Grant Long, a 15-year NBA veteran who was part of the original Miami expansion team, once shared a little story about Michael Jordan. In the 1990-91 season, Jordan was under the weather while playing for the Bulls in Miami, and struggled in the first half. One of Andreas Martinsen Jersey Jordans errant shots had been blocked by Willie Burton, a rookie out of Minnesota, and as the Heat went into the locker room at halftime, Burton blurted out, I am shutting him down! I got him on lockdown!Little was it known to Burton that Jordan was just a few feet behind him. When the teams came out for halftime, Jordan called over to Long and Steve Smith, and told them, I have had a cold for a while, I have not been feeling great. But your buddy over there was talking smack, so I am about to turn it up on you all.MORE:|Jordan finished with 37 points, and the Bulls won by 11.The story comes to mind as Pistons rookie Stanley Johnson has attracted some attention for his postgame comments following Detroits lo s to the Cavaliers in Game 2 of their first-round series on Wednesday. Despite the fact that James went 12-for-18 in the win, and finished with 27 points, Johnson speculated that he was, in his head, thats for sure.Johnson added that James only likes to trash talk when he is ahead, and characterized James bump on Johnson during the first quarter as, a cheap-a s shot, a cheap-a s bump. I dont know.Thats some hot stuff. But looking at the Pistons situation, and knowing what we know about both Johnson and James, why should Johnson not shoot off his mouth?For one thing, hes just following the lead of his coach, Stan Van Gundy, who said Rob Ramage Jersey in a TV interview during Game Carl Soderberg Jersey 1 that his players had better be careful because, They're not going to call offensive fouls on him. He gets to do whatever he wants. Van Gundy drew a $25,000 fine for that.But more important, James is not Jordan. Thats not speaking to skill, its speaking to mental preparation. Jordan, even at his peak, was constantly seeking out reasons to be offended in order to get himself motivated. The game was, at times, so easy for Jordan that he couldnt seem to interest himself unle s he was playing with an edge. And he looked for that edge in every comment he could find from an opponent.MORE: Willie Burton spoke, Jordan dominated.Thats not how James is. He doesnt respond well to media back-and-forth, he does not drive himself through the trash-talk of others. He has always been as great a pa ser as a scorer, so if he feels like he needs to score 37 points to shut up a rookie opponent, hes outside his comfort zone. If anything, Rene Bourque Jersey that kind of banter only throws James off.Johnson, for his part, is supremely confident, and always has been. Back in early January, when Johnson knocked down a corner 3-pointer to secure a Pistons win in Boston, he said after the game that he is not looking to sit around waiting for glory. He was planning on going to get it.When they drafted me here, they told me not to wait, Johnson said then. They told me not to be a rookie, not to settle for being OK. Try to be great, every night. In my mind, I intend to be great every night. If Im playing from the top of the league to the bottom of the league, it doesnt matter.MORE: It should be no surprise, then, that Johnson is carrying himselfdespite the stubborn factsas though he has James on lockdown. Thats his personality as a player, even if he is still but a rookie who Mikhail Grigorenko Jersey averaged 8.1 points and shot 37.5 percent from the field. Trash-talk fuels certain guys, no matter their spot in the league hierarchy.Michael Jordan was, of course, the emperor of using trash talk as fuel for performance. But thats never been James thing, never been his approach. Hes always been at his best when using his teammates to accentuate his variety of skills, and lets face it, you cant go barking down the court after you set up a perimeter jumper out of the post. Dont expect James to get into any in-game verbal sparring with Johnsonif he does, then Johnson will be proven right. He will, indeed, have gotten into James head.