Jordan averaged 45 ppg in this three game series while shooting 60%. Even more amazing is that he didn't attempt a single three pointer in the series. GOAT
This is what young people don’t understand. The announcer here called him the greatest player of all time. Jordan had one title. One. Kareem has 6 and 6 MVPs. That didn’t matter. MJ from 90-93 would demolish every single player in the league today in both ends of the floor. On top of that he’d be the most athletic and strongest 2-guard in the league. When your game is built on mastering the midrange game, you can be more consistent. Jordan could’ve shot more threes but he’d never been as consistent as he was that way. Just the best, on defense, offense, in the clutch, anywhere.
Lol stop. The only competition he had in the 90's was a fcking center. Useless bums guarding him wouldn't even be on the bench in today's nba look how pathetic their ball movement, shooting especially team defense and offense. All post play no shooting ass players
Yeah they confidently put in stone on his statue after his FIRST retirement/3 peat in 94 "The best there ever was. The best there ever will be." Can anyone ever remember any fuss about that back then? NO. Never heard any. He then came back for another 3 peat. I think the first one certainly solidifies him for then. Any the second solidifies a case for him for all time. The way the league is now (changed) and has been gradually for at least 10 years, with teams scoring 20% more points every game etc.... one now can't (or at least should not be allowed) to compare stats or much else to the 00s and prior.
And if someone does that today, they FREAK out. Notice that the announcers referred to it as a "quiet 56 points". MJ truly was as good as the hype and better.
Emmanuel Stalling I think his 1989 ECSF to upset the 2-seed Knicks with the 6-seed Bulls is more impressive. In the series against the Knicks, Jordan became the only guard in NBA history to lead his team in all 5 categories (points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks) in a playoff series, as he averaged 35.7 - 9.5 - 8.3 - 2.5 - 1.3 on 55% And in the closeout Game 6, after Pippen was ejected at the end of the 3rd quarter, Jordan had 12 points, 2 rebs, 3 ast, 1 stl, 2 blks in the 4th quarter alone and the game winning FTs to make the ECF. From this video *Michael Jordan takes over 4th Qtr - 1989 ECSF Game 6*
MJ is clearly the GOAT to any knowledgeable, objective person. There’s no question that Jordan at his best was better than LeBron at his best. The way in which LeBron seems almost superhuman to me is his durability and longevity. The guy has been the very best - or AMONG the very best - players in the NBA for TWO DECADES. I don’t think we’ve ever seen that before, and it is genuinely impressive. He’s an athletic freak. My friend, who agrees that MJ is the GOAT, says that he’s not sure he’s ever seen anyone for whom the game of basketball seemed so easy as it did for LeBron. I agree. I think the thing that sets Jordan apart from other truly phenomenal athletes was his near-maniacal competitiveness. One of the poignant scenes in The Last Dance is when Jordan sort of acknowledges that he was an asshole and a tyrant to his teammates. But, he says, he never asked any of them to do anything he didn’t do himself - he even chokes up a little when he’s saying it; and I think that’s true. When arguably the best athlete on the court also works harder and wants it more than anyone else, that guy is going to beat you.
There has been many great players, kobe, Dr. J., Kareem, Hakeem, just so many, but Micheal Jordan was head and shoulders above any player that's ever played the game. I watched his entire career and have yet to see a basketball player that is even close to his level of ability, hustle, and pure determination. The Greatest of the greatest.
You're wrong, LeBron could run with the all time greats, I'm really bothered by him at times, hopping teams to chase rings and flopping like a punk, but the man is a top 10 all time player at the age of 29 on any scale...
I couldn't like this post more, this day and age has so much hype through the media it's insane, although I suppose you could blame Pippen and Jordan for that in some way, but I always find it interesting when I watch these throwback edits and the announcers don't blink when Jordan and others do things like that steal to ball handling clinic to dunk in ridiculous traffic, it's wild...
With this game, Michael Jordan became the All Time Leader in 50 point playoff games, surpassing Wilt Chamberlain. He would go on to have 3 more 50+ point playoff games after this. GOAT
I love how MJ had a "quiet" 56 point game on 67% shooting in a playoff game, with several espectacular plays like the one at 2:27 yet the commentators are just like "yeah, well that's MJ, whatever". Nowadays this game would get highlights on ESPN for the next decade.
To me, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time. Scottie Pippen has to go down as one of the greatest all around and complimentary basketball players of all time. I also think that they are the greatest 1-2 punch of all time. Jordan and Pippen played so well together as well as complimented each other. Sometimes, I think they competed against each other while playing against certifying great teams-I bet they was trying to find out who was the "man" on the Bulls. Pippen says Jordan was the best in the league while Jordan says Pippen was the best on the team.
+Joey Brooks I agree. They complimented each other greatly. As gifted as Kyrie and Lebron are, the fact remains they play in a less physical era in NBA history compared to the grimy early 1990's and therefore never had to develop the high level of mental toughness that the Bulls duo was forced to in order to win 6 titles in 8 years.
I remember watching this game. Mj in 92 as you can see was the most athletic human being. A super athlete, he was so good he makes the other professional athletes look boring. No one could stop him he owned the game the other team. goat
Jordan was better for a bunch different reasons. He changed the paradigm of how we even think about bball today. Let alone how players play. He was in an era of SUPERSTARS.
Exactly. you think you see all tricks, then you discover another one. MJ just read the defense. That's why he made so many easy points, that's enable him to be fresh for the 4th quarter.
MJ had so many great attributes: leadership, competitiveness, intelligence, creativity, agility, stamina, great footwork, great hands, clutch performer, incredible two-way player, and so on and so forth..,He had virtually no weaknesses!
Funny you say that. Hakeem said the same thing about him when asked about MJ or LBJ. He said MJ was a far superior player in a far tougher, competitive league. He said he was much more creative.
i dont get how anyone can watch jordan and even say kobe or lebron is at this level.. dude was just too fast and athletic and mid range jumper was devastating.. also look around you can see how many huge games came in the playoffs.. a player now gets 35 in the playoffs hes like god.. lebron went to the finals and averaged 35+ and loses but still gets player of the year at the espys.. jordan had 8 50+ playoff games.. imagine a player drop 50 in a playoff game and wins.. jordan also has one 60+ playoff game and 38 40pts+ playoff games.. compare that to how many playoff games he actually played.. lebron and kobe have had big scoring games.. but jordan did it on the regular.. he was the most in shape and explosive person i ever seen.. he would eat lebron and kobe for lunch.. kobe is wayyyy too slow to keep up with jordan.. and jordan is too agile and quick for lebron.. it would be lunch time out there
It's nice people like you recognize the quality of competition MJ and Pippen had to face. The eastern conference was a motherbleeping tough conference. Indiana, New York, Miami, they all gave Chicago and MJ headaches on a yearly basis. This is what makes MJ's 6 rings so damm special. Most of us felt this years finals between San Antonio and Miami was epic. In MJ's day, these kind of back and forth series were the norm.
Did you ever see 2 All NBA Defensive Team members also scoring 87 alone themselves?? This is priceless versatility. Jordan + Pippen duo was and is unmatchable. And is likely to staly like this.
You can appreciate greatness without having to Lower someone else's. MJ and Scottie are Legendary HOFs and Lebron and Wade will be Legendary HOFs too. They're both great duos.
It’s a great sentiment, however, you did just devalue Jordan/Pippen by appearing to put LeBron/Wade on their level. It just isn’t so, and it’s ok. Not everyone needs to be the same, and those two duos are not on the same level.
WayneP117 I watched 100% of his and Jordan's playoff games live and most of them all over again on demand. He was a poor offensive player compared to the LEAGUE AVERAGE most of his career! Let alone a stars level. I've seen him brick LAYUPS! HOW!!!??? At this ^^^ point in his career, sure he could make the easy drive aand dunk from having Jordan take the defensive pressure away. His jumpshot was terrible .. when he fell in love with the 3 (and started shooting lke 25% on 5 attempts per game WITH A SHORTENED LINE!) It was so bad to watch .. for the 2nd 3peat he shot 40%!! His FT% was like a fucking Centers!!!! Shot 42% for his finals career having the triangle offense and MJ! Making his life EASY!! Lakers with who? Portland with who? Pheonix with who? Sonics were good defensively. UTAH with WHO? Who is gonna guard him and where are he big men? Those were bad defensive teams and he had an AMAZING offensive team .. yet still shot 42%!!! I watched the whole entire 20+ game run in 1998 about a month ago, full games, because I can, I've seen all the other games, watched 98 reently .. I know he was disgusting on offfense and not as dominant on defense as made out to be. Numbers back up the offensive bit anyway .. but defense needs a bit of watching. His defense was overrated, when players were explosive and used their physical tools, instead of slowly backing down in the post or something .. Pippen would look bad, you could cross him over badly, get by him easily ... he had good arms and hands .. bad legs and feet. Jordan was so much better on defense, which is another reason it's overrated ... most of the pro's and analysts say Jordan was a greater defender, with Jerry West even bringing up the comparison with Pippen .. but the avg fans probably don't ...
***** I watched almost every game Pippen ever played in a Bulls uniform. I agree with you. I think Pippen is elevated as a way to diminish MJ's shear mastery. I checked out how Pippen did against the other all-star small forwards of his era and found out that ALL 14 of them, from Bird and Nique to Mashburn and Sean Elliot, scored more against Pippen than they did against the rest of the league; and in most cases they shot a higher percentage. Pippen best playoff performances were in 1991. Some people call Pippen one of the most underrated players in NBA history. I think he is one of the most overrated.
Whether it's finesse or power, I love the way Pippen would finish at the rim. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to see MJ in his last year as a Bull live!
3:01 - I can't for the life of me figure out why smoki2323 cut it off mid-sentence, but you can tell the announcer was calling Jordan the greatest player to ever play the game ALREADY in 1992, when he only had 1 ring. And this wasn't a lone opinion - most people already thought of Jordan as the best individual player ever by 1992 with only one ring - that says something about how amazing he was in his prime.
That was beast mode before there was a beast mode when M.J became a one man break after the steal and then he turns on the jets and then he makes a hesitation behind the back reverse dribble to stall and freeze everyone and then finishes strong to the basket with a double pump dunk all in one sequence. that Miami crowd was very faithful and showed it at the end of the game that is something you rarely see now a days where the home team gets eliminated at home and then gets a standing ovation; that was a very young and loaded with talented Miami heat team, i didn't even know that Steve Smith was there and it didn't surprise met that he would knock down a three in Jordan's face and then let him know about it!. This game is good proof that this was perhaps the mot explosive one-two combo punch where if the right don't get you then the left will-a combine 87 points between Pippen and Jordan aka the cape crusader Batman and his sidekick Robin.
***** Ray Allen? Ray is great, and a HOFer for sure, but not on the level of the other guys you mentioned. He's the best 3-point shooter in league history, but his overall game can't compare to MJ, Kobe, or Lebron.
I'm 34 years old so I grew up watching Da Bulls. If they weren't on the major channel we had the Chicago channel W.G.N.. So the Bulls were always on our t.v.... Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were the absolute best duo ever. I can't say it enough. I was extremely privileged to watch Michael and Scottie was my all-time favorite... I live in O.K.C. and I gotta say Kevin Durant is coming back off his foot surgery ready to ball hard and of course Westbrook is and always will be a fucking beast. If they can win a title this year or next and keep adding on they will in fact be in the same conversation as M.J. and Pipp..... THUNDER UP
Jordan's Bulls were basketball excellence personified. NBA teams that were unfortunate enough to face them in the playoffs knew that you couldn't beat the Bulls they could only beat themselves and they didn't do that all that much.
such a dominant performance by a duo. 87 points combined. They also played great defense together, got their rebounds, got steals, blocks, and assist. Obviously Jordan's the Best but Scottie had his own to contribute to the bulls.
One of the greatest playoff performances from the GOAT. This is what it means for a single player to take over a game, and make it look like its bullet time from the Matrix - Jordan slowing things down, in his mind. Never will be another one like him. An artist, the greatest athlete in the history of sports.
I look at how many 3's the Bulls pass up that would be taken today. This is why they were the best, they took decent shots and made them good ones. Far too many guys shooting 3's these days that have no business doing so.
Also, the battle between Steve Smith and MJ is beautiful. Today these guys get flagrants and the competitiveness gets taken out of the game. The Heat were looking for small victories here. I miss this basketball.
Agreed. Unfortunately with the way the nba has changed the rules we will never see this type of ball again. It's basically iso or jack up 3's. Just how the league wants it.
I use to watch multiple videos my dad recorded to study Jordan's shooting form. It took me all throughout high school to develop his form...and it still wasn't close but damn, it's a smooth ass motion if you have the mechanics and arm strength. I never changed and still use it to this day.
This is what separates Michael 'air' Jeffrey Jordan from the black mamba. Aside from MJ being 10x the defender that kobe has ever been... It's the efficiency. Kobe in his prime is no where even close to the efficient scorer that Jordan was.. Not just in Michaels prime.. But any point in his career. They both took a lot of tough shots.. The difference is Jordan made more than half the shots he took. GOAT.
***** I was going to stay out of this one, but c'mon, dude. Don't be intellectually dishonest. You know damn well Jordan was coming back from baseball and getting back into basketball shape. Don't try to play it like the Bulls team that lost to the Magic was M.J. at %100. Also, don't try to play it as if the Rockets swept the Magic legitimately. Nick Anderson's free throw choke job gave the series away right up front. I actually love Olajuwon, but that shit you said about him blocking or contesting Jordan's shot is positively laughable: Jordan jammed on everyone, including the greatest shot blockers of his era. Dikembe Mutombo once effed up and said M.J. couldn't dunk on him, and Jordan went right down and did it. Noone was blocking M.J. on a dunk. You're kidding yourself. Michael was the GOAT. Just deal with it.
The Bulls dominated a very good Charlotte Hornets team in the 1st round before facing the Magic and MJ was damn near unstoppable in that series. Orlando was focused on containing everyone else, especially Kukoc who got destroyed by Grant on both ends of the floor, MJ tried to carry the team on his own and wasn't able to for the entire series, he can win 1 or 2 games in a series on his dominance alone but to actually win a series the rest of the team also had to consistently show up and against the Magic they didn't. And Houston would've still won against Orlando even without the 4 missed free throws, Orlando's perimeter defense got exposed and they didn't make any adjustments.
Sorry I have to agree I would take pippen over lebron, I don't know why but I would, lock down defender with the wing span he has and the offensive skills he has, I think the real reason is when the 4th quarter comes put pippen on the other teams best player and watch and observe. And as crazy as it seems pippen would want it more then lebron. Not hating on lebron but this is a fact.
***** thats obviously when Pippen was aged in his career and Pippen is able to score the ball....one of the years MJ retired he left their team in every category including 21 pts pg. ..and he a better defender than Lebron and more mentally tougher .....and it seemed like Pippen would want it more than Lebron
***** Lo mismo izo Pippen cuando se retiro jordan llevo alos toros alos playoffs y no gano pero el yevo alos toros ademas ay juego en el que rokets con pippen y kobe con lakers pippen destroza a kobe joven soy fan de Lebron pero tu eres un niño lebron es fuerza nada mas pippen lo venceria ;)
***** Oh you just don't know what you're talking about. Lebron's team depends on him to score the most points. Scottie didn't have the role of the leading scorer on his team. vmntmn You I think are partially if not totally braindead. Pippen is far superior defensively. He would shut Lebron down. When he played he used to shut 5-guy offenses down. Maybe offensive stats comparison would imply that Lebron has the edge offensively, but I'd take Pippen in that department too. Lebron isn't anywhere near as good of a shooter as Pip was.
That break away Jordan dunk at the end that sealed the deal was what i call caught them with their pants down. Perfect contrasted of the experienced Bulls and the very inexperienced Miami Heat team.
this was a crazy game. i remember my uncles losing their minds on this game. we all did, actually. i was in 2nd grade this season. mike's who career was a highlight reel.
when you have one guy on your team that has scored almost half the amount of points the entire team had scored as a whole for the game.....its safe to say that he's pretty damn good
Welen mentioned Jordan's midrange game. NBA.com doesn't have midrange efficiency stats during this time period for Jordan but they do have midrange efficiency stats for Jordan in 97 (when he was 34). Jordan in 97 was 48.9% 1202 fga. Curry in 2015 was 41.1% 285 fga and in 2016 42.5% 200 fga. Midrange is all the shots inside the 3-point line but outside the paint. Jordan shot 6 times as many midrange shots and made a higher percentage than Curry (the greatest shooter of all-time-lol). Curry the greatest 3 point shooter but not the greatest shooter of all-time.
Robert Grubb - defenses today can't contain perimeter shooting like in the 80s and 90s. Back then, Handchecking combined with constant full court press as well as no 3 sec def. rule made perimeter 3 point shooting every possession impossible. But today, even though students of the game know this, mostly the media, because it's in their best interest to do so, make it seem as if 3 point shooting of today is something that could only be done by today's human being.
Boogie Loo True that. Another factor is the contact allowed was greater. Even now we're able to see when physicality picks up in the playoffs, Curry damn near disappears. His ineffectiveness in the playoffs is obvious. In regards to Jordan, let's look at the midrange shots he took and made a high percentage of. No matter the contest and height of the player, he got that shot off and over. Tremendous, effortless lift 93 and prior. Many so called "great shooters" were the ones that would catch and shoot wide open, uncontested shots. Jordan's shots were far more contested at midrange, from 3 not so much, but that wasn't the philosophy then. It was about layups and dunks first and foremost, and you know what? I miss it. The game is centered on shooting the 3 and taking action away from the basket. It's not my thing. At all. No post play. We've got inflated rebounding numbers for guards around the league because of the style of play. Used to have 4 7fters in the paint to contend with for rebounds, not anymore. Curry averaged like 7 rebs a game. lol. He'd average 2 to 3 in the 80's 90's. Thing is if you had a skilled post player you could hammer the 3 as they'd have to collapse on them. Too bad they're gone. Oh well. Between the NBA and NFL, I'm about done watching. The rules are taking away from the athletes ability to compete and it's a joke.
Robert Grubb - exactly. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who understands Bball and how it shoUld be played. And I hear you about the NBA and the NFL. The freakin commercialization of sports has ruined it.
40 points 12 fuckin rebounds and 8 assist for this series? lmfao and people have the nerve to think Jordan's game was one dimensional? he put up numbers like that in many series in the 80s and early 90s
Its cool to think that the bulls had the two best players at that moment of time on the same team and didn't buy either one of hem when he was in his prime. They both got drafted of either we're draft day trades by the bulls and raised up through the bulls organization
this is a great observation. If Lebron had done this with Wade, there would have been special music, graphics, hype, commercials and t-shirts to advertise the Sports Center special on "we were witnesses...LBJ and Dwade go for a combined 87"
perfect example is on the steal when he went behind the back then down the lane for the dunk and the foul. The announcer said "draws the foul." I would have been like "OMG what a dunk AND 1!!!"
Jordan spoiled us so bad that these commentators are not even excited to him do this. Can you imagine if ANY player did these moves today? It would be on every ESPN highlight show for the entire week!
1:18 Pippen's authority was unquestioned. If the rim was empty, little easy dunk. If you were in the way, move. 4:31 still blows my mind how smooth his turn around fadeaway really was. I was only 10 yrs old watching this, and didn't quite appreciate it.
pippen is not in the shadow of jordan and never was he is known as a winner and able to carry a team. players even now a days don't for a dunk at 2:33. jordan is a wonder pertaining to basketball
56 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, 66 FG%- this man was unreal, I simply cannot imagine anyone putting up these numbers today with this level of efficency. GOAT
As a Heat fan,I can't do anything but respect Michael&Scottie.I wasn't born until '94,but they destroyed us in this game.But our crowd was so hyped no matter what,nowadays when I look at my fellow fans today they look like they give zero fucks about hyping up.
Who else thinks this would be the most epic showdown: Magic, MJ, Lebron, Tim Duncan, and Kareem vs. Oscar Robertson, Kobe, Larry Bird, Karl Malone, and Shaq
Fabio Brewer I don't know why you guys keep on hating on lebron. I just don't get it. I'm tired of you people braggin about lebrons travel, flopper, etc. Wtf. Go get a life and stop hating. You're the one who's insulting. You're insulting one of the best athletes in the world.
rhcp5351 yeah bro. Sick and tired of these people. Keep on complaining about flopping and travel. Soooooo what??? -.- smh people nowadays bro. Lol makes me laugh
You nailed it! People have their opinions and favorite players - all perfectly ok - but Jordan had NO WEAKNESSES in his game! There was no place on the court and no situation you could throw at him that slowed his game down. Just a pure, unstoppable scoring machine, with top notch defensive skills and a killer instinct unlike anyone I've ever seen! Damn, imagine what he would do in today's "no touch" league. I'm thankful I got to witness his greatness, from the beginning to the end.
What made Jordan frightening was that he studied his opponents and exploited every weakness available. It also helped he was a super athlete and could dunk from the free throw line. As well as hitting turnaround 18 foot jumpers like they were free throws.
