Michael Jordan: Legends in Sports (8 page)

Before game one, Michael reassured his younger teammates. “They’re beatable,” he told them. “We just have to find a way.”
The way to beat Detroit, the Bulls now knew, was through teamwork and defense.

Game one was a typical Chicago-Detroit matchup — rough, tough, and low scoring. After three periods, the Bulls led, 68–65.

In previous years, this was the time of the game when Detroit’s defense had always taken control. They had swarmed over Michael
Jordan and watched as the other Bulls made mistakes and committed turnovers, leading to easy baskets for the Pistons.

But this year was different. The Bulls were a different team. While the Pistons focused on Michael, a couple of Bull reserves,
Craig Hodges and Cliff Levingston, keyed a fourth-quarter run that put the
Bulls ahead to stay. Although Michael Jordan scored only 22 points in the game, the Bulls won, 94–83.

The big loss shattered Detroit’s confidence. The Bulls defense was intimidating the Pistons, while the offense spread points
up and down the lineup. Chicago swept Detroit in four games and earned the right to play the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA
Finals.

The Lakers, led by guard Magic Johnson, had won the NBA championship three times in the last decade and were known as the
“Team of the 80s.” Even though the 1980s were over, they were still a formidable opponent.

Magic Johnson rivaled Michael Jordan for the title of best player in the league. He deserved much of the credit for L.A.’s
performance. The unselfish point guard made everyone on his team a better player and keyed L.A.’s vaunted fast break, known
as “Showtime.” He had plenty of help from teammates James Worthy and Sam Perkins, Michael Jordan’s former teammates at North
Carolina. The Lakers, with previous championship experience, were favored to win.

The finals opened in Chicago. In game one, the Lakers taught the Bulls a lesson and demonstrated why they were champions.
Los Angeles out-thought and out-hustled the Bulls for a full 48 minutes.

Instead of running their fast break, the Lakers slowed down and played a patient half-court offense. The strategy shook up
the Bulls and allowed the Lakers to control the pace of the game. The Bulls’ fast break never got on track. In the final seconds,
Sam Perkins hit a three-pointer to put L.A. up by two, and when Michael Jordan’s desperation 18-footer rattled out of the
basket, L.A. escaped with a 93–91 win.

Michael took matters into his own hands in game two. But instead of turning the game into a demonstration of Team Jordan,
he acted as playmaker. Throughout the first quarter, he passed up shots of his own to set up his teammates for easy baskets.
By involving everyone in the game, he was able to disrupt the Lakers’ slow-down strategy. At halftime, the Bulls led, 48–43.

By the third quarter, the Bulls offense was working on all cylinders. Michael Jordan had pulled a Magic Johnson and made everyone
on the team better.
The Lakers didn’t know who to guard anymore. In the third quarter, the Bulls scored 38 points to turn the game into a rout.
Michael Jordan even got into the act. Over the last part of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth, he hit 13 straight
shots in one of the most remarkable performances ever in the NBA Finals.

One play in particular left fans talking for days. Early in the fourth quarter, Michael took a pass on the break and charged
down the lane to the hoop. As he rose for a shot, he lifted the ball high in the air with his right hand and appeared poised
for a dunk.

But his old Tar Heel teammate Sam Perkins had other ideas. Perkins, who was six foot ten and had the longest arms in the league,
moved in front of Michael. In perfect position, Perkins jumped up to swat the ball away.

His hand found only air. The ball was gone. When Michael saw Perkins reach out, he calmly pulled the ball down, switched it
to his left hand, then twisted under and around the shocked Perkins to flip in an underhand scoop shot off the glass. After
the ball went in, Michael seemed surprised. He raced down the court with an “even-I-can’t-believe-it” look on
his face while the crowd went crazy. The Bulls roared to victory, 107–86, and tied the series at one game each.

The Bulls traveled to Los Angeles for game three. The Lakers made the most of their home-court advantage and carved out a
comfortable lead. But near the end of the third quarter, the Bulls reserves keyed another big run. Chicago won going away,
104–96.

Game four was a given. Both James Worthy and Laker guard Byron Scott were injured, and the demoralized Lakers missed both
players. L.A. never got untracked. Michael Jordan scored 28 points and dished out 13 assists. The Bulls won, 97–83, to take
a commanding three-games-to-one lead in the series.

Still the Lakers hadn’t won three championships in the 1980s by giving up without a fight. In game five, before their home
crowd, they played like champions. But the Bulls played better.

With a little more than six minutes left to play in the fourth quarter, L.A. nursed a three-point lead. Then the Bulls stepped
up. First, Scottie Pippen hit a three-pointer to tie the game. Then, on the Bulls’ next four possessions, John Paxson went
unconscious,
hitting three consecutive jumpers and a layup. All of a sudden, the Bulls led by ten.

Then Sam Perkins countered for the Lakers. He scored eight straight points to draw Los Angeles to within two points of the
Bulls, 103–101.

In earlier seasons, with such a critical game on the line, the Bulls would have looked for Michael Jordan to take the ball
one-on-one to the hoop. This year, the Bulls were a team.

As the clock ticked off the last seconds of the game, Michael got the ball. As soon as the Lakers started to collapse on him,
he calmly fired a pass to a wide-open John Paxson. Paxson threw up a jump shot. The ball hit nothing but net. The Bulls led
by four points. A few moments later, as a shocked L.A. audience looked on, the game ended. The Bulls had won, 108–101. They
were champions of the NBA!

As soon as the buzzer sounded, Michael Jordan began embracing his teammates. Then they dashed through the fans beginning to
swarm over the court and headed toward the locker room. When Michael reached the locker room, he was overcome with emotion.
He collapsed to his knees and started to cry.

In a locker-room ceremony, NBA commissioner David Stern awarded the championship trophy to Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf. Reinsdorf
held it for a moment, then passed the trophy to Michael. Michael sat in front of his locker, holding the trophy as gently
as if it were a newborn baby, tears of joy running down his face. On one side of him sat his father, James Jordan. On the
other side was his wife, Juanita.

“I never thought I’d be this emotional,” he said to a television announcer, “but this is a great feeling.”

“It was a seven-year struggle,” he added. “When I first got to Chicago, we started at the bottom and every year worked harder
and harder ’til we got to it. I’ve appreciated so much in my life from my family, from my kids, everything, but this is the
most proud day I’ve ever had.

“Now we can get rid of the stigma of the one-man team. We did it as a team all season long.”

CHAPTER SEVEN
1991–1992

Michael Jordan could at last add “NBA champion” to his list of outstanding accomplishments. But he still wasn’t satisfied.
He wanted to win another championship. He knew that to be considered a really great player, a team player like Magic Johnson
or Larry Bird, he’d have to win more than one title.

Michael soon learned that winning a second championship would be harder than winning the first one. With a championship ring
on his finger, he was under more scrutiny and more pressure than ever. Long before he had a chance to add another ring, Michael
Jordan confronted a series of troubles unlike any he had ever faced.

The first problem surfaced in early October, just as the Bulls were ready to begin training camp. Like
many other championship teams, the Bulls were invited to the White House to meet the president. Michael, who had already met
President Bush, decided to skip the visit and spend the day with his family.

The press was shocked when Michael failed to turn up. Some writers wrote that his decision to spend the day with his family
was an example of the way the Bulls gave Michael Jordan special treatment. Teammate Horace Grant made the same charges.

Michael defused the situation before it got out of control. He explained to the media that the Bulls knew he was going to
miss the visit to the White House and had given him permission. Then, when training camp opened, he met with Horace Grant.
The two players settled their differences. With the season ready to start, Michael wanted to make sure the Bulls focused fully
on basketball.

For a while, they did. When the season opened, the Bulls played better than ever. In November, they ran off a franchise-record
14-game winning streak.

Then came the news that shocked and saddened everyone in the NBA, including Michael. In a televised
press conference, his friend Laker guard Magic Johnson announced that he was retiring from the NBA. He was infected with the
HIV virus, which causes AIDS, and needed to concentrate on his health.

At the same time, Celtic forward Larry Bird was sidelined with a back injury and talking of retirement himself. The torch
was being passed to Michael Jordan. He was now without question the best player in the game.

Throughout the 1991–92 season, he proved it was a title he deserved. By midseason, the Bulls were 37–5 and on pace to break
the league record of 69 wins set by the Lakers in the 1971–72 season.

But the Bulls slumped in the second half. The pressure of being the defending NBA champs was getting to everyone. In February,
at the end of a triple-overtime loss to Utah, a frustrated Michael even got into an argument with a referee and was suspended
for a game.

Then Michael found himself in more serious trouble. A newspaper reported that the Bulls’ star player had bet and lost thousands
of dollars while playing golf and poker. In most states, gambling is illegal.
Technically, Michael Jordan had broken the law. To make matters worse, some of the men he had gambled with had criminal records.

Professional sports are very sensitive to gambling. Teams don’t want anyone to think that players aren’t playing to win. While
no one charged that Michael had bet on basketball, the revelations tarnished his image.

In a statement to the press, Michael explained: “At some point in my life, I was going to have to face this. Very few people
go through their lifetimes without scars. I went through a six-, seven-year period without them. Now I have a couple of scars.
The scars won’t go away, but you know I’m going to be a better person because of them.”

The NBA determined that Michael had broken no league rules but warned him to pay closer attention to who his friends were.
In time, he was able to put the incident behind him.

The Bulls stormed through the remainder of the season and went on to win the Central Division, finishing 67–15, ten games
ahead of second-place Cleveland. Once again, Michael Jordan led the league in scoring with an average of 30.1 points per game
and was named league MVP for the third time.