Argue if you wish, but many roundball watchers consider Michael Jordan the greatest player to ever play. There's MJ, there's Wilt, LeBron, Kareem, and others. Whatever your view, all have an argument.
But today marks two special anniversaries for the man who ruled the 90s.
First, 34 years ago today, Jordan poured in 69 points, grabbed 18 rebounds, and dished out six assists against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Bulls 117-113 win at the Richfield Coliseum. Jordan hit on 23 shots out of 37 attempts, and was 21-of-23 from the free-throw line. This was the younger Jordan, having just turned 27. The Jordan that still had the knock of not being a winner, a burden that he would extinguish just one year later.
29 years ago today is the anniversary of Jordan's "Double-Nickel" at Madison Square Garden.
In just his fifth game back from his baseball foray, Jordan lit up the Knicks, particularly John Starks, for 55 points on 21-of-37 shooting and three-of-four from three.
Unlike years earlier, this was a different Jordan. Having just come back from a year and a half off, he was knocking off the rust after recently trading in his Louisville Slugger for a Spalding. Tactical in his approach, strategic in getting where he wanted - pull ups and pump fakes. With the game on the line, Jordan drove on Starks on the right wing, stopped, crossed over, and spun to his left, attracting Patrick Ewing. Jordan, leaving his feet, found center Bill Wennington with a two-handed pass around the body of the Knicks' center. Wennington, unattended, dunked the ball.
113-111 Bulls was the final score. With the win, the Bulls improved to 37-33. It was the second game of what would be a six-game winning streak. One game prior, Jordan hit the game-winning shot in Atlanta. Of course, the Bulls, who won 47 games that year, went on to lose to the Orlando Magic in six games in the second round - the lasting memory from that series a Nick Anderson theft of Jordan late in Game 1. When Anderson remarked postgame that MJ wasn't the same player in number 45, Jordan went back to 23.
Beginning the next season, number 23 and the Bulls reeled off another three-peat, starting with the 1995-1996 season when they won 72 games. Two years later, Jordan retired a second time after completing his Bull career with his sixth championship in 1998.
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