"I'm back."
After a questionable and highly criticized stint in minor league baseball, Jordan decided to return suddenly to the NBA after a 17-month hiatus. It had been 21 months since he last played a pro game, and that was the finale to the 1993 NBA Finals in which MJ's Chicago Bulls won their 3rd straight championship. He stunningly retired 3 1/2 months later saying he had "nothing else to prove" on the basketball court. As a result, the sports world mourned heavily and his former opponents salivated at the prospects of an NBA without his unassailable dominance.
Predictably, the three-time defending champion Bulls went from being favorites to capture a 4th straight title to heavy underdogs. But unpredictably, they played very well led by Scottie Pippen's all-around brilliance and actually finished with only two fewer losses than they had the previous season with Michael. They lost in seven games to Eastern conference rival New York in round two, then went into the following season with far more uncertainty than before. As the 1994-95 season played out, the Bulls floundered more and more and it seemed as though the team would implode.
Enter Jordan.
With Major League Baseball on strike since the summer of '94, it eventually affected the minor leagues as well. Jordan wanted no part of being in the middle of that and made the very wise decision to un-retire and rejoin the Bulls. He'd been seen practicing for weeks, but on March 19, 1995, he stepped onto the court at Market Square Arena wearing his familiar red and black Bulls warm-up and ready to do battle with the Indiana Pacers. He kept his popular #23 retired and now wore #45 which sent parents all over the world into a frenzy to buy the new attire for their children.
Jordan was incredibly out of sync and struggled his way to a 7-of-28 shooting performance, which produced 19 points. He did add six rebounds, six assists and three steals in 43 grueling minutes. The Pacers won in overtime led by Reggie Miller's 28 points but it seemed that Chicago had won in the long run.
Michael was back.
MJ would struggle for the rest of the season, but had two stand out gems along the way. He had 18 of his 32 points in the 3rd quarter of a game in Atlanta that ended with him drilling a game-winning jumper at the buzzer. On March 28, he authored his famous "double-nickel" game in Madison Square Garden against the Knicks. In addition to his 55 points, he delivered the game winning assist to Bill Wennington.
The Bulls went 13-4 in the 17 games Jordan played, but got bounced from the playoffs in round 2 by upstart Orlando. Once the season had ended for the Bulls, the media began questioning if MJ was washed up at age 32. Fans also had their doubts. Jordan, full of pride but very humbled by the litany of mistakes and bad plays he'd made during his return vowed to show up the following season back to his old dominant self.
Boy did he ever.
Beginning on opening night of the 1995-96 season, Michael Jordan went overboard in bolstering his already superlative legend in hoops. He'd returned to his accustomed heights and dominated the NBA like he'd never left. When the dust settled, the Bulls had marched to the most successful season in the history of the game; a 72-10 record and a 4th NBA title in June. Jordan led the NBA in scoring for a record 8th time at 30.4 points per game and earned his 4th NBA MVP.
The Bulls continued their mastery of the entire league for two more seasons as did Michael, who'd returned to wearing #23 during the Orlando playoff series in '95. By the time he knocked down that controversial jumper to conclude the 1998 NBA Finals in Utah, he'd grown his legend ten-fold, which previously seemed impossible. In his three full seasons back, he earned two more MVP awards, three more Finals MVP's, three more scoring titles and of course, three more NBA championships!
Coming back was without a doubt his best decision.
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