On March 19, 1993, Smith's lottery-bound Washington Bullets traveled to Chicago to take on the defending champion Bulls. Smith received his fourth straight start as he teamed with All-Star Michael Adams in the backcourt and was given the assignment of matching up with Jordan.
Smith, who averaged just 9.3 PPG for the season, went on to light up MJ for a career-high 37 points. He connected on 15 of his 20 field goals and was a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line.
The Bulls, however, still won the game, 104-99. Jordan got the win, but he wasn't very pleased with the fact that he allowed an unknown player like Smith to drop so many points on him.
Following the game, Jordan claimed that Smith mocked him by saying, "Nice game, Mike." Jordan then supposedly promised people he would match Smith's 37 points in the first half of the two teams' next meeting, which was the very next day.
In the second game, this time at the Bullets' Capital Centre, Jordan almost followed through on his promise as he scored 36 points by halftime. He would finish with 47 and his Bulls cruised to a 126-101 victory.
Smith, the hero of the previous night's game, had just 15 points.
Jordan admitted years later that Smith never made the "nice game" comment. He made it all up. He apparently just needed more motivation to get Smith back for embarrassing him.
BTW, I recommend this YT channel, it has lots of old school NBA anecdotes and stories.
Also, this comment on the vid:
"Nice game": He was being sarcastic. I took that personal
"Terrible game": He was being disrespectful. I took that personal
"Amazing game": He was being a kiss-ass. I took that personal
Ain't no winning against Michael Jordan
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