33 years ago today, Michael Jordan throws down a vicious dunk on Patrick Ewing in the 1991 NBA Playoffs.
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βThe tweet above was from media day leading into the 2017-2018 Chicago Bulls season. Gar/Pax routinely spoke about building a culture in Chicago, but what kind of culture were they trying to build? The Bulls traded Jimmy Butler, their then 3-time All-Star, to Minnesota for the potential of Zach LaVine - regarded as a volume scorer and great athlete - Kris Dunn, and the 7th pick which became Lauri Markkanen. This happened June 22nd, 2017. I remember sitting with friends watching the draft and finding out about it on Twitter before it was announced. I went silent. Not only did I coin the hashtag "BUTLERMANIA" during Butler's early days of ascension, not only did I spend years arguing with guys on Twitter about Butler's ceiling and how the Bulls had a player similar to Paul George, not only did I fully believe the Bulls went overboard getting Rondo and Wade to complement Butler and it was never going to work, but I believed that the Bulls could build a franchise around Jimmy Butler. We had seen performances like him dropping 52 points against Charlotte or his 53 points against Philadelphia. We saw the game winner in the preseason against Atlanta when Stacey King officially coronated him Jimmy G. Buckets. We saw him dunk on Chris Bosh when the Bulls ended Miami's legendary 27 game winning streak.
β The signs were there, but John Paxson infamously said that "no one in untradeable except Michael Jordan." Zach Lowe in 2017 felt the Bulls were uncomfortable with Jimmy Butler as a foundational player. They essentially chose Fred Hoiberg over Jimmy Butler. It was abundantly clear early on that Fred Hoiberg wasn't the coach of the future and was definitely not the offensive genius they hailed him to be when they hired him. The NBA is a players league and the Bulls essentially chose the doomed Hoiberg over Jimmy Butler and went with a rebuilding project instead. The 2016-2017 Minnesota Timberwolves went 31-51, were 10th in offensive rating and 27th in defensive rating. Butler arrives and the T-Wolves go 47-35, their defensive rating remained at 27th, but their offensive rating soared to 4th. The Timberwolves made the playoffs for the first time in 14 years. They lost in 5 to the Houston Rockets. The next season was steeped in controversy. He rejected a 4-year, $110 million contract extension from Minnesota and was allegedly "frustrated with the nonchalant attitude of his teammates." Butler shows up a week before the season and leads the third-stringers to a victory in a scrimmage over the starters and is yelling and swearing at them the entire time. It's all very Kobe-esque. The Timberwolves eventually trade him to Philadelphia, where he plays 55 games and averages 18 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and nearly 2 steals per game. The 76ers take the Raptors to seven games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals and are literally a bounce away from overtime to try and make the Eastern Conference Finals. Brett Brown didn't want to deal with Jimmy Butler anymore (reportedly) and so Philadelphia signs and trades him to Miami in the offseason. Which brings us to today: Last night, the Miami Heat eliminated the #1 seeded Milwaukee Bucks and have advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals. These playoffs, Butler is averaging 21.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2.1 steals, and shooting 47.7% from the field. He's been fantastic. The team Miami built around Butler is what Chicago could have done: Athletes that can shoot the ball, Butler and Bam are able to operate out of the post or through the pick and roll, and it makes them a difficult team to guard. This is kind of the pace and space team Gar/Pax envisioned, but I guess they couldn't envision it around Butler. Erik Spoelstra, who I've routinely crowned one of the best 5 coaches in the NBA, could and that's the difference between an organization like Miami and the Chicago Bulls. Miami never tore their roster completely down, but instead tweaked it and made shrewd moves (like trading for Jae Crowder and Andre Iguodala who have been valuable for them this postseason) and drafted very wisely to guys that fit what they wanted to do. They've also developed players and integrated Butler into the successful culture that really began when Shaq was traded here and paired with Dwyane Wade. Riley started the culture and shaped it for Spoelstra to step in seamlessly. Miami has had 3 championships and 5 Finals appearances in the past 14 years so the results speak for themselves. The Bulls? Well, since the Butler trade, they're on their third head coach after extinguishing Fred Hoiberg a little over a year and a half after they chose him over Jimmy Butler. They replaced him with an even more incompetent coach in Jim Boylen, who has also been fired (thankfully) and now, even Gar Forman has been terminated. Meanwhile, the Bulls are 71-158 (.310) since trading Jimmy Butler. The Timberwolves may not have benefited from trading for Jimmy Butler, but Butler himself has seen success leading Minnesota to the playoffs, being a bounce away from the Eastern Conference Finals, and now making the Eastern Conference Finals in Miami. The Bulls though? They're left with many questions: Do they have a franchise player? Who will be the next coach? Can Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley build an actual winning culture in Chicago? What players on the roster can contribute to a winning team? Miami doesn't have those questions. They took a chance on Jimmy Butler, built a team around him, and now are one round away from another Finals appearance. The Bulls had the same choice and they blew it. They didn't believe Butler was worth building around and now, they're stuck in basketball hell with no real direction. Things will inevitably get better for the Bulls under new management, but the real point is they never had to get to this point. We gave up on the Jimmy Butler-era when we could've built something like what we're seeing in Miami. We lost the Jimmy Butler trade. Michael Jordan had many defining moments in his NBA career, but few were as surreal as "the move." Jordan had several memorable highlights throughout his first six seasons in the NBA - some unbelievable dunks, 63 points against the Boston Celtics, and the shot on Craig Ehlo - but great players come up big in the Eastern Conference Finals or the NBA Finals. They had those memorable shots or plays that future generations look back on and think, "That was unbelievable." Magic Johnson cemented his legacy with the baby sky hook against the Celtics. Willis Reed became an icon by hobbling out of the tunnel to play in game 7 of the Finals. Larry Bird stole the ball and gave it up to Dennis Johnson for a layup against the Pistons. Julius Erving had the surreal up and under layup where he literally brought the ball behind the backboard and on the other side of the rim. In Michael Jordan's first NBA Finals, he placed himself in that pantheon with the rest of the NBA's legends and cemented his place as an all-time great. The 1991 Finals started off rough for the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls dropped game 1 after Sam Perkins hit a game winning three at Chicago Stadium. The Bulls had to rebound strong and they came prepared in game 2. The game was close for about two and a half quarters before the Bulls broke it open. The Bulls wanted and needed to finish strong and with 8 minutes left to go in the game, the score was 95-71. The Bulls were in control, but something about it still felt uneasy. These were Magic and the Lakers and the Bulls were still largely unproven. It felt like something needed to be done to assert their dominance over the Lakers and for Jordan and the Bulls to make a statement. Then it happened: I've seen the clip a hundred times and it's incredible each time, but when I watched the game for the first time, I didn't know when it happened and it sneaks up on you. Jordan does this move so fast and so effortlessly that it catches you off guard. The first time I watched it in the actual game, he did it and I just froze. My brain had to catch up and comprehend what I had just watched. Again, I'd seen this clip hundreds of times and still seeing it in live action was just incredible. Jordan takes off and I think he thought someone was coming over to try and alter the shot, but instead Perkins, James Worthy, and Vlade Divac just stand there in awe of what they're witnessing. No one comes to contest it and Jordan, preparing for the shot to be challenged, switches hands and lays it in with the other hand. Phil Jackson's reaction is wonderful, like he can't believe what he's seeing. Scott Williams raises both arms in the air as he backpedals down court and Cliff Levingston makes sure he runs over and celebrates with Jordan as the Lakers call timeout. The play made Chicago Stadium explode and asserted the Bulls' dominance over the Los Angeles Lakers. It was the first memorable Finals moment for Michael Jordan and a play that we see during every NBA Finals. It is iconic and a timeless classic. It was the moment that Michael Jordan and the Bulls became iconic and a team for the ages. I still remember sitting in my recliner. The Bulls had an early tip and I settled in to enjoy the beginning of what looked to be a championship run. The game was chippy. There were shenanigans with Evan Turner running his mouth leading up to the game and I remember Boozer and Evan Turner getting into it and Derrick Rose running up and clapping with intensity and defiance in their face. The Bulls were dominant. Derrick Rose was dominant. I couldn't believe this was the same guy I had saw in person three days prior in Indianapolis. That guy finished with only 10 points and 7 assists. That guy looked passive and like he was trying to play hurt. But this Derrick Rose dropped 23/9/9 for a near triple double on the 76ers. This Derrick Rose had intensity and looked like he wanted another piece of LeBron James and the Miami Heat. This team looked ready to make that leap and they looked like they were a legitimate championship team. But then it all came crashing down. My wife came in mere minutes before. She was pregnant with our fourth child at the time and was at a training that day. She brought me a thoughtful gift - one I wrote about somewhat jokingly as being a cursed figurine - Little Scottie Pippen. I have him in a box downstairs and I don't even look at it anymore. It just reminds me of that one play: I went from being on top of the world and feeling excited to feeling like someone had just dropkicked my dog into the middle of a busy highway. I was just sick. Here was our star, the youngest MVP in NBA history, and the most dynamic player the Bulls had in years if not a decade lying on the ground in obvious agony. I remember all the optimism running through my brain. "He didn't twist his knee. He probably just hyperextended it. I'm sure he'll be back in Game 2, but maybe a little slowed. I doubt it's serious." But realistically, it was obvious this was something more ominous. The United Center went deathly silent. Doug Collins, the opposing coach, was one of the closest near Rose and went to check on him. Everyone was shocked and concerned for this young kid. Not long after Game 1 we learned that it was indeed a torn ACL and Derrick Rose was done for the Playoffs. The ripple effect of this injury remains to this day. NBA history was irrevocably altered. Does LeBron James actually win that first title in 2012 or do the Bulls prevent them making their second Finals? What if Derrick Rose remained "Jordan" to Jimmy Butler's "Pippen?" Do the Bulls then have a potential dynasty in the making? The Bulls took Marquis Teague in the 2012 draft because of the uncertainty of Derrick Rose's recovery. What if Gar/Pax listened to Thibodeau, who allegedly wanted Draymond Green at the time, and didn't have to worry about potentially placing Rose? What if Derrick Rose continued being the All-Star caliber player he was? What if the Bulls were truly in a position to tweak their roster in hopes of putting a contender around Rose instead of denying that their star player was no longer a star? Would the Bulls have evolved with the rest of the NBA in the pace and space era instead of just being frozen in 2012 and hoping that group would eventually bring a championship? Would they be better off now? There are so many unanswered questions. The Rose-era Bulls never reached their true potential after making the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals. Rose has suffered more knee injuries since then. The Bulls moved on and now have Jimmy Butler as their star player, Fred Hoiberg as their coach, and are desperately trying to replicate what they had with Rose. Five years ago and it still feels like yesterday. It feels like we're still waiting for Derrick Rose to return and maybe fans are frozen in time, still bitter about the way all the promise and the potential the early Thibodeau/Rose partnership presented and how it came crumbling down in one single play. We haven't fully turned the page. We still think about these things, defend Rose to the death, and Bulls media still tweets out updates on him like he's still "our guy." We refuse to believe this era ended so abruptly. But it did. Five years ago. The ghost of that injury hovers over the franchise and has hindered the franchise from moving forward because of the cap ramifications of Derrick Rose's contract. Now the Bulls are truly beginning the process of building...something. That ghost will only disappear if the Bulls are able to somehow replicate what we had and somehow atone for that gruesome injury. I've never re-watched that game. I actually haven't even watched the clip of his injury. I just copied and pasted the link. I can't watch it. It's too much. It's too difficult to look back and remember what was before us, but five years ago, the path of the Chicago Bulls changed forever. I'm not fully over it yet. The above image is an iconic one in NBA history: Michael Jordan shoving Bryon Russell into obscurity and draining the game-winning shot for ring number six. How many times have you seen this picture? How many times have you watched the shot? How many times did you practice this exact shot outside your house or on the playground as a kid? For me, it was millions of times. This shot was the storybook ending to Michael Jordan's illustrious career regardless of what he did in Washington. It's one of the greatest shots, if not the greatest shot, in NBA history. What makes this shot even more incredible to me is the story behind the game. If you've never watched Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals, it's available on YouTube here.It isn't one of Michael's finest statistical games - he only recorded 1 rebound, 1 assist, and only shot nearly 43% from the field - but to me, it's one of the defining games of his career. The game starts off well with Pippen recording a dunk, but unfortunately, he injured his back and wasn't the same the rest of the game. He played only 26 minutes that night and recorded 8 points. In fact, the Bulls only had two players in double figures that game: Jordan and Toni Kukoc, whom recorded 15 points. The reliable Steve Kerr never even took a shot in 24 minutes of action. The Bulls had all of 11 bench points that game. The balanced Utah Jazz were playing in their deafening arena and this series looked like a lock to go to Game 7. But the greatest player of all-time intervened. This seems like a good time to point out a few things: 1) Michael Jordan was 35 years old at this time and the 2nd three-peat Bulls were running on fumes. 2) Michael Jordan had played most of the season with a torn ligament in his right index finger 3) Again, Scottie Pippen hurt himself the very first play of the game and actually only played 44 games that year due to injuries and anger towards Jerry Krause. How could this Bulls team overcome these odds and win this game, much less this series, without Scottie Pippen? It had to be impossible right? Somebody forgot to tell Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan finished with 45 points that night - 23 in the first half, 22 in the second half. Watch the final 3 minutes of the game. Jordan just simply decided to leave it all on the court. He misses a three, produces an incredible steal, and then tries to create something before Rodman gets called for an offensive foul. You'll see that as a recurring theme throughout the end of this game: Jordan, who had 16 points in the fourth quarter, keeps trying to create something, but it just seems like the tank is empty. To make things worse, he bangs his knee on John Stockton, who tried to draw a charge, and limped out of the timeout. The Bulls dynasty looked over. Then he steps up and drains both free-throws. The final 59.2 seconds are a thing of beauty. Stockton nails a three to put the Jazz up 86-83 and it looks like Game 7 is merely a formality. 41.9 seconds left and Jordan takes the inbounds pass, drives past Bryon Russell and hits a difficult layup in the paint. The Bulls are down only 1 with 34 seconds remaining. And here comes a familiar sequence. One in which Phil Jackson told Michael Jordan simply, "Beautiful." It's one of the finest sequences in basketball history and if you could put Michael Jordan's career into one sequence, this is it: Defensive excellence, offensive brilliance, and pure will. Watch as Malone posts up, Jordan cheats off, and then punches the ball right out of his hands and just takes the ball as Karl Malone crumbles to the ground. 19 seconds left and Jordan drives up the court and everyone in the arena knew what was coming. Everyone was standing. Jordan drives, gives Russell a gentle shove that you could see on the subsequent replays, but would be difficult to see from Dick Bavetta's point of view, and hits the wide open shot holding his form in the iconic photo shown above. Ultimately, it was the game winning shot and sealed championship number six for the Chicago Bulls. Jordan finished with 45 points. The next closest Bull was Kukoc with 15. Pippen and Harper finished with 8 and then Rodman with 7. Jordan literally dragged this aging Chicago Bulls team, a team on fumes, to championship number six. It is one of the finest performances of Michael Jordan's storied career and one that often only gets remembered for the final shot. But the game in it's entirety should be considered iconic. It was the personification of Michael Jordan's legacy: Excellence, a competitiveness that set him apart from any of his peers and still does today, and that left him standing above the competition. The more I watch of Michael Jordan and the more I notice the nuances that made him unique, the more I'm certain we will never see another player like Michael Jordan. He was truly one of a kind. Game 6 of the NBA Finals boxscore |
AuthorBrandon Pence is the founder & author of "The Bulls Charge." Pence has been a Bulls fan since 1993 following the shot by John Paxson, believes Michael Jordan is undeniably the GOAT, and has Derrick Rose as his all-time favorite Bull following Scottie Pippen's weird feud with Michael Jordan. "The Bulls Charge" was established in 2011. Archives
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