20 years ago today, Michael Jordan uttered the words that everyone in the NBA would remember: “I’m Back.” There is many other moments that crown his highness as the greatest player to ever player in the NBA. Greatness personified and he could prove it to you every single game he played. From dunk contests, to clutch shots, to 6 NBA championships, a couple MVP’s and becoming a billionaire and owning his own Jordan brand, Michael Jordan, the jump man, did it all. Here is a CNN clip from 1995, when Michael Jordan said he would come back to the game of basketball:
Michael Jordan retired the game in 1993, shortly after his fathers death, and pursued a career in baseball, a sport his father played. Shortly after just playing in the minor league, Michael Jordan proclaimed to the world that he is back to basketball. Michael Jordan came back to play against the Indiana Pacers in his first game, scoring 19 points, but that wasn’t the important part.
Chicago had gotten their savior back, Phil Jackson had gotten his star back, and the NBA had gotten it’s G.O.A.T back. Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling has an anecdote from Curtis Polk, who was David Falk’s (MJ’s Agent) right hand man:
“It wasn’t really something I anticipated,” said Polk, who now works for Jordan as the vice chairman of the Charlotte Hornets. “If it wasn’t for the baseball strike, I’m not sure he would’ve come back at that time, or ever. He was really enjoying himself—he really liked the camaraderie with the guys and the less fanfare around him—even though he wasn’t anywhere as successful in baseball. But he’s such a competitive guy that he wasn’t going to quit for that reason, and he was working really hard to get his baseball game to the level of where his basketball game had been.
“We recognized that he had developed different muscles for baseball—slow-twitch muscles versus fast-twitch,” Polk said. “He had bulked up in baseball, particularly in the upper body, and those are things that weren’t necessarily compatible to him just stepping out quickly onto the basketball court. And he recognized that, and we talked about it, but he still decided that he wanted to go back sooner than waiting. He felt that he could step back in and help the team.”
Michael Jordan came back to the Chicago Bulls to win 3 more NBA championships, and embark on crazy moments like the shot in Game 6, which involved pushing off the defender, and winning his final championship. This wasn’t the only time Jordan came back to the game, in 2002, he returned, but this time as a Washington Wizard. Let’s just say, that we should stick to his Chicago Bulls days.
