Longtime Chicago sportswriter Sam Smith estimates that he attended and wrote about at least half of Michael Jordan’s 1,200 NBA games, so as a tribute to Jordan’s enshrinement in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Smith is “telling the story about how a North Carolina kid became the planet’s most recognized athlete of all-time.” Today’s installment covers Jordan’s rookie season:
The Bulls lost Jordan’s Game 2 in Milwaukee, and there was symbolism in that one as well. Remember Kobe Bryant hurling up those series of air balls in Utah in the 1997 playoffs? Many said it would break him to fail like that as a rookie. But Bryant was only doing what Jordan did, showing that you can fail because you tried.
There’s this quote Jordan is famous for which summarizes the situation: “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
So there it is Game 2 of his pro career, the Bucks leading 108-106 and Jordan shooting for the tie. Air ball! Game over.
Two nights later, the Bucks played the Bulls in Chicago. Jordan scored 37 points on 13-of-24 shooting with five assists and six steals. He scored 20 of the Bulls’ last 26 points.
Yes, it was on.
The Bulls, 27-55 the previous season, opened with six of eight on the road and went 6-2. In the team’s ninth game, Jordan scored 45 points against the San Antonio Spurs, along with grabbing 10 rebounds. The Bulls cooled off after that hot start when they went out west. Yes, that darn circus back then, too. They fell to 8-9 heading into Los Angeles. Jordan wowed L.A., home of stars, with the tying and go-ahead baskets in the last minute to beat the Clippers, and then a one-point win over the Lakers, though Dailey was the star with 28, and then back home for the first Chicago game-winner, a 20-footer with five seconds left to beat the Knicks. You know how it goes. Millions will say they were there, but paid attendance was just over 8,000. Jordan was in the NBA and headed to the All-Star game and loving it.
He ate at McDonalds pretty much when he wanted and caught up on TV soap operas—a college favorite—without class getting in the way. He wasn’t the fashion model Jordan we came to know, but a college kid enjoying his dream. He mostly dressed casually in sweat outfits back then and was happy for a post-practice game of cards or pool.
