{
“placeholderType”: “BANNER”
}
A throw for the history books
35 years ago, Michael Jordan hit one of the most iconic throws of all time. “The Shot” goes down in NBA history – and ushers in the era of the successful Chicago Bulls under Jordan.
Michael Jordan scored the game-winner in Cleveland on May 7, 1989
© IMAGO/ZUMA Wire
“Get the ball to Michael, everybody get the fuck out of the way!”. Doug Collins, then coach of the Chicago Bulls, briefly and simply explained the move that, even 35 years later, is still one of the most iconic moments in NBA history.
{
“placeholderType”: “MREC”
}
It was May 7, 1989, when Michael Jordan took the basketball world’s breath away. The evening comes at a time when MJ is a multiple All Star and league MVP, but has never reached the NBA Finals let alone won a title. That shouldn’t change in the 1988/89 season, but the evening of May 7th was, in a sense, the initial spark for the era that would be dominated by Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the following years. Probably the most important basketball player of all time sank “The Shot” that evening.
Jordan silences Cleveland in the NBA playoffs
After four games, the first-round series in the Eastern Conference between the favored Cleveland Cavaliers and the Chicago Bulls was tied at 2-2, meaning the decisive game five of the best-of-five series came that evening in Cleveland. The winner would advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals; the loser’s season would end prematurely.
With three seconds left, the Cavs led 100:99, and Jordan had already scored 42 points at this point. Defensive specialist Craig Ehlo gave the home team the lead with a layup, and the Richfield Coliseum was upside down. The Bulls took a timeout – and a little later the arena in Ohio fell silent.
{
“placeholderType”: “MREC”
}
Brad Sellers brought the ball into play from the sideline and of course looked for Jordan, who was able to break away from the double coverage by Ehlo and Larry Nance. Jordan picked up the ball, left Ehlo standing, dribbled twice and rose to the free throw line – the rest is history. Using the buzzer beater, MJ sank the ball to win and ensured that the Cavaliers’ season came to an early end at the very last second.
An initial spark for the Bulls era in the nineties
The result was a big jump in the air and absolute joy when MJ saw that he had just thrown his team into the next round. Head coach Collins ran across the floor and fell into the arms of his assistant Phil Jackson, without knowing that he would replace him as head coach at the end of the season and would shape an incredibly successful era with the Bulls.
After the Cleveland series, Jordan and the Bulls defeated the New York Knicks 4-2 in the Eastern Conference Semifinals and advanced to the Eastern Finals. However, MJ and Co. lost out there and lost 2:4 to the eventual champion Detroit Pistons.
The following year, Chicago and Detroit faced each other in the Eastern Conference Finals, and the Pistons prevailed again (4:3) and celebrated the next championship. But from 1991 at the latest, the Bulls dominated events in the NBA and celebrated six championships between 1991 and 1998.
{
“placeholderType”: “MREC”
}
To this day, Jordan is considered one of the two greatest basketball players of all time – also thanks to “The Shot”.
2024-05-07 09:17:44
#NBAs #Jordan #era #began #throw
