It took a fight for Steve Kerr to gain Michael Jordan’s respect. Looking back at their altercation, though, it was a seminal moment in the relationship between the two former teammates.

As ESPN presents “The Last Dance,” a 10-part documentary of Jordan’s last season with the Bulls, there are many stories like this that give insight into Jordan the competitor.

Kerr, now the Warriors coach, spent five years with the Bulls. When Jordan returned from his year-plus away on the baseball diamond, Kerr was new to him. In training camp of the 1995-96 season, he got tired of Jordan pushing him around and it led to a scuffle that left Kerr with a black eye.

“I would say it definitely helped our relationship, and that probably sounds really weird,” he said on TNT. “I wouldn’t recommend that to anybody at home. I think that it has to be understood in the context of intense competition. One thing that was more prevalent back then, than now, is the intensity of practices back then. I think we’re smarter now with preserving our players. We don’t have as many practice days now, it’s more about rest and recovery, so there’s not as much competition. Most of that is good — you see LeBron is in his 17th or 18th season, whatever it is. I think Michael Jordan only played 12 or 13 years.

“My point is, practices were really intense. They were a huge part of the Bulls and Michael setting a standard for our play. Practice fights — not only on that team, there were probably three of ’em during the year on that team — on every team I played on in the late ’80s, early ’90s, there were a few practice fights. There was just a lot of competition, things would get out of hand, and it really wasn’t a huge deal in the grand scheme of things.

“For me in that case, Michael was definitely testing me, and I responded, and I feel like I passed the test and he trusted me more afterwards.”

The incident began with Kerr talking back and returning the physicality Jordan was giving him, throwing an elbow at one point. They exchanged forearm shivers and Jordan attacked him.

“I was like the kid in ‘Jurassic Park’ who got attacked by the velociraptor,” Kerr said in a 2016 interview with Vice. “I had no chance. It was just mayhem. We were screaming at each other.”

But it paid off down the road for Kerr. He passed the test.