Bob Sura was a star at Florida State. He remains the school’s all-time leading scorer.
Sura was drafted in the first round by the Cleveland Cavaliers and quickly found a different reality on the court with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Toni Kukoc in his first preseason game.
“We’re playing Jordan, Pippen, Kukoc, Steve Kerr, the whole crew,” Sura told GOLF Subpar co-hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stooltz. “I wasn’t a starter. I was the sixth man. We’re five, six minutes into the game, coach is like, ‘Bobby, you’re in.’ … I check in the game. Not even 30 seconds later, here it comes. Three-on-one break [with] Jordan, Pippen, Kukoc. Pass, pass, pass. Scottie Pippen jumps over my head, in the basket. His feet were at my head. I was like, ‘Woah, these guys are moving at a speed that I never seen before.’ After the game, I called my mom. I said, ‘This NBA stuff is going to be fun but it’s not going to last very long.'”
Sura locked horns with Jordan in a regular-season game shortly thereafter and got a taste of the competitive edge that made Jordan the GOAT on the hardwood and a force on the golf course.
“We’re in the United Center a few months later during the regular season,” Sura told Knost and Stoltz. “I’m guarding Jordan. I’m athletic, good defender. I’m in his face. I’m after him. He’s throwing elbows at me. We’re going at it. Finally, we get face-to-face. He’s spitting on me, screaming at me. This is a line that he probably wouldn’t remember, but I do.
“He goes, ‘I don’t give a f–k you little white boy how famous I am, I’m going to punch you in your face right here.’ I said, ‘Well then f—ing do it. Let’s go.’ He just walked away. He didn’t expect that response.”
Sura has become an avid golfer since retiring, and the former point guard even made an absurd bet that he will qualify for a PGA Tour Champions event by age 65.
To hear more from Sura, check out the entire episode in the video below.
