NBA Archives Debunked: The Jordan Saga

Chapter 63 King's Landing (1)

Fans across the country increasingly believed that the 1997-1998 season would be Jordan's last year in the NBA.Every road game the Bulls play could be Jordan's last performance in that city.Therefore, wherever the Bulls went, the tickets were sold out, and everyone rushed to see Jordan for "the last look".The most exaggerated one was in Atlanta. On March 1998, 3, 27 fans crowded into the Georgia Dome, setting a record for the largest number of spectators in a single NBA game.

To get close to Jordan, many people would book a room at the hotel where the Bulls were staying, so they could tell later that they had stayed at the same hotel as Jordan.Hundreds of fans would gather around the hotel, waiting for the Bulls to depart from the hotel to the arena, so they could see Jordan in person during the brief time the players walked from the hotel lobby to the team bus. .In the arena, there are people taking pictures of Jordan with small cameras at home. Even if Jordan is just a small dot in the photos of many people, it is a wonderful moment that they recorded for themselves. "That day, I saw Michael Jordan".

March 3 was the last time the Bulls visited New York this season. Jordan found a pair of first-generation Air Jordan shoes and brought them to Madison Square Garden.When he took the shoes out of the bag and put them in front of the closet, team photographer Bill Smith took it as a sign that this was indeed going to be Jordan's final season.Soon, everyone received the message.

Wearing red first-generation Air Jordan shoes, Jordan staged a retro show at Madison Square Garden, repeatedly demonstrating the aerial creativity for which he was famous in his youth.There was a ball in the third quarter. Jordan rushed to the basket in the middle, collided with Oakley, and then hooked the ball with his back to the basket. The whistle sounded.There was another ball in the fourth quarter. Jordan took off, turned, maneuvered, turned his back to the basket, and picked the ball in when he was violated by his opponent. Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy (Jeff Van Gundy) shook the ball after the game. "That's a good shot," he said, nodding his head.

On this day, Jordan scored 42 points.Kerr said: "I bet people that at some point he would take his shoes off and put on new ones. But then, he made the first four shots, I changed my mind, and I said, 'No, he Will be wearing these for the entire show.'”

This season, the Bulls started with 8 wins and 7 losses, and then played 54 wins and 13 losses. The total regular season score was 62 wins and 20 losses, equal to the Jazz in the West and tied for first in the league.The day after the regular season ended, Phil Jackson walked into the coaching room with a big smile on his face and said, "I don't know about you guys. I have a clause in my contract that if we have the best record in the league, I can get a reward of $5." However, since the Bulls lost to the Jazz twice in the regular season, once the two teams meet in the finals, the Jazz will have home court advantage, Leinsdorf seized this point and said Jackson Reward terms do not apply.In the end, the two sides reached an agreement, and Jackson received a $25000 bonus.

Jordan once again played 82 regular season games, averaging 28.7 points per game, and won the NBA scoring title for the tenth time in his career.After being voted by the media, Jordan defeated Karl Malone and was elected NBA MVP for the fifth time.

Before the start of the playoffs, Jackson called all the players, coaches, and trainers for a special team meeting. At the meeting, he asked everyone to write something with a piece of paper, a few words or a poem, no more than 50 words, Write about the time we spent together, write about what this season meant to each of them, write about the team and then put the papers together in a coffee can and burn them.

Jackson firmly believes that for all of them, the championship itself is a reward, but this experience of attacking the championship is the real meaning of life.In the past few years, this group of people gathered together, enjoyed success, tasted failure, and experienced both good and bad. Now this period of time is coming to an end, and it may end at any time. Jackson hopes that everyone can share their inner feelings with each other.

Everyone participated in this special ceremony. Some players wrote a few words, and some players simply stood up and said an impromptu paragraph.They talked about how the years in Chicago changed their lives, how their children were born here, how happy it was to play next to Jordan and Pippen, and how excited they were to win two championships with the team.The most touching speech was Harper. He mentioned his role change after coming to Chicago, from a star of a weak team to a defensive expert of a championship team.He said that being a supporting role on a strong team is much sweeter than being a star on a weak team.

Professional players are usually not used to opening their hearts to others in this way, and even sitting in the locker room behind closed doors, they rarely show certain emotions because those emotions may be seen as a sign of weakness.Especially Jordan, he is generally very closed, he will observe other people's emotions and weaknesses, but hide himself deeply.But this time, even he stood up and said a few words, and even wrote a short poem, which surprised his teammates.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Bulls' opponent is the eighth-seeded New Jersey Nets in the East.The Nets are a rising young team with good talent and drive. It is perfect for them to test whether the Bulls are ready for the playoffs.In this series, the Bulls lacked center Longley-Longley suffered a knee injury and played only two of the last 24 regular-season games-at first the team thought it was not a big deal, but the alarm bells were immediately sounded.

The Nets' best rebounder, Jayson Williams, was also injured, but in Game 21, he came off the bench and grabbed 53 rebounds, giving the Nets a huge 39-[-] rebounding advantage.The Bulls once led by double digits in the third quarter, but almost lost in the fourth quarter.

The two sides entered overtime with a tie of 89.More than four minutes into overtime, the score remained at 91.In the last 50 seconds, Jordan made a shot.Nets guard Kerry Kittles broke through with a dribble with his left hand. Jordan stuck in front of him, and suddenly with his right hand, he cut the ball to the ground.Before Kittles could turn around, Jordan had the ball in his hand and walked away.Nets small forward Kendall Gill (Kendall Gill) chased up from the other side. Jordan couldn't control that much. He went to the penalty area, smashed the ball with his right hand, and the ball went into the whistle.When he landed, the forward momentum remained undiminished, and Jordan hit the protective pad of the basket.Probably because he felt that the breaking and buckling was extremely enjoyable, Jordan clapped his hands hard and let out a roar.

The Bulls finally won their first victory 96 to 93, without any danger.Jordan scored 39 points in this campaign, but only made 27 of 11 shots, which was not efficient.It is difficult for Chicagoans to rejoice in such a victory.

The alarm bells sounded, but the Bulls didn't seem to hear it.In Game 20, they played better in the first half. They led by 7 points in the third quarter, but then they seemed to fall asleep again, and the offense was ineffective.The Bulls once again kept their victory, but the media suspected that they hadn't won enough, saying that they might have been disturbed by internal conflicts within the team.In response to this speculation, Jordan said: "I'm pretty sure people have been writing this way, and some teams may feel this way, but until they actually do it (beat the Bulls), it's just a topic."

In the third game, he moved to New Jersey, and Jordan showed his position with practical actions.On the opponent's territory, he was even better than at home. He made 18 of the first 15 shots and scored 22 points on 16 of 38 shots. He led the Bulls to sweep the Nets out.This is the third consecutive year that the Bulls have swept their opponents in the first round of the playoffs.Since 1991, the Bulls have a total record of 24 wins and 1 loss in the first round.

The opponent in the Eastern Conference semifinals is the Charlotte Hornets.Jordan always said that the playoffs don't really start until they lose at home.According to this theory, the Bulls didn't really enter the playoffs in 1998 until after Game [-] against the Hornets.

这一轮首场，公牛用他们强大的防守把黄蜂防到中间两节只拿25分，其中第三节仅得10分。皮蓬主盯黄蜂头号得分手格伦·莱斯（Glen Rice），把莱斯防到25投仅9中。公牛以83比70获胜，乔丹贡献35分11个篮板。

In Game 49, the Bulls' overall offense was terrible.They seem to be overconfident in their defense, thinking that they can lock up opponents when they want to, but it turns out that this is not the case.After the first three quarters, the Bulls only dropped 8 points and held an 8-point advantage, but in the last quarter, BJ Armstrong, an old acquaintance in Chicago, became a surprise player.Armstrong just transferred to the Hornets this season. He scored 29 points in a single quarter, allowing the Hornets to score 76 points in the final quarter and achieve a reversal.The Bulls lost the win, 78-[-], and their home-court advantage in the series. "We haven't had a really good game in maybe three weeks," Jackson said. "I feel like some of us are just going through the motions and putting the blame on somebody else, putting Michael on the score instead of picking up on ourselves." burden."

Moving to Charlotte next, the Bulls' defense once again dominated the series.In the third game, the home audience left early, because the game quickly lost suspense, and the Bulls won back their dignity and home court advantage by 14 points.In fact, after the Bulls lost Game 4, the Hornets had no chance in this series.The Bulls won three games in a row and eliminated the Hornets with a total score of 1-96.6.The Hornets, who averaged 90 points per game in the regular season, did not score 80.2 in this series, averaging only [-] points.

In the Eastern Conference finals, Jordan and Bird reunited.In the history of the NBA, great players are often poor coaches because they are too talented to understand and accept the reality that ordinary players cannot do certain things.But Bird really became a good coach.This season, he directed the Indiana Pacers to 58 wins in the regular season, and was elected NBA Coach of the Year in his first year in charge.

Bird was born and raised in Indiana. In 1997, when the Indiana Pacers needed a new head coach, Donnie Walsh, the team's director of basketball affairs, met Bird. The two had an interview for an hour and a half. Walsh was very surprised. Well prepared to coach, and he really wants the job.

Bird told Walsh his plan one by one, and told Walsh what he would do: First, he would have a high-intensity training camp to get players in great shape and shape to start the season. Competitive state; he will have two assistants, and will be very dependent on them, otherwise why pay them salaries; he will do a good job of preparing before the game, but will not shout on the sidelines, once the game starts , it depends on the players, he doesn't try to manipulate everything; he doesn't set too many rules, but he will deal with certain violations very strictly, such as being late, because this is the key to team discipline.

After hearing this, Walsh was very satisfied, and soon gave Bird the job.Clearly, Bird is desperate to coach, he understands the strengths and weaknesses of everyone on the team, he understands the game better than almost anyone around him, and, despite being a rookie on the bench, he has absolute Authority - Players know who Larry Bird is and he's better and greater than any of them in the NBA, so don't mess around with him.

Byrd was extremely direct and rarely beat around the bush.As he himself said, from day one, he was very strict about infractions such as being late.He stipulated: the first time you are late, you will be fined 1 U.S. dollars; the second time, you will be fined 000 U.S. dollars; the third time you will be suspended.The players union may have objections to the suspension, but in fact, no one in the Pacers was late for the third time.

Once in the preseason, the whole team was almost on the plane and the gangway was closed. At this time, the late Travis Best and Dale Davis arrived at the airport and went through the parking lot. Ping bolted towards the plane.Someone asked: "Should we put the ladder down and let them come up?" Bird replied: "No, let's go."

The ideas that Byrd put forward before taking office have been implemented one by one.Under his guidance, the Pacers have become a disciplined and tough team.Before the Eastern Conference finals, Jordan may not have imagined that his dream of six championships and his career might end in the hands of this younger and deeper team.

Bird has no perfect players, not even true superstars.Reggie Miller is his ace and one of the top shooters in the league, but Miller isn't as good at creating offense with the ball as Jordan; center Rick Schmitz is 7-foot-4 from the Netherlands (2.24 meters), has the rare soft touch of a big man, but his athletic ability is average, he can't run fast or jump high; point guard Mark Jackson (Mark Jackson) is a first-class offensive organizer, but his speed is always faster than the opponent's point guard. Take a step or two slower; blah blah blah.Byrd and his two assistants are committed to using a suitable tactical system to maximize the advantages of these people, while minimizing their shortcomings, and to maximize their strengths and avoid weaknesses.

In the first game of the Eastern Conference finals, the Bulls had a very poor offense. They shot less than 30% in the first two quarters. Jordan made 9 of 1 shots, Pippen and Kukoc each made 8 of 1 shots. The highest scorer on the team was actually Rod. Man.But at the same time, they defended extremely well. It was only through defense that the Pacers did not let the Pacers open the score, and they were only 3 points behind at halftime.

The turning point of the game occurred during the period from the end of the second quarter to the beginning of the third quarter. The Bulls frequently defended successfully and counterattacked repeatedly, scoring 16 points in a row while the Pacers did not respond.Before this climax, the Bulls were 9 points behind. After this climax, the Bulls led by 7 points.They kept the results of this period to the end, and finally won 85 to 79.Throughout the game, the Bulls shot only 35.8 percent from the field.Most teams shot at such a level and could only accept the defeat silently, but the Bulls won tenaciously by relying on defense. The team had as many as 19 steals, including Jordan's 5 times.

In the case of only 2 of 8 shots, Jordan still contributed 11 points, but the key to the Bulls' victory was Pippen, who made only 31 of 9 shots.Phil Jackson arranged for Pippen to dislocate to defend against Mark Jackson. Pippen was tall and long and completely covered Mark Jackson, making it impossible for Mark Jackson to handle the ball calmly as usual.During the regular season, Mark Jackson's assist-to-turnover ratio was more than 1 to 4. In this game, he sent 1 assists and turned over 6 times.As a result, the Pacers' offensive deployment was disrupted. Players were forced to receive the ball far away from their familiar positions, and the offensive time was compressed. As a result, the offensive success rate was low and turnovers were frequent. This is how veteran shooter Chris Mullin played Only 7 points were scored in 26 minutes.Mullin shook his head vigorously after the game: "(The Bulls' defense) messed us up, and sometimes it looked like they had seven or eight people on the court." Cole exclaimed: "Scotty is amazing, he had to 2 points and completely dominated the game."

The existence of Pippen caused Bird a headache, but while talking about Pippen, Bird still wanted to pay tribute to Jordan. "He and Magic are, without a doubt, the best I've seen since I've played," Bird said. "Believe it or not, every year you're in this league, you learn a little more. He might not have the skill set he had when he was young, he might not be shooting as much, but you always get a better player as you get older."

(End of this chapter)