Kerr on punching Jordan: 'I don't know what the hell I was thinking'

1995 was a dramatic year for sports. Retired running back O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murder, Major League Baseball ended a 232-day strike, and South Africa hosted their first major sporting event since the end of apartheid.

Oh, and former Bulls guard Steve Kerr punched Michael Jordan.

In ESPN.com's new basketball series The Moment, Kerr recalled the incident that went down at the Bulls' training camp in 1995.

"I don't know what the hell I was thinking," Kerr said. "It's Michael Jordan, it's the greatest player ever, but I was pretty competitive and I kind of played with a chip on my shoulder. I had to or I wouldn't have made it."

The story goes that Kerr and Jordan, who had only played with each other for two months, talked trash on a couple of possessions when they were matched up against each other in a scrimmage. Things then escalated quickly.

"I took exception to something he said," Kerr stated. "So I was talking back and I don't think Michael appreciated that ... and we got in the lane and he gave me a forearm shiver to the chest and I pushed him back. And next thing you know, our teammates were pulling him off of me.

"I knew that if we were in an actual fight he could actually probably kill me if he wanted to. It was more just I'm going to stand up for myself."

In the end, Jordan called Kerr to apologize, they talked some more at practice the next day, the incident was quickly forgotten, and the two would go to win the NBA Finals with one of the greatest Bulls rosters ever.