15 Years Ago Today: Jordan's Historical Decision

CLEVELAND - Michael Jordan held a press conference yesterday to formally announce his new ownership of the Charlotte Bobcats. 15 years ago today, he eschewed such a public appearance and simply issued a fax to the media and the world with two indelible words.

"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.

Nightmare in Orlando: Bryant '09, Jordan '95

CLEVELAND - While the Orlando Magic were in the process of defeating the L.A. Lakers, 108-104 last night in Florida to trim their deficit in the NBA Finals to 2-1, I was busy watching on television while having flashbacks of 1995.

That was the last time the Magic were in the NBA Finals.

My flashbacks however, were not of that Shaquille O'Neal/Penny Hardaway-led team that got swept 4-0 by the eventual champion Houston Rockets. The memories I was having were about that Orlando team's performance in the Eastern Conference Semifinals versus the Chicago Bulls.

Yes, it's always about Michael Jordan with me.

What brought on these memories? How about this: Kobe Bryant, the basketball great who has starred for Hollywood's team for the past 13 years endured a very uncharacteristic conclusion to last night's game. After a sizzling 1st quarter during which he scored 17 huge points, he went into a tailspin and struggled to score a mere 14 during the final three quarters. The most shocking part, however was his five missed free throws in the game, including a critical one down the stretch and a costly turnover when Bryant tried to split Orlando's defense and was stripped of the ball with less than a half minute to go.

Wow.

Though Kobe finished with 31 points, his second half showing was plain awful. His usual crunch time brilliance was AWOL in this game, a contest that could have resulted in a stranglehold 3-0 series lead for the Lakers but instead has given the Magic renewed hope after dropping a heartbreaking Game 2 in L.A.

Which brings us to Jordan.

The Bulls legend had returned from an early retirement in March 1995 at age 32. After playing in the final 17 games of the regular season, he led Chicago to a 4-1 victory in Round 1 over the Charlotte Hornets which earned them the right to face the upstart Magic.

In Game 1 on Orlando's homecourt, Chicago seemed poised for a stunning upset when they led 91-90 with the ball in the closing seconds. Jordan, who by then possessed a huge catalog of 4th quarter heroics dribbled the ball into the frontcourt while hounded defensively by sharpshooting guard Nick Anderson. All-star Hardaway came with a trap on MJ and Anderson caught him off guard by knocking the ball from Jordan. Hardaway recovered the ball and tossed it downcourt to a cutting Horace Grant (former Bull) who dunked emphatically for a 1-point Magic lead.

After Chicago came out of a timeout, Jordan had the ball again to redeem himself with a clutch play, but he dribbled to the foul line, rose up for an apparent jumper, then tossed a pass towards the baseline to Scottie Pippen who, anticipating a Jordan shot attempt, cut to the basket to gain position for a potential rebound. The miscommunication between star players caused the ball to sail out of bounds.

Orlando won the game, 94-91 while Jordan had to endure the utter disappointment of costing his team a critical victory. He had arguably his worst playoff game ever; 19 points on 8-of-22 shooting and a whopping 8 turnovers! The Magic wound up beating the Bulls, 4-2 in the series and move on to the East Finals v.s. Indiana. Jordan had been woefully inconsistent and out of sync during the entire series, due mostly to his 21 months of pro hoops inactivity. This crushing defeat led many to believe that Jordan had become a has-been and that Chicago's time had passed. For Michael himself, he used the series defeat as the matrix to power his return for his 11th season the following autumn.

That led to the Bulls' historic 72-10 season and 4th NBA title as well as MJ's 4th MVP award.

Back to Bryant. It is very safe to say that he isn't "losing it" or past his prime. The man is two months from his 31st birthday, which isn't exactly young by NBA standards, but with his prime level of fitness, skill, savvy and flat-out drive, he may as well be five years younger.

Bryant will be just fine. Just look at how Jordan came out of his nightmare in Orlando.