Remembering Jordan's Historic Cavs Killer

CLEVELAND -  Michael Jordan used a crossover dribble to get open for a most critical inbounds pass, then deftly split two eager defenders as he dribbled urgently to his left. He stopped at the foul circle, jumped and aimed the basketball at the hoop. He hung, double pumped and shot the ball over the valiant, yet futile defense of Craig Ehlo.

Buzzer sounds. All net.

It was a hard-to-believe 21 years ago today that the aforementioned events took place in the space of just a few seconds on a basketball court 30 miles south of Downtown Cleveland. Jordan, a 26-year old basketball juggernaut famously authored what is still succinctly known as "The Shot," and the impact of that game and that moment had been felt for many years afterwards. It changed the fortunes of the two franchises involved; Cleveland's Cavaliers and Chicago's Bulls. For the Bulls, it infused a great surge of confidence and catapulted them to a second round ouster of the New York Knicks and a very courageous stand against the eventual champion Detroit Pistons. Within two years, Chicago evolved into NBA champions themselves and dominated the 1990's with six titles in eight years.

The Cavs, meanwhile were never as imposing or outstanding as they were during the 1988-89 NBA season. Jordan's demoralizing shot seemed to deflate their air of excellence. Cleveland had a couple good seasons in the early part of the '90's, but mostly, they fell apart and became bland and very beatable. Their fortunes seemed to be looking up in 1997 when they acquired all-star Shawn Kemp, but his one good season was followed by more team mediocrity.

It all hit bottom in 2002-03 when the Cavs finished with a horrible 17-65 record. That season's awful showing had a silver lining, though. Highly coveted prep star LeBron James was the top prize in the 2003 NBA draft and the Cavs, through pure luck earned the first pick. Of course, they drafted James and four years later, they advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time ever. They wound up losing to the Spurs in a 4-0 sweep, but they are currently among the favorites to capture the 2010 NBA title.

Even though a generation has passed since MJ's heroics, the after effects still amaze me. It was the first, truly clutch moment of his career, and it can be argued that it set the table for the path to LeBron.

I know that thinking is out of this world, but so was The Shot.