30 Years Later: Recalling Jordan's First Big Hoops Moment

CLEVELAND - Nearly six weeks after his 19th birthday, Michael Jordan caught a basketball pass and without hesitation, rose up and shot the ball towards the hoop as effortlessly as if it were merely a shot in practice. In actuality, he and his North Carolina Tarheels were knee deep in a pressure cooker; the 1982 NCAA championship game v.s. the Georgetown Hoyas in the New Orleans Superdome.

Of course, the wunderkind made the shot with about 15 seconds remaining.

Jordan's shot erased a Carolina deficit and ended up being the final points in the Tarheels' 63-62 victory over Georgetown. Today (March 29) marks the 30th anniversary of that shot, that game and of course, that moment that the lanky freshman from Wilmington, NC became a household name. The magnitude wasn't known at the time, but that shot from MJ would be the first national moment of basketball glory for the man who would eventually author the most iconic pro basketball career in history. The incredible confidence and remarkable ability to deliver under the bright lights of the biggest game were all elements of excellence for Michael that night. He took all of those attributes and expanded on them in the NBA where he amassed 10 league scoring titles, 5 MVPs and led the Chicago Bulls to 6 NBA championships.

But that game in the Spring of 1982 was the birth of a legend.

Carolina's coach Dean Smith had taken the unusual step that season of allowing Jordan to be a starter. Up until then, Smith's policy was that no freshman player would start for the Tarheels. Jordan had joined the team in late 1981 as he started his collegiate career and was an immediate sensation. By the time the championship game came around that Spring, Michael had turned many heads with his dazzling athletic prowess. His big game proficiency, however, was less known but would eventually become a hallmark of his reputation on the court.

North Carolina won their first title in 25 years that night and Jordan went on to win the College Player of the Year award in both 1983 and 1984 before skipping his senior season to join the NBA. Of course, the world knows very well what he accomplished there en route to becoming the greatest player in league history.

But the beginning remains a major thrill and a cultural flash point in the history of basketball. Salute MJ!