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Shawn Kemp Dismisses Michael Jordan’s Claim That He Had No Problem With Gary Payton’s Defense

In episode 8 of ESPN’s docuseries ‘The Last Dance’ which was focused on the 1996 NBA Finals between the Seattle Supersonics and the Chicago Bulls, former Sonics defensive point guard Gary Payton was featured, detailing some angles of the story from his perspective.

The most controversial and popular statement Payton made was telling the filmmakers that his defense in the Finals took a toll on Michael Jordan and tired him out at some point of the series. Jordan, in the same episode, meanwhile burst a laugh off Payton’s comments and insisted that he had no problem with The Glove’s defense.

As they say, there are two sides to every story. Now, former Sonics superstar Shawn Kemp came out in defense of his former running mate in Seattle. On ‘Inside Buzz’, Kemp said Jordan’s comment was a joke and claimed that their team actually rattled the dominant Bulls legend.

“I love Michael Jordan. I’m appreciative of playing against him seriously. Well, I watched the Last Dance obviously that documentary was meant for Michael,” Kemp started.

“He said that Gary wasn’t giving him good defense, that was a joke. Gary was up on him, man. We had Michael rattled, but that’s what MJ is. He is never gonna let you know when he’s rattled and he’s not going to let you know when he’s feeling great. He’s just going to try to dominate you at all times.”