The Last Dance – Episode 8
The Last Dance Episode 8
Today, we learn about Jordan’s comeback after his first retirement, and how the Bulls advance through the 1998 NBA Playoffs in their quest to win a 6th title in 8 years.
Episode 8
It’s May of 1998 as Michael and the Bulls look to continue on with their quest for a 6th title. After sweeping the Nets in the first round, they would now face the Charlotte Hornets in the 2nd round. Many expected the Bulls to dominate and sweep the series with the Hornets and advance to the next round.
BJ Armstrong, who was a key member of the first 3-peat with the Bulls, was now a member of the Charlotte Hornets. He and the Hornets knew that the Bulls were the far superior team.
Jordan had 35 points and the Bulls won Game 1 83-70. Going into Game 2, Armstrong believed that he knew the Bulls triangle offense well, and how to beat it. Armstrong was on fire, hitting jump-shots from around the perimeter. The Hornets were hanging around with the Bulls, and they would not go away.
The Hornets led 74-71 with just over 20 seconds left. A score would give them the win, tying the series. Armstrong dribbled around, guarded by Jordan. He dribbled across the lane to hit a right wing mid-range jumper with 17 seconds left. And, he let the Bulls know about it, yelling and celebrating with his teammates. Armstrong had 10 points off the bench, and the Hornets won 78-76. The series was now tied 1-1. BJ thought that he knew the Bulls.
But, Michael knew that celebrating and screaming like that was just a bone that fueled him to win. “You know, I’m supposed to kill this guy. You know, I’m supposed to dominate this guy. And from that point, I did,” said Jordan.
Jordan would make things up to play hard that night, to go at somebody that night. “These little slights were deep indignation’s to him,” said Mark Vancil.
A key example of this is the LaBradford Smith story. In March of 1993, the Bulls were playing the Bullets (now Wizards), featuring Smith. The Bullets were terrible. But, LaBradford Smith had himself a game, hitting shots from everywhere. Jordan was struggling, and was not at his usual high standard. Smith finished with 37 points, but the Bulls won. Leaving the game, Smith had told Jordan “Nice game, Mike.”
The Bulls played the Bullets in Washington the next night. On the plane ride, Michael said that he would have as many points as Smith did last night by halftime. And Jordan went after Smith all night long. Jordan scored 36 in the first half. He would finish with 47 as the Bulls won 126-101.
A few decades later, there is a rumor that this never happened. That Smith never said “Nice game, Mike.” A few writers asked him about it, and he said that he made it up. “There’s nothing he would not do to get himself to the place where he’s going to beat you,” said Michael Wilbon.
Now that the Hornets had woken up Michael Jordan, it was time for a dogfight. In Game 3, Jordan had 27 points, and Armstrong had just 2 as the Bulls won 103-89. Game 4 was more of the same as Michael had 31 points and the Bulls cruised to a 94-80 victory, taking a 3-1 series lead.
The Bulls finished out the series in game 5 back in Chicago as they won 93-84 behind Michael who had 33. The Bulls beat the Hornets 4-1, and they advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals to take on Reggie Miller and the Indiana Pacers.
From May of 1998, we flash back to March of 1995. Jordan was increasingly getting better at baseball, and the possibility of him going to the majors was getting higher and higher. But, there was a strike, and Michael refused to play. So, without baseball, Jordan had nothing to do. So, he called former teammate BJ Armstrong to meet up. The two of them go to practice to see the rest of the team. Armstrong was telling Michael how he would beat Jordan one-on-one. So, they played.
Jordan was starting to think that a comeback to the NBA was possible. Scottie was on the bench during a game, and a camera was pointed at him. He lifted his shoe up, displaying the Air Jordan logo. He pointed his finger to come closer, saying for Michael to come back.
As Michael started to come to more practices and be around the Bulls more, people were really starting to believe that he would come back. After a couple of weeks, Jordan tells his agent that he is ready to come back. Falk makes a few different press announcements that he was coming back, but Michael did not like them. So, Falk gave Jordan the pen and the paper, and he wrote two words.
“I’m Back”
Everybody went crazy, especially in Chicago as Michael was returning. Jordan’s first game back would be against the Pacers in Indiana. The Bulls were struggling that season, only at 34-31 at the time. They were far worse than last seasons team which had gone 55-27. A major part for their struggles was the departure of Horace Grant. Grant left the Bulls for Orlando. Now the Bulls were without a rebounding and defensive minded big.
Jordan wore #45 for his return, the number that he had been wearing while he was playing baseball. This was also the number that Jordan wore in high school.
Jordan’s return was not as smooth as anticipated. His shorts were backwards, and the normal dominance to his game was missing. His jumpers were off, and he would miss most of his inside shots. Glimpses of his former self appeared, but not for long. Jordan had 19 points on 7 for 28 shooting and the Bulls lost 103-96 in OT. But, he was back.
Jordan’s body was not the same after playing baseball for a year and a half. Baseball focuses on different parts of the body than basketball does. So, Jordan’s body was not right. But just 6 days after his return, he showed the world the real Michael Jordan. The Bulls were playing the Hawks in Atlanta. With just under 6 seconds left, the Bulls were down by 1, 98-97. Jordan got the ball in the backcourt and dribbled all the way down the court. He did a in and out dribble and pulled up from the right elbow. And he sunk it at the buzzer. He was back.
But, perhaps the most iconic moment from his comeback season was the Double Nickel game at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks. This was coming just 3 days after the game against Atlanta. Jordan exploded all night long. He was just back in form. The jumpers were falling, his inside game was working. Everything just clicked. With 14 seconds left, the game was tied. Jordan spun into a double team and made a jump pass to Bill Wennington down low. Wennington dunked it, and the Bulls won 113-111 behind 55 from Michael.
The Bulls finished the season 47-35. They beat the Charlotte Hornets 3-1 in the first round, and played Horace Grant and the Orlando Magic in the 2nd round. Along with Grant, the Magic had some good players like Shaquille O’Neal, Penny Hardaway, and Nick Anderson.
With 22 seconds left, the Bulls led by 1, 91-90 and they had the ball. Michael dribbled across half-court when he had the ball stolen from behind by Nick Anderson. On the break, the Magic scored off of a dunk from Horace Grant and the Magic led 92-91. Jordan had a chance to redeem himself. He dribbled down the lane where he was met. He tried to throw it to a cutting Scottie Pippen on the left wing, but the pass was behind him and it went out of bounds. The Magic won Game 1.
After the Magic won, Nick Anderson said “45 ain’t 23.” Now Michael was going to come at you.
In Game 2, Jordan switched back to #23, stating that it did not fell natural. Jordan dominated, scoring 38 points en route to a 104-94 win for Chicago. The series was tied 1-1. But, Jordan was starting to get exhausted as his body was not ready for the entire postseason.
Jordan scored 40 in Game 3, but the Bulls lost 110-101 and they were now down 2-1. The Bulls won Game 4, 106-95 and they tied the series at 2-2. But, the Magic won Games 5 and 6 and they beat the Bulls 4-2, knocking them out of the playoffs. The Magic went to the NBA Finals where they were swept by the Rockets.
Jordan did not like the fact that they had loss, no matter what his body was like. Walking off the court like that hurt. Now he was determined. Instead of going off on vacation for a couple of weeks, he and trainer get back to work the day after the loss. Jordan felt like he had let down his teammates, the organization, and all of the fans. Now, he wanted to show the world that Michael Jordan was not gone.
That summer, Jordan had other things than basketball to do. The move Space Jam was being filmed at Warner Brother studios. Michael said that he needed to train after the film sessions were over. So, they built a full scale gym for Michael with a court. After filming, he would go play. He would invite some NBA players to come and play pickup games like Reggie Miller, Patrick Ewing, Dennis Rodman and Juwan Howard. Jordan was getting better and better, slowly getting back into his old form.
Going into the 1995-96 season, Michael and the Bulls were determined to get back on top. Michael was especially tough on some of the new guys like Steve Kerr and Luc Longley. One day Phil Jackson puts Kerr on Michael Jordan. Jordan is going at Kerr, talking trash, the whole act. So, Jackson starts calling ticky-tack fouls on Michael. Michael is mad because he feels like this won’t prepare Kerr for New York, and the rest of the NBA, all of whom are coming after the Bulls.
Next time Kerr came down the lane, Michael hit him with a cheap shot foul, saying “Now that’s a foul.” Steve responds and shoves Michael in the chest. Michael punches Steve in the eye in return. Michael is thrown out of practice. Micheal talks with Phil and he feels bad about what happened. So, Michael calls Steve after practice and they apologize to each other. Michael grew a respect for Steve after this, and they would both become great teammates and friends.
Along with a new and improved Michael Jordan, the Bulls had acquired Dennis Rodman, the rebounding machine. They had Scottie Pippen, Toni Kukoc and lots of key role guys. The Bulls had perhaps the greatest season of all time, going 72-10 in the regular season. This broke the record for the most wins in a season. This record would not be broken until the 2015-16 Warriors, who were coached by Steve Kerr, went 73-9.
But, the Bulls were not satisfied with just a record in the regular season. They wanted a championship. They swept the Miami Heat in the 1st round 3-0. They beat the Knicks 4-1 in the 2nd round. They met the Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals. Michael had been thinking all about the Magic after the loss in the playoffs last season. Now it was time for revenge. The Bulls swept the Magic 4-0 to advance to the 1996 NBA Finals. They would meet the Seattle Supersonics, who were the best team in the Western Conference that season.
Many believed that Jordan and the Bulls were going to sweep the Sonics and complete the dream season. But, the Sonics were determined to prove everybody wrong. Gary Payton was the defensive point guard who had won Defensive Player of the Year that year. Shawn Kemp was a lob threat and explosive athlete. The Sonics were one of the teams that had beaten the Bulls in the regular season. They also had a good coach in George Karl.
During a night before the Finals started, Ahmad Rashad and Michael Jordan went out to dinner. They saw George Karl, the Sonics coach. Michael says hi, but gets no response. Karl just walks right past him without saying a word. Now Jordan had some added fuel to win. Just what the Sonics needed.
The Bulls opened the series with a dominant 107-90 win with Michael scoring 28. Game 2 was more of the same as Michael scored 29 points and the Bulls won 92-88. Now leading 2-0, the next 3 games would be in Seattle. Game 3 the Bulls again dominated, winning 108-86 as Michael had 36. Now leading 3-0, the Bulls looked for the sweep.
But, the Sonics needed to do something to stay alive in the series. So, they put Gary Payton in Michael. They had not done this because they wanted Gary to be more of an offensive threat. Now, the Defensive Player of the Year vs Michael, one of the best match-ups in Finals history. And, Gary did well. He was playing Michael physical, talking trash. He was making it tough for Michael. The Sonics won Game 4 107-86 as Michael had just 23 points on 6 for 19 shooting. The Bulls still led 3-1, but they wanted to finish it out in Game 5.
Game 5 was more of the same for the Sonics as Payton played Michael tough again. The Sonics won 89-78 as Michael was held to 26 points. The series was 3-2 as Game 6 was back in Chicago.
When Michael hears Gary Payton talking about what was his strategy to defend Michael, Michael just stars laughing. Laughing. At one of the greatest defenders in the 90s, and somebody who had held Michael to career lows in the Finals. He was laughing. “I had no problem with the Glove. I had a lot of other things on my mind.”
Game 6 was back in Chicago, and it was held on Fathers Day. This was obviously a very important and emotional day for Michael, and he wanted to win for his father. Although Michael only had 22 points on 5 for 19 shooting, the Bulls beat the Sonics 87-75. They had won their first championship in 2 seasons, and it was their 4th with Michael Jordan. Jordan was emotional, dedicating the win to his late father. After entering the locker room, Jordan curled up on the floor and started sobbing. Every time Michael was won a championship, his father had been right there with him. Now he wasn’t there for the first time. Michael had been holding it together all season, for his family. Now he let it all go as he and the Bulls were champions once again.
Flash forward from June of 1996 to May of 1998. The Bulls had gone through the 1998 NBA Playoffs with relative ease. Now they faced the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals. People started wondering if Indiana could beat the Bulls and end the dynasty on a sour note. The Bulls were determined to finish the dynasty with a championship. Now, it was time to show the world why they were 5x world champions.
What was your favorite part of the episode? What were you most surprised to learn about? Leave all of your Last Dance comments down below.
Follow my Instagram: @hoopnotions
