Michael Jordan Retires 32 Years Ago Today

Photo: Michael Jordan announces his retirement from the NBA on Oct. 6, 1993 from the Berto Center. Photo credit: Jonathan Daniel, Getty Images.

By the conclusion of the 1992-93 NBA season, Michael Jordan had won three consecutive championships. His Chicago Bulls were the first franchise to do so since Bill Russell’s Boston Celtics (1958-1966). Jordan was a 3-time NBA Most Valuable Player (1988, 1991, 1992), the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year for 1987-88, and had just won his seventh consecutive scoring title (32.6 points per game). His 37.1 points per game average in 1986-87 was the most since Wilt Chamberlain. 

For the 1992-93 season, Jordan finished third in MVP voting, second in Defensive Player of the Year voting, and made both All-NBA 1st team and the All-Defense 1st team for the sixth consecutive season. Jordan had played all 82 games five times already, had led the NBA in minutes twice (40.4 in 1987-88, 40.2 in 1988-89), and field-goals made every season from 1986-87 to 1992-93. Three times he led the NBA in steals. 

In their title seasons, the Bulls had won 61, 67, and 57 games. They had won the ‘91 Finals in five games over Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers, won the ‘92 Finals in six games over Clyde Drexler and the Portland Trail Blazers, and the ‘93 Finals in six games over MVP Charles Barkley and the Phoenix Suns. Jordan was named Finals’ MVP in each, and had just averaged 41.0 points (50.8% shooting), 8.5 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 1.7 steals against the Suns in one of the greatest Finals’ performances ever. 

But on October 6, 1993, MJ stunned everyone when he retired from the game, two months and change after the death of his father James. 

“When I lose a sense of motivation and a sense of to prove something as a basketball player, it’s time for me to walk away from the game of basketball,” said Jordan in a somber Berto Center. Scottie Pippen wore shades. Jordan’s teammates had akin to blank looks on their faces. The game’s best player at the peak of his greatness was leaving the game and the league that he had revolutionized. After nine seasons, he had carved out a career that had already propelled him into the stratosphere in the exclusive club that is members only to the all-time best. At age 30, he had an argument for the best player the game had seen. 

Of course, Jordan’s retirement led him to Birmingham, Ala. and the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, the Birmingham Barons. Jordan in his documentary Michael Jordan to the Max referenced a conversation that he had had with his father before his father’s tragic passing, and relayed in the documentary that his father had encouraged him to give baseball a shot. 

Photo: Michael Jordan with the Birmingham Barons, the AA affiliate of the Chicago White Sox that Jordan played 127 games with in 1994. Photo credit: Jim Gund, 1994 Getty Images.

Jordan was signed by the Chicago White Sox on Feb. 7, 1994. He played 127 games in the Southern League with the Barons after being assigned to the team on March 31, 1994. He joined the team on April 8, one day after playing an exhibition game against the Chicago Cubs in which he went 2-for-5 with two RBI. From April 10 to April 26, Jordan pieced together a 13-game hitting streak, a period in which he batted .378 (17-of-45). In his overall Barons’ career, Jordan batted .202 and stole 30 bases. He was coached in Birmingham by future Major League Baseball World Series-winning manager Terry Francona.  

In the fall of 1994, Jordan joined the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League. Upon Jordan’s arrival, the league sold 2,200 season tickets, which was a record. In two months with the Scorpions, Jordan batted .252. Among future MLB players in the Arizona Fall League in 1994 were Jason Kendall (Pittsburgh Pirates all-star catcher), Doug Glanville (outfielder known for his time with the Philadelphia Phillies), and journeyman catcher Gregg Zaun. 

Photo: Michael Jordan with the Scottsdale Scorpions in 1994. Photo credit: Jonathan Daniel, Getty Images.

Jordan left baseball on March 10, 1995 due to the Major League Basketball strike that had halted the 1994 MLB season. 

On March 18, 1995, Jordan announced that he was returning to the Bulls. He played in his first NBA game in nearly two years on March 19, 1995 against the Indiana Pacers at Market Square Arena. The rusty MJ scored 19 points but shot 7-of-28 in 43 minutes, a game that the Bulls lost 103-96 in overtime. Four games later though, Jordan knocked any remaining rust off, exploding for 55 points against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. In Game 1 of the first round against the Charlotte Hornets, he made 18-of-32 shots in 47 minutes for 48 points, with 9 rebounds and 8 assists. On May 7, in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Orlando Magic, Jordan struggled, making just 8-of-22 shots for 19 points. Late in the game, he had the ball stolen from behind by Orlando shooting guard Nick Anderson. Jordan switched his uniform back to No. 23 from No. 45, and proceeded to score 38 points and 40 points in the next two games, and 39 in Game 5. The Bulls though ended up losing in six games. 

The Bulls’ brief blunder turned out to be short lived, however, as a full training camp, the arrival of Dennis Rodman and a motivated squad (and MJ with revenge on the mind) won a record 72 games in 1995-96, a season that culminated in a fourth championship for the franchise. The Bulls won 67 games in 1996-97 and 62 in 1997-98. They won each of their last five championship series in six games. Jordan was MVP in each one. 

Post-Jordan, the Bulls went six seasons without a playoff appearance. They have won 39 playoff games in the 27 years since Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Phil Jackson left Chicago.