Michael Jordan may have seemed like a teammate from hell ... but ex-Bulls player Scott Burrell says he welcomed MJ's tough antics ... telling TMZ Sports he LOVED the way #23 motivated him.
Previously unreleased footage of the '98 Bulls season aired on ESPN's "The Last Dance" doc Sunday ... showing Jordan cussing at, mocking and being extra hard on certain players during practice.
Burrell -- who was on the receiving end of a lot of Jordan's harsh actions -- says it wasn't as bad as it looked ... 'cause he WANTED His Airness to prep him to be a contributing player on a championship team.