1997 NBA FInals Game 6 Bulls vs Jazz: The No Call That Changed The History of the NBA 

Watch the final play where Jordan passes to Kerr. As Michael makes the pass, he kicks Stockton in the leg, Stockton falls and can't recover in time to contest Kerr's shot. It's very subtle, but if you watch closely, you can see Jordan extend his leg toward Stockton and Stockton immediately goes down. Not a complaint, just an observation.

Technically this game never ended there was still 0.6 left on the clock

9:52 Stockton trips on Jordan's leg, preventing him from getting over to Steve Kerr

Pippen's block on Shandon Anderson's dunk is one of the greatest defensive plays I've seen and I never see it on any Pippen highlights. But it was an awesome display of timing, awareness, and athletic ability, as well as raw determination.

there are calls every year that are missed. game 6 in 98 eisley hit a 3 that was called a 24 sec violation and ron harper hit a 2 after the shot clock went off. just the way the ball bounces....and the refs rig the game (of course)

My friend and I play the 2014 Spurs vs the 1998 Jazz in NBA2K. It's a great fantasy match up with two excellent passing teams. Game 6 in 1998 also had a couple terrible missed calls by the referees.

This is one of my favorite finals game. I love the bulls played especially when they're running the triangle to perfection with MJ. Great team!

since the NBA started, zone had been outlawed. The prevailing wisdom was that teams would score every single time against a zone - and that was true til the 90's when shooters disappeared

At 8:37 I’ll never, ever forget that bonehead attempt. Not so much that Anderson missed layup per se, but that he decided to not go up the strong side and reverse the attempt with no defender near him!!!!!!!

how about the right foot to the left leg of stockton, that made john tripped as he was scrambling towards kerr???

Time Out! If it's the push off that Reggie did to Michael to hit that 3, that WAS a foul! :)

dirty play my Mr.Jordan..the game was very intense at that time even the refs won't notice it

totally forgot Brian Williams won an NBA championship

Thanks! Don't miss the premiere of BBALLBREAKDOWN'S F'N FANTASY SHOW on Sundays at 5:15 PST!

Awesome. Can't wait to create even more content this year!

Broken down beautifully! Coach nick really lets you appreciate the game and great background music too

9:36, "missed" call by the refs

i cant thank you enough for this video coach!! i remember this like it was yesterday!! God i miss MJ and the bulls! ...great stuff!

I really enjoyed this breakdown. Was nice to see a more in depth look at one of the most classic moments in NBA history. Thanks coach!

You dont know how much i love this channel.

omg, you see EVERYTHING!! There's so much to basketball than just watching it....

The Jazz would have still had to win game 7 on the road if they won this game in 1997. The following year in the 1998 Finals, the Jazz had the best record in the league and homecourt on the Bulls that go around. But again the Bulls won the Championship in game 6, this time on Jordan's shot on Russell. Now that time the Jazz were up one point and could have won with a Jordan miss or push off call. And game 7 would have been in SLC (2-3-2 format). Plus the Bulls were a tired team that year. They went 7 games with the Pacers in the ECF while the Jazz swept the Lakers in the WCF. The Jazz had 11 days off waiting for the Bulls and lost game 1 in SLC because of rust. That year could have been different. But this video was the first match up and the Bulls still had game 7 at home in their back pocket.

Mannnnn that call didn't change a damn thing, The Bulls had the ball with 14 seconds. More than enough time for those guys to score.

No one gonna talk about scottie pippens basket interference

Holy crap i didn't even see this... This is why I love bballbreakdown! Great job Coach Nick!

What happened to the last 0.6 on the clock...?

Waiting on a new video from Mike Korzemba "What if 'the goal tend' was actually called?"

He shouldn't have even gone for the fake. A pass to Kukoc would've taken so long, he would've had time to get back and/or a teammate rotate over to help.

Thanks! This was a fun one to do...

love coach nick's breakdown on bball. good one coach.

Jazz fans should blame malone for his FT shooting in that game instead of blaming the 0.6 seconds

It's integrated to their RU-vid channel as well, and we'll also be featured on SBNation.com

9:59 jordan trips stockton?

Michael kicked John Stockton'left leg at 9:51 !!! Even though I'm a MJ fan.

if you came here because of the title save yourself time and go to 9:27. This guy actually has a point...

8:38 that missed lay-up pissed me the hell off and I'm not even a Jazz fan lol

LOOOL! Was Shannon Anderson looking for a foul on the uncontested layup he missed?

I don't think it's fair to fault Hornacek for the Kerr jumper. Michael did a wonderful job of faking the pass to Kukoc in mid air and Hornacek did what he was supposed to do by going to Kukoc. Had Hornacek gone to Kerr instead, Jordan would've passed it to the wide open Kukoc. You just have to pick your poison in that situation with the great spacing for Kerr and Kukoc and Michael's passing ability.

@meemow18 Wrong! The 3 second rule was first introduced in 1936,just the refs didn't call Pip on it.Just because it was the 90's,doesn't mean they didn't have these type of rules.

this idea would take a lot of effort by bballbreakdown, but you should show how each positional plays have evolved through the years showcasing the best to have played the game from the 60's to today, explaining how the changes in the game have helped and altered players of today. Just a thought....

Great Video. It's amazing how well the Bulls play the Triangle Offense, there is constant movement. But also the Jazz played very consistent offensively. Compared the Finals between the Heat and OKC this is much better offensive movement from those two teams.

coach nick, can you break down more showtime lakers games? Those games were some of the most exciting ever

Thanks Coach Nick for pointing out the goaltending. I remember watching that game as a child, but I missed the goaltending as well.

@ bballbreakdown What about the 1998 game 6 where Jeff Hornacek hit a shot right before halftime that got waved off, and when Ron Harper hit a shot at the end of the 3rd quarter that shouldn't have counted?

hi coach, are you going to be posting on this channel or are you gonna post on sbnation's channel?

Make sure to stare the coach in the eyes when he's talking -really listen to what he's saying. Make it clear you are pushing yourself harder than anyone else. If there are sprints, win them. If you are doing defensive slides, be lower than everyone else and go harder. These are the things you can control

You gotta be able to find the diamonds in the haystack... Rookies who will get big minutes. Also - shooting is a big thing, since most leagues have FG and FT percentage - so you can have a guy who doesn't shoot much but has a high percentage really help

The 98 finals game 6 has an error in the ref's judgement too that may have cost the Jazz that game as well. I believe it was Greg Foster who made a 3 pointer but got called for a 24 second violation when he clearly got it off in time. Later Ron Harper made a bucket when the shot expired, it looks like he didn't get it off in time, but the refs count it anyways. That's a five point swing right there that could have gave the Bulls the game.

I remember Jerry Sloan going bananas for the no call on goal interference. Poor bugger!

I loved the video, but the title is dramatic. Missed calls happens in every single game.

Either way, it's a goaltend- you're not allowed to grab the rim on a shot attempt like that... they totally blew it

Technical foul for celebrating before game is over? so utah gets 1 pt and chance to win? ....

Jordan would still be one of the greatest. He was already the face of the NBA and the most recognizable athlete by 92.

Refs absolutely blew those shot clock violation calls in 98. and I second the question of why there wasnt a mini score/time in the corner and then show the logo every so often.

Coach Nick, you're a high school coach right? What are you looking for when students try out for the basketball team? Cuz' my tryouts are on tuesday and i need some tips

It's from 2002 - they never air it...

You should start by checking out Sport Science's breakdown on that offense. Basically, it keeps everyone about one pass away from the shot.

to be fair he did get bumped and he did make an attempt to make the lay up, after he saw the miss he put his hands up like where was the call. the difference between jordan and these other guys in the nba that complain is that you dont see him being a big baby about it, he just shrugged his shoulders like where was the call and that was it. he didnt flail his arms and start crying about it like a lot of players do today

that game was in 1997. if there was any point in suing the nba, the jazz would've done it a long time ago. because even if utah hits a 3 with 0.6 left, they would still be down by 1, and every basketball player is smart enough not to risk a 4 point play in that situation. so you can rule out that possibility. and even if they make the 3, a fraction of a second isn't enough time to steal and shoot again.

Few days ago there was a game Denver vs Clipers ( i think). LA had no chance to win and they stoped playing 0,9 before end. Fans on court but referees told them to go back and they had to finish .This is the rule. Game must start and end .u cant say some team win when time didnt run out. For example it coud be last game of some player who coud go higher in all time ranking by shooting in this 0,9 etc. This 1997 final game technically never ended.

I totally agree with Coach Nick here, if Jordan's step back was an offensive foul, then why didn't they call the one on Reggie Miller for the game winner in Game 4 of the ECF?

hey coach nick, my basketball tryouts are on tuesday and i was just wondering if you have any tips for me to make the cut.

Think before commenting would be wiser. 0.4sec Fisher 2 point catch fling shot to win the game inbounding from half way in their court. Bulls game, score 4 points TO TIE in 0.6secs with your only hope and prayer being to strip the ball back from Kukoc running down the court, take a 3 point half court shot and hope someone fouls you in the process making it a 4 point play. Yup Fisher's 0.4 is real comparable.

Was the zone under the rim bigger than it is now? How comes that it has become less wide than it used to be?

I'm not sold on the Clippers just yet. I haven't seen them with Grant Hill and Odom and Billups active yet...

To be honest, it still wouldn't have mattered as SwitchBllade said, because if you shoot it, even if it is drained, the buzzer already goes off. There's no way, even with no defense, the Jazz could've came back.

Nice vid coach.

how the hell did the none goaltending call with pippen change the history of the nba when clearly jordan was hacked and no foul was called on the other end those two calls evened themselves out.

question - why did the games in the 90s not have a constantly shown score/time? ive watched a few retro games (also from the 80s) where they didnt show it and you're like... wait, what's the score? how much time is left?

steve kerr's shooting is just awesome.

There's some truth to the idea that the players don't play all that hard in the preseason. Also, they never had their full team for very long. So I didn't see much of the Lakers that is representative of how they'll do this year...

Nicely done Nico!

Technically the team and fans storming the court with time still on the clock SHOULD have been a technical foul with one free throw, followed by possession. A three point shot would have tied it.

it's very difficult to let a full court shot fly by, off your hands, and make it in in 0.6 seconds. If you know derek fisher's 0.4 second buzzer beater, that's how hard I don't even know if anybody could do it (and make it)

Why is Zone Defense not allow? I'm confused, Coach, answer this please, is it because there is to many big men in the NBA?

9:27 is what you guys came here for, not sure why there is a 10 minute long video to show one missed call...

I´m not entirely certain and to lazy to pick up the tape of the entire game, but if there was a timeout called on the floor (which i believe was) then they can enter the floor

No question the triangle against a zone would've been great...

"instead being up by 2 it's tied" but jordan was fouled and there wasn't any call number one. number two,what people don't realize,in the perspective of the nba at that time,it was just rare that referees would call foul at the end of the game,particularly a decisive nba finals game.

Coach which team you think is deeper this year spurs or clippers and is some team even deeper than them?

i couldn't agree with you more. the nba is just a big popularity contest.

Why not a video on 7 seconds or less suns? These history videos are timeless

did you notice at 9:34 when MJ passes to kerr, he kicks/taps stockton on the thigh? lol

I love the way he says "On Steroids."

Whats the deal with not allowing a zone D? my Under 20 league doesn't allow it either. what is so wrong/unfair about it? should teams be able to defend however they want?

Not sure it's quite like Redick on Smith, but a tough one...

what is the infamous Phil Jackson triangle offense set?

derek fisher (of all people) made a gamewinner with 0.4s a few years ago. Anything is possible.

I think you should make a video about how the Lakers are doing so bad. Idc if its pre season they don't need to be the best team in the League and the only team with out 1 win.

He was a 78.4% free throw shooter though, I guess if he missed it would've been only by one and I doubt it since he's a part of the most clutch shooters or in this case "most clutch free throw shooters".

awesome breakdown. can't wait for the new season xD

MJ looks so human here. How dare you show this blasphemy.

i had watched that game. yes it was a 6 point swing. i'm not sure if that was greg foster though. i believed i had watched it here in youtube. definitely the jazz should've won that game. but too bad there is no video replay back then i think

That doesn't even come close to answering that guy's question. It's not a matter of an *accurate shot, it's that there was *a shot to be put up, and potentially go in. What does accuracy have to do with this? It's a matter of do you have time to get the ball up in .6 seconds, and the answer is yes. But I'm glad they weren't given a chance, screw the Jazz, I couldn't have been happier seeing them lose in 97 and 98.

class vid once more nick!

many people are smart . They walk across the street on green light but they still can have an accident even when they know they must be careful.

well,there was a foul on him in his building in the money time and he didn't got the call, that's what really happened. on the other hand,I know that at that time(and it's still a little bit true today) it was rare that refs would call fouls at the last minute of a game because it was kind of traditional that the players were supposed to make the decision.

Coach I really cant see the big deal about Michael. I never saw him play at the time, but as im watching I really dont see anything special for people to say he was the best to ever play

while impossible a tech could have been called on all the celebration +1 then maybe someone gets angry or something and Bam another tech and then 2 point game and the rest would be amazing

Its brutal to watch hornny guarding pippen. imagine JJ Redick needs to guard Josh Smith / Marion all game.