But when the play broke down and the shot clock waned, Jordan had free reign to create his own shot.The Bulls went 55-27 that season, the franchise's best record since 1971-72. I believe greatness is an evolutionary process that changes and evolves era to era. But the crucial play was the Bulls' successive blocks of putback attempts by the Knicks' Charles Smith in the final seconds that allowed the Bulls to escape the Garden with a 97-94 win. Jordan propelled the Bulls past the Cavs in the first round of the playoffs in the decisive Game 5, scoring the memorable buzzer-beater floating jumper over Craig Ehlo for a 101-100 victory.That offseason, the Bulls let go head coach Doug Collins and hired Phil Jackson.
Subscribe to Stathead , the set of tools used by the pros, to unearth this and other interesting factoids. On Sept. 25, 2001, he signed a two-year contract with the Wizards for the veteran's minimum.Jordan brought in his old Bulls coach Doug Collins and tried mightily to revive a once accomplished franchise that had sunken to moribund levels. Yet, his medium game -- eight- to 15-feet from the basket was impressive as evidenced by his .515 field-goal shooting percentage and his steals tended to compensate for his less than stellar straight-up defense.Improvement in both areas would come and he would ultimately be regarded as threat from anywhere on the floor and one of the best ever one-on-one defenders.Even in the exhibition season before his rookie campaign, players and coaches were sure that the Rockets and Blazers would regret their picks. If there were any doubters to that point about Jordan's ability, surely there were no more.Starting with the 1986-87 season he began a career-long onslaught on the NBA record book.
In his book, "For The Love of The Game: My Story," Jordan wrote: "There is no such thing as a perfect basketball player, and I don't believe there is only one greatest player either. This may have led him to wear longer game shorts although he has said that the extra length allowed him to bend at the waist and tug at the hem for a good resting position. However, during the three-peat, players and teams seemed to concede that the title was Jordan.In the 1992 Finals, Jordan opened up Game 1 with a record setting 35-point first-half performance to lead the Bulls to a 122-89 rout. The Bulls would go on to successfully defend their title for two consecutive seasons, defeating both Drexler and the Blazers and the Charles Barkley-led Phoenix Suns in six games.By the end of that three-year run, Jordan had eclipsed stardom and approached folk hero status.
"In the playoffs, he poured in 31.5 ppg. He was also known to be ultra-demanding of his teammates, ruffling more than a few feathers with his critiques. What it's like to be named Michael Jordan. The next year, Jordan led the Bulls as the team waltzed through the postseason, losing only twice en route to the franchise's first NBA title. home/away, monthly, etc...All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. Michael Jordan, Actor: Space Jam. However, That summer, Jordan was the key figure in forming the Dream Team that competed in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. He averaged 28.2 ppg, (third behind Bernard King and Bird) 6.5 rpg and 5.9 apg. Subject to fines if he continued to wear them, he occasionally did and the demand for that version and others in the Air Jordan line was unprecedented.He also had a clause in his contract that allowed him, unlike most other NBA players, to play basketball anytime in the off-season -- known as the "love-of-the-game clause. And in the waning moments of a tie game, he drew attention as he dribbled around the perimeter and passed to a wide-open Bill Wennington under the basket for the winning points in a 113-111 victory.His coach, Jackson, in the aftermath said, "It's rare that players can live quite up to New York.
Can you name the only other DPOY to average over 25.0 PPG in a season?