Ex-NHL star and Barstool host Ryan Whitney has revealed the brutal trash talk he once received from Michael Jordan on a golf course, with the six-time NBA champion even berating him on the putting green.
The 41-year-old former defenseman recalled Jordan’s competitive nature during a round of golf against Paul Bissonnette, with whom he co-hosts Barstool Sports’ “Spittin Chiclets” podcast, and guest Justin Thomas.
“He doesn’t say a word to me,” Whitney began. “We reach 17, it’s the 35th hole of the day, par five, I’m on (the green) in two. He is dead.’
But then Jordan hit a birdie to keep himself in the match, before Whitney missed his own birdie putt.
“The first thing he said all day was, ‘That’s right, b****,’” Whitney recalled.
Former NHL defenseman Ryan Whitney recalled his match against Michael Jordan at Barstool
Jordan – an avid golfer – was known for trash-talking opponents throughout his NBA career
“So then we go to 36. I finish the last hole. Press again, that hole is also lost. He says: ”A scratch golfer… B****, you couldn’t scratch my wife’s a**. I just left. I just paid him $10,000 and left.
‘I felt so big (with my fingers close together). He pumps out rap songs all the time that says his name in the song. I thought, ”What planet am I on now?”
Whitney – a US team silver medalist for the 2010 Winter Olympics – played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Anaheim Ducks, Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers in an NHL career from 2005 to 2014 before transitioning to media.
Jordan once revealed that all the nonsense he learned came from another NBA great: Larry Bird
The NHL Network analyst wasn’t the only person on the receiving end of Jordan’s savage nonsense on the golf course, as professional golfer Rickie Fowler was once snubbed by ‘His Airness’.
“I was 7 under through 17 holes and I lost,” Fowler recalled of his match against Jordan in 2021. “And he doesn’t dwell on that.”
As good as he is at trash-talking, Jordan once said that he considers Larry Bird the master of the art of roughing up opponents.
“Larry Bird is the greatest trash talker and mind-game player of all time,” the Bulls legend said The Athletics. “He taught me everything I know about getting into people’s heads.”