Michael Jordan featured articles at Bulls website

“I knew he was really talented before that, but when I got to see him every day for a month, it was remarkable,” recalled Paxson from his Berto Center office. “You just knew that he had something special about him. He had such great physical gifts. They were a little bit raw, but his skill level was so good.”

It will be a great moment in the history of basketball during enshrinement weekend Sept. 10 through 12 when Michael Jordan joins the Class of 2009 for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

This is the greatest player ever to play the game being accorded the greatest honor in the game. This is Babe Ruth going into the baseball Hall of Fame. This is Bobby Jones at the first Masters, Ali winning out over Frazier. These are the historic moments of sport, and this year’s in Springfield, Mass. is special because it is a moment in history.

Look, let’s get this out there first. The Bulls didn’t want Michael Jordan in 1984. Oh, sure, they’d like to have had him then. But they really wanted Hakeem (then Akeem) Olajuwon. Just like everyone else. And they all wanted the University of Houston center so badly that the NBA had to change the draft rules to make a lottery because of the seemingly obvious throwing of games the Bulls and Rockets, among others, were doing to get a chance to draft Olajuwon.

The concept for Jordan was a simple one.

“He wanted to be the best player on the best team,” said Wennington. “In order to do that, he understood that he had to have 11 other guys working hard all the time.”

Wennington’s first interaction with Jordan came roughly 15 years earlier in 1981, when the two played together in the McDonald’s All American Game (photo at the bottom of this page) in Wichita, Kansas.

Though Jordan’s commitment to put on a show even in those preseason games always draws a stark contrast when I see what goes on these days. I recall a game a few years back in northwestern New York—Rochester, I think—where the Cavs were playing. The rumor was LeBron James wouldn’t play because he had played the night before. James went so far as to pretend to go into the game by stripping off his warm-ups to the delight of the crowd, which rarely sees live NBA basketball. Then James walked back to the bench laughing with teammates about how he’d played a prank on the crowd. No, Jordan didn’t want to play in a lot of those games. And he had his issues. But he always understood his responsibility to the game.

In the second quarter at Golden State on Oct. 29, Jordan went down with what was initially thought to be a mild ankle injury. It wasn’t even the major story coming out of the game, as that was the day the Bulls signed guard John Paxson as a backup. Jordan was told to use crutches, but was downplaying the injury. It turned out Jordan had broken a bone in his left foot and would be out months. Jordan was devastated and couldn’t even stand to be around the game. He left and went home to North Carolina. Jordan said he could rehab better back home. The Bulls asked him to stay with the team. He refused, and this, too, would be just the beginning of another bizarre episode.

In 1986-87, Jordan's third pro season, he had shown he was the best individual player in the game. He recorded 37 games of at least 40 points, and averaged of 37.1 points per game on the year. His next mission would be to show he could be part of the best team.

Jordan took it seriously, very seriously, in 1986-87, from the first day. His sophomore season had been a lost year in his view, and Jordan was intent on making up the time. He averaged a point a minute with heavy play in the preseason, and then came to the supposed big stage, Madison Square Garden, for the season opener Nov. 1.

Game 15 to go 12-3 contained one of the classic Jordan episodes.

Jordan scored 47 points and on one play dunked over one of the Jazz guards. Fiery Utah owner Larry Miller at courtside yelled for Jordan to “pick on someone your own size.”

Shortly thereafter, Jordan dunked over seven-footer Mel Turpin. “He big enough for you!” Jordan shot back.

When the team returned from Boston the next morning, Jordan was waiting to meet with Collins. Sam Vincent had been sinking badly, and it was agreed Jordan would shift to point guard. Jordan also quietly liked the idea in sort of a way to show up Johnson, or, at least, show that he could do what Johnson did if needed. Triple-doubles? Ask me to do something difficult?

Jordan’s first game at the point the Bulls beat Seattle as Cartwright led the team in scoring and Jordan had 18 points and 15 assists. In the next game, a win over the Pacers, Jordan had 21 points, 14 assists and 14 rebounds.

Jordan still would finish with 30 points and five steals. But with the Lakers still loading up to stop Jordan, Jordan found Paxson four times for scores and the Bulls pulled away to win 108-101 and win their first ever NBA championship. Michael Jordan finally was also an official NBA winner.

The locker room was a tremendous scene with Jordan in tears and embracing the trophy with his dad standing by. I was in that locker room that night, and though I would see all the Bulls championships, for me, that was the best. Those players had struggled for years and went through massive disappointments. They weren't a dynasty. They were a bunch of wide eyed kids who'd finally faced down the doubting world.

Reinsdorf recalled the 1993 NBA Finals, when Chicago won the first two games in Phoenix. The Bulls needed to win two out of three at home to clinch the title and their first three-peat. Instead, Chicago lost two of three at the Stadium, including a triple-overtime thriller in Game 3.

“We were up 3-2, but we had to go back to Phoenix and it is very hard to win on someone else’s court, especially in a seventh game,” said Reinsdorf. “We felt we had to win Game 6. But, I had a really, really bad feeling about what was going to happen in Phoenix.”

When the team got to the plane, morale was down and no one looked forward to the trip out West. One of the last to arrive at the airport that day was Jordan. As he boarded, everyone noticed the big cigar in his mouth. What is that for, someone asked?

“It’s my victory cigar,” Jordan said. “I’m going to smoke it after the game tomorrow night.”

“You could see that it changed the whole mood,” recalled Reinsdorf.