordan scored 19 points in the last six minutes of the fourth quarter, and it took the Bulls four minutes to tie the game before getting a 94-88 come-from-behind win.

Jordan hit his final jump shot to seal the game, looked for Martin on the bench and said

“I told you about talking trash to me.”

“I poked the bear that night, and he showed me truly what greatness meant. So that was a learning lesson for me, for me to be able to take that lesson and carry on and eventually have 13 years in the NBA,” Martin reflected years later.

The Grizzlies almost completed an epic upset. The Bulls went 72-10 that year and won the next three NBA championships.

The victory in Vancouver was Chicago’s second of a 13-game winning streak. The Grizzlies, on the other hand, would lose 19 games in a row. They finished the season with a 15-67 record.