Three for Number Twenty-Three
April 9, 2009 by Chrisangelo
This entry is a tad late, as Michael Jeffrey Jordan was inducted into the Hall of fame a couple of days ago. But it’s better late than never right?
Through his long illustrious career, we’ve seen the most outrageous, the most amazing things done by MJ. We’ve seen him hit game winners, we’ve seen him light up the score board, we’ve seen the most amazing dunks, passes and the best defensive plays done by the man. Which brings me to this question.. give me three Michael Jordan moments that will forever be played all over your head. Three moments that will be the headlines of your story once you sit in front of your grandkids 30 to 40 years from now. Here’s mine.
Number 3: “THE SHOT”
Where: Coliseum at Richfield - Cleveland Ohio
When: 1989 NBA Playoffs, Round 1.
The Scene: It was the fifth and final game of the series against Cleveland and the Cavs were up by 1 99-98 with three seconds to go.
Jordan Moment: Who would ever forget this announciating?
The inbounds pass comes in to Jordan. Here’s Michael at the foul line, the shot on Ehlo…good! The Bulls win! They win! They beat Cleveland Cavaliers!
We’ve all heard it, one way or another, we’ve seen and heard this magical moment. While I wasn’t even born during that time, it’s hard to grow up loving basketball and not watch the historic game between the Cavs and the Bulls in the first round of the 1989 NBA Playoffs. MJ scored 44 points, including this shot which is being looked at as one of the best game winners in basketball history.
Number 2: “Flu or no Flu”
Where: Delta Center - Salt Lake City, Utah
When: 1997 NBA Finals
The Scene: The series was tied and it was the fifth game of the championship series between the Utah Jazz and the Chicago Bulls. Michael was reportedly diagnosed with stomach flu and reports say he was dehydrated bad coming into the ball game.
Jordan Moment: Michael played for 44 minutes, dropped 38 points (13/27 shooting) grabbed 7 rebounds, dished out 5 assists and had 3 steals leaving every Bulls and Jazz fans alike in awe as they saw a sick Michael Jordan dominate the game and lead the Bulls to a 3-2 lead.
“I’ve never seen Michael as sick as he was, to the point where I didn’t even think he was going to be able to put his uniform on, he effort he came out and showed us was incredible. He’s not only the greatest player ever, but the greatest leader ever.” - Scottie Pippen
Number 1: “The Last Charge as a Bull”
Where: Delta Center - Salt Lake City, Utah
When: 1998 NBA Finals
The Scene: The Bulls were ahead going into game 6, 3-2, but game 7 would also be played at the Delta Center
Jordan Moment: Michael scored 45 points in that game, had a clutch time defensive play on Karl malone then nailed the jumper on Bryon Russell with 5.2 seconds to go to give Chicago their 3rd straight, and 6th championship overall. This will forever be known as Michael Jordan’s last shot as a Chicago Bull and the end of the Chicago dynasty.
”He wouldn’t let us lose. If this is to be his last game, he left us all with a performance to remember. He’s the greatest player ever, and this proves it.” - Phil Jackson
So here’s to all of you hoops readers..
What is your favorite Michael Jordan moment?
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I’ll give ones that really sticked to me and won’t mention the ones you did:
game 1 of the ‘97 Finals - the first MJ gamewinner (over Bryon Russell, nonetheless) I actually witnessed live on TV. Fistpump, then cut to commercial. Epic.
against Utah in the Finals (i forgot the year) - MJ driving to the baseline, reverse layup and Ostertag with the i’ll-make-sure-you-don’t-make-this-shot-foul that resulted to And1. Proving he can still do circus shots.
game 6 of the ‘97 Finals - the Jazz learned a lesson from Game 1 and tried to double team MJ, but they forgot to cover Steve Kerr. So MJ with the game-winning assist.
and dami, some already mentioned… ill give 3 too…
1. of course the slam-off with nique. culminating with the FT dunk. classic.
2. the sorry-im-too-good-for-ya’all show-off contra cliff robinson
3. the sick dunk over patrick ewing…. the knicks sealed the baseline, he got out, then he spun and went back again towards the baseline. there, patrick ewing got the special poster from MJ.