Michael Jordan: Legends in Sports (12 page)

As much as he wanted to play baseball professionally, Michael Jordan did not want to make the major leagues as some kind of
replacement. He wanted to earn the right, as his friends on the White Sox had. He supported the players in the strike and
didn’t want to risk his friendship with them.

Michael refused to play. When neither the players nor the baseball owners seemed likely to reach an agreement, Michael left
spring training. His baseball career was over.

It didn’t take long for the rumors to begin that Michael Jordan was going to play basketball again. He dropped in on Bulls
practice several times and even took the court. When asked if Michael would be welcomed back, Bulls coach Phil Jackson told
reporters, “Michael Jordan is welcome to play with us anytime he wants.”

Soon he began practicing in earnest. He wanted to make sure he was ready. On March 18, 1995, Michael Jordan made it official.
The Bulls released a brief statement from Michael, consisting of the only two words basketball fans around the world wanted
to hear.

“I’m back!”

CHAPTER ELEVEN
1995

Michael Jordan officially returned to the NBA on Sunday, March 19, 1995, when the Bulls played the Indiana Pacers at Market
Square Arena in Indianapolis. The game was broadcast across the nation. Every basketball fan in the country was glued to the
television set.

When Michael was introduced before the game, the partisan Pacer crowd let loose a mighty roar. They didn’t care that he played
for the opposition. They were just glad he was playing again. Everyone stood and cheered, drowning out the voice of the announcer.
Michael ran onto the court and slapped hands with his teammates. He was back!

Michael looked like the same player he had been when he left the game 21 months before, except for one minor difference —
his number. Since he first
joined the Bulls, he had always worn number 23. But the Bulls had retired his jersey at the end of the 1993–94 season, so
he decided to wear 45, the same number he wore playing baseball.

Coach Phil Jackson put Michael into the starting lineup. The Bulls needed him. Before the season even started, Horace Grant
had left the team as a free agent, and the Bulls had struggled all year. Their record was just over .500, 34–32, good enough
for only sixth place in the Central Division. The Bulls needed to play well over the remainder of the season to make the playoffs.

The first time Michael touched the ball, he didn’t hesitate. He threw up a jumper.

Clang!
The ball rattled off the rim.

A few minutes later, Michael shot again. Again, the ball rattled around the rim and fell out.

Then he took another shot. He missed again. Another shot. Another miss.

This wasn’t quite the comeback everyone had been hoping for. Michael was out of sync, and so were the Bulls. By halftime,
he had made only one shot from the field, and the Bulls trailed.

In the second half, Michael started feeling comfortable
again, and the Bulls started remembering what it was like to play with Michael Jordan. Although he still wasn’t hitting his
shots, he forced the Pacers to pay so much attention to him that other Bulls were left wide open. In the fourth quarter, the
Bulls roared back from a 16-point deficit.

At the end of regulation play, the score was tied, 92–92. Michael was exhausted. Although he was in good shape, he wasn’t
in good
basketball
shape. No amount of practice could compare to the physical challenge of playing a full game in the NBA. In overtime, he simply
ran out of steam, and Indiana won, 103–96. Michael Jordan finished with 19 points on 7–28 shooting, 6 rebounds, 6 assists,
and 3 steals.

After the game, Michael met with the press for the first time since announcing his return. He told everyone the only reason
he had returned: “I just decided I loved the game too much to stay away.”

He quickly got used to playing again, and the Bulls got used to having him. In only his fourth game back, against Atlanta,
he hit a classic Michael Jordan buzzer-beater, just like old times, to defeat the Hawks. Then, in his fifth game back, he
got everyone’s attention.

The Bulls played the Knicks at New York’s Madison Square Garden, in a game many thought would be a preview of the playoffs.
The Knicks had one of the best records in the league, and now that Michael was back, most fans gave the Bulls a good shot
at winning another title.

How well he played against the Knicks would give Michael a good idea of how ready he was for the playoffs. The Knicks were
still the best defensive team in the league. Even before he had retired, the Knicks had played him tough.

But Michael Jordan had something to prove. Although he had played well since returning, he hadn’t quite been the dominant
player of before. When he took the court against the Knicks, he wanted to prove to the world that he was back.
Really
back.

For 48 dazzling minutes, basketball fans saw the Michael Jordan of old. No matter how the Knicks defended him, he still found
a way to score. He exploded down the baseline for monster dunks and lofted up three-pointers that hit nothing but net.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Bulls had won — and Michael Jordan had scored 55 points! No other player in the league
had scored that many points
in a game all year! The weary Knicks walked off the court shaking their heads. No player had ever scored 55 points against
the team in Madison Square Garden. But Michael Jordan wasn’t like any other player.

The Bulls soon got used to winning again, going 13–4 over the final weeks of the season to finish 47–35, good enough for third
place in the Central Division. They were only five games behind first-place Indiana.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Bulls played the Charlotte Hornets, who had finished three games ahead of Chicago
during the regular season. The Hornets would provide Michael — and the Bulls — with a good test.

Michael passed with flying colors, although it took him three quarters to get going in game one. For most of the game, his
teammates struggled, and Charlotte stayed close. Then Michael Jordan woke up and went to work.

During the final period and overtime, he scored twenty points, including one gravity-defying floating left-handed reverse
underhand flip layup off the glass that left the crowd breathless. The Bulls won, 108–100, and after the game, Michael told
reporters, “I felt like a shark that smelled blood in the water.”

The Bulls went on to defeat the Hornets in four games, earning the right to meet the Orlando Magic in round two.

The Magic had won the Eastern Conference with a record of 57–25. They reminded some people of the Bulls during Michael’s first
few NBA seasons. Like the old Bulls, the Magic had one player who forced everyone to pay attention.

Big Shaquille O’Neal, over seven feet tall and 300 pounds, anchored the Magic attack. Since coming into the league several
years before, he had, in his own way, rivaled Michael Jordan as the most popular player. At first, like the old Bulls, the
Magic had struggled. But they had finally acquired some players to give O’Neal some help, like guard Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway.
Like Chicago of a decade before, Orlando was just learning how to win.

The matchup between O’Neal’s Magic and Jordan’s Bulls was the most eagerly anticipated confrontation of the playoffs.

The first game came down to the last few seconds, and the ball was in Michael Jordan’s hands. But as he rushed downcourt to
launch a potentially game-winning basket, Magic guard Nick Anderson
flashed into his path — and stole the ball! The Magic won, 94–91.

After the game, Anderson got cocky. In reference to Michael, he said, “Number forty-five doesn’t explode like number twenty-three
used to.”

Michael was stung by Anderson’s comment. He didn’t want anyone to think he wasn’t the same player he had been before retirement.
So, before game two, he decided to switch back to his old number, 23.

Anderson soon found out what it was like to play against number 23. In game two, Michael made Anderson pay. He hit for 38
points, and the Bulls won, 104–94, to even the series.

But while Michael was playing like his old self, ex-Bull-turned-Magic Horace Grant was asserting himself under the boards
and on defense, and Shaquille O’Neal was almost unstoppable. Meanwhile, Scottie Pippen just wasn’t hitting his shots. In game
three, Michael hit for 40 points, but the Bulls lost, 110–101.

The rest of the Bulls finally got involved in game four. Chicago evened the series at two games apiece, but Orlando would
not be denied. In games five and six, they shut down Chicago. Michael Jordan started running out of steam and couldn’t do
it all by himself.
For the first time since the 1989–90 season, a Bulls team that included Michael Jordan lost in the playoffs. The Bulls’ season
— and Michael Jordan’s — was over.

Despite the loss, Michael Jordan had won something almost as valuable as a championship. His inspired play had won back the
respect of both his teammates and his opponents. Although he had been away from competitive basketball for nearly two years,
he had returned as the most talented and feared player in the game. His future looked nearly as bright as his past.

CHAPTER TWELVE
1995–2001

In the off-season Jordan continued to work hard to maintain the progress he had made since beginning his comeback. He had
worked too hard to get back in shape to take it easy now, and neither he nor his teammates would be satisfied until they had
regained the NBA championship.

The team practiced hard during training camp and opened the season with a rush. They never looked back.

Jordan quickly answered the few remaining critics who questioned the wisdom of his return. He had never played better in his
life.

His time away from the game had given him perspective and a new understanding of precisely what it took to help his team win.
His jump shot turned deadly, and his passing and rebounding also
improved. While Jordan was still a threat to soar to the basket and slam down a thunderous jam, the opposition really didn’t
know what to expect from him anymore. If they guarded him too closely, he made a pass to a wide-open teammate. If they gave
him room, he scored at will. In fact, he led the NBA in scoring.