NBA Archives Debunked: The Jordan Saga

Chapter 15 Rookie (2)

Because of this devotion, Jordan never seemed to tire.Some players are used to the intensity of only playing more than 20 official games a season in college. When they first enter the NBA, their rookie season will be weak. NBA teams have to play 82 regular season games a year, and they have to fly around. The schedule is much tighter than in college.Bulls trainer Mark Pfeil (Mark Pfeil) repeatedly warned Jordan to pay attention to physical fitness, but Jordan found Mark Pfeil's worries funny.

Mark Phil asked: "Are you tired? Do you want to control a little time?"

Jordan smiled and replied, "Look at me."

Teammate Sidney Green remembers that when Jordan first started dominating the practice field, people said he was going to slow down halfway through the season. "And then in the middle of the season, he was still like that," Green recalls, "and we said, 'Wait three quarters, he can't move his legs.' And by three quarters, he Still going strong, and maybe getting stronger." Green paused, then pulled out his oft-repeated line: "Michael Jordan was the truth, the complete truth, the complete truth. So save us Come on, God!"

On October 1984, 10, Jordan ushered in his first official game in the NBA. The Bulls played against the Washington Bullets at home.In his rookie debut, Jordan was not afraid of anyone.The Bullets had two players known for their fierceness at the time, one was Rick Mahon and the other was Jeff Ruland.There was a breakthrough, and Jordan was knocked down by Ruland, and his body hit the floor with a squeaky sound.He got up, scored two free throws, and then continued to charge Ruland with all his strength.He wasn't at all intimidated by the ferocity of the professional game.In his first game, Jordan scored 26 points, sent 16 assists, grabbed 7 rebounds, and the Bulls won.

The next day, the Bulls went to Milwaukee to play against the Bucks.There was a ball, and Jordan jumped up as soon as he got near the free throw line, ready to dunk. This kind of action was considered only "Dr. J" at the time.Bucks veteran Mike Dunleavy (Mike Dunleavy) saw it, patted a teammate next to him, and said, "His first big mistake has come." Unexpectedly, as soon as the voice fell, they watched Jordan fly to the basket Go up and dunk the ball in with a bang.Oh, it turned out that this was not Jordan's big mistake, but Dunleavy's own big mistake. He didn't take Jordan seriously.

Two days later, on October 10, the Bulls returned to Chicago and still played against the Bucks.Opposing Jordan was Sidney Moncrief, one of the best perimeter defenders of the era.But in this game, Moncrief has nothing to do with Jordan.Bucks coach Don Nelson was forced to adjust his defense so that all his players on the floor focused on Jordan.It's useless, Jordan is like Changshan Zhao Zilong who has seven in and seven out of Changbanpo. He insisted on breaking through the five-man defense line of the Bucks with his own strength, taking whatever he wanted.In the third game of his career, Jordan scored 29 points and made 37 of 24 shots, leading the Bulls to victory.

Jordan quickly became famous, and more and more people paid attention to the Bulls game because of him. During the first two months of the 1984-1985 season, attendance at the Bulls' Chicago Coliseum nearly doubled, from an average of 6365 to 12763.Season ticket sales used to be the Achilles' heel of the Bulls. In the season before Jordan's arrival, they only sold 2047 sets of season tickets. After Jordan joined, after three years, the Bulls' season ticket sales reached 5 times before, selling 1.1 sets. million sets.The TV ratings show that as long as the Bulls games are broadcast locally, more than 3 families in Chicago will switch to the corresponding channel to watch Jordan play.

At that time, the media and fans were not as fanatical as they were later, but their desire to understand and get close to Jordan has gradually overwhelmed Jordan.

Jordan's early relationship with the team reporters was actually quite good.To journalists, he was accessible and friendly.Jordan understands that dealing with the media is part of his job, and he realizes that schmoozing with reporters in private can strengthen his understanding of other teams in the league, including hearing some gossip about who is not on good terms with his teammates, Whoever refuses to obey the coach, and so on.Jordan obtained information conveniently from reporters, and then provided reporters with some details of his own life-he understood this truth: the best way to get information from others is to exchange some of his own information.

As Jordan's profile grew, so did Bulls press officer Tim Hallam's requests for interviews.In the beginning, Hallam recorded each application on a pink memo note, which he gave to Jordan, who then called reporters back one by one for interviews.Jordan didn't know until halfway through the season that he was the only player on the team to do this, and others paid little attention to it.Therefore, Jordan and Hallam agreed: when receiving an interview application, Jordan will call back only if Hallam thinks it is important; if Jordan really does not want to be interviewed, he will buy a steak for Hallam, and Hallam To get rid of the reporter.

Fans are harder to deal with than the media.Initially, the Bulls were able to enter and exit the airport relatively freely. Even if Jordan was occasionally recognized, it was only a brief commotion, and Jordan always handled it gracefully.But one morning at the Dallas airport, the team had breakfast before boarding the plane. Jordan was queuing up with everyone else on the plate. At this time, a fan came to ask him for an autograph. But let me finish my breakfast first, okay?The man immediately turned his face and said: "You damn athletes are all the same, you are all spoiled!" As more and more similar things happened, the Bulls executives decided that if they left any city, they would take the earliest flight , to minimize hassle at the airport.Over time, they learned to hide Jordan as much as possible during the process of getting on and off the plane, sometimes making Jordan wait in the airport lounge until the last minute before boarding the plane.It wasn't until the early 1s that the Bulls got their own special plane and said goodbye to the troubles of the airport.

Playing professional games in the first year, Jordan was a little uncomfortable after all.The dense schedule is not a problem, anyway, he has endless energy and vitality.What is really difficult is that, from such a strong team to such a weak team, the psychological gap cannot be filled.

In Chapel Hill, everything is top notch.The coaches are top-notch, the players are top-notch, the arena facilities are top-notch, and the team's performance is top-notch.

Not so in Chicago.Lochry is a good coach, but his assistants are hard to compare with North Carolina's high-quality assistants.The Angel Guardian Gymnasium, the Bulls' training base, was converted from an orphanage. It was damp, cold and smelly, with cement floors and painted windows.If that's not bad enough, take a look at the Bulls' players.

Jordan's teammates are not all mediocre in talent. Some of them have excellent physical conditions, such as Sidney Green, Orlando Woolridge, and Dave Greenwood.However, good physical fitness and strong athletic ability are not necessarily good players.Not Greenwood.Jordan said that Greenwood played in the NBA purely to make money, and he never wanted to make himself uncomfortable.Once, Jordan sprained his ankle in practice and it swelled so high that the Bulls still had a game the next day.When he was receiving treatment, Greenwood walked by, took a look, and said leisurely: "The ankle is swollen like this, and I would have to rest for a week before playing." Jordan couldn't believe it, there was no such thing in his mind. Thoughts of not fighting.

Drug addiction is an important reason why some players lack the enthusiasm to win.Once at the beginning of the season, when the Bulls were away from home, Jordan was told that everyone was having a party in a teammate's room.Jordan went over to see that several people were taking drugs, some were smoking marijuana, and some were smoking cocaine.Jordan left there in a hurry.

Nike sent a man named Howard White (Howard White) to Jordan's side to guide and help Jordan adapt to the NBA world.Howard White also played basketball in his early years. He was a good friend with Moses Malone and knew everything about the NBA. With him by his side, Jordan avoided many risks and traps.Therefore, even if the boss is not generous enough and his teammates are not reliable enough, Jordan's rookie season is not bad.

The Bulls played 38 wins and 44 losses in the regular season that year, with a winning percentage of less than 50%, but they won 11 more games than the previous year, and broke into the playoffs as the seventh place in the Eastern Conference.Jordan played 82 games, averaging 28.2 points per game, ranking third in the league scoring list, was elected the Rookie of the Year, and was selected to the second team of the year.His performance left a deep impression on many people in the circle, and two of them praised him, which are especially worth mentioning.

The first was Larry Bird.The Boston Celtics went to Chicago to play an away game. After the game, before the reporter mentioned Jordan's name, Bird took the initiative to talk about the rookie.Bird said he's never seen a player turn a team's fortunes around like Jordan did, and neither could he. "At this point in his career, he's done more than I've ever done," Bird said. Pick it up, put it down, then lift it up again. I put my hand on it, fouled him, and he scored. The whole time, he was in the air." Bird knew that soon the Chicago Coliseum would be overwhelmed by Jordan's performance. And the venue was full.

The second is Jerry West.West was the ruler of the top shooting guards in NBA history at that time, and the logo of the NBA league was designed based on West.When Jordan entered the league, West had retired and was working as the general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers.After watching Jordan play, West said to the people around him: "He is the only player I have ever seen that reminds me of myself."

The success of the stadium is accompanied by a sensation in the mall.The Air Jordan shoes that Nike launched for Jordan are very popular in the market. Speaking of which, this is thanks to the "cooperation" of the NBA.At the beginning of the season, Jordan wore the pair of red and black Air Jordan shoes to the game. After three games, the league issued a ban on him on the grounds that the specifications of the shoes were inconsistent with those of the rest of the team.If Jordan insists on wearing it, the league will fine him, starting from $10 for a game, then rising to $0, and finally rising to $0.As soon as the ban came out, Nike told Jordan without blinking an eye: You continue to wear it, and we will pay for every penny you were fined.As a result, the NBA's punishment became free publicity instead.Nike specially launched a TV advertisement. The camera slowly moved down from Jordan's head, moved to the body, and then moved to the feet. When Air Jordan shoes just appeared in the screen, a huge "×" appeared on the screen. On the screen, the narrator: "Prohibition!" As soon as this ad was launched, Air Jordan sold like crazy, and Nike actually made $3000 million a year from it.

This sudden sensation brought Jordan trouble, because some people were destined to feel jealous and feel that Jordan did not deserve such success. In the NBA All-Star Game in February 1985, the famous "freezing incident" occurred.

Jordan was selected as a rookie in the All-Star Eastern Conference starting lineup. His original intention was to blend in and not cause trouble, but his clothes first caused dissatisfaction.When participating in the slam dunk contest, everyone else wore their team’s jersey buckle, only Jordan wore a Nike training uniform buckle. Isaiah Thomas and Dominique Wilkins (Dominique Wilkins) and others felt that Jordan was Very rude.

Then, the embarrassment in the elevator worsened Jordan's image.According to Jordan's later recollection, because it was his first time to participate in the All-Star, he had no experience and didn't know what to do, so he stayed in his room most of the time, and later met Isaiah Thomas in the elevator, also because they both Going to a meeting arranged by the alliance.Some people said that Jordan didn't say hello to Thomas in the elevator, and he looked very arrogant. Jordan's explanation afterwards was that he was a little shy when he met Thomas outside the court for the first time. He didn't know what to say, so he simply stood quietly in the corner.

Regardless, Isiah Thomas was pissed off.He colluded with old players such as "Magic" Johnson and George Gervin (George Gervin), and agreed to give this ignorant rookie a little color in the All-Star Game, freeze him, and not pass him the ball.In fact, because the "Magician" and Gervin belonged to the opposing Western Conference star team, the person who really deliberately refused to pass the ball to Jordan was Thomas himself.

In that All-Star Game, Jordan played 22 minutes, took 9 shots and scored 7 points.A few years later, he revealed in his autobiography: In fact, during the game, he himself didn’t feel anything special, and he didn’t find that the old players were messing with him. It wasn’t until he returned to Chicago the next day that a reporter came to ask about it, that he You know, Thomas, Gervin and others took pleasure in teaching him a lesson.Jordan was so devastated that he didn't know what to do, he called his parents for reassurance and talked for a long time on the phone.Then, Jordan decided, he wanted to both learn his lesson and fight it.

Those players who colluded against Jordan were all related to a man named Dr. Charles Tucker (Dr.Charles Tucker).This Dr. Tucker himself was involved in some player agency business, and it was because he publicized his private affairs in front of the media after the All-Star Game that everyone knew about it, which made Jordan even more embarrassed.However, because of this, Jordan's fighting spirit was aroused.

Two days later, when the Bulls played host to Isiah Thomas' Detroit Pistons, Jordan vented his rage on the court.Usually, he enjoys the fun of the game and is very relaxed, but on that day, he was very serious from the beginning to the end.During the game, the two sides almost fought, and Jordan also had his first altercation with Pistons center Bill Laimbeer.At the end of the fourth quarter, Thomas had a chance for a lore. It was Jordan who helped defend and wiped the ball away, and the two sides entered overtime.In the end, the Bulls defeated the Pistons 139 to 126. Jordan scored 49 points and grabbed 15 rebounds.There is no doubt that this is Jordan's revenge on Thomas, completely undisguised revenge.

The "Freezing Incident" was the beginning of the grudge between Jordan and Thomas.These two NBA superstars have had a long grievance since then. In May 1992, Jordan accepted an exclusive interview with "Playboy" magazine, recalling the starting point of this grievance, he said: "I have always tried to respect him and be friendly, but I always heard him speak ill of me behind my back. So I said, well, then I'm not going to try to be friendly anymore, forget it, just play ball, we don't have to be best friends."

In the same interview, Jordan said that the 1985 All-Star experience taught him what kind of jealousy needs to be faced at the top of the NBA-he himself said the word "jealousy". "If they were in my shoes, they'd do the same thing," Jordan said. "Why would I waste my chance? Because those guys never got the same chance?"

1984-1985 season
Regular season: 82 games, 28.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 2.4 steals, shooting 51.5%
Playoffs: 4 games, 29.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 8.5 assists, 2.8 steals, 43.6% shooting
NBA All-NBA Second Team
NBA Rookie of the Year
NBA Rookie of the Year First Team

(End of this chapter)