Anybody who watches this, especially the 2nd half, has to recognize the crazy defense of that era - especially the crazy defense on MJ with non stop double and triple teams.
They don't care. They been brainwashed to believe that not playing any defense and running at the rim like a bull, diving, crying and launching threes makes you the goat
Jordan had 8 games that season with 50+, and 2 with 61. He also had a streak of 9 games in a row with 40+. All that without sitting behind the arc launching 10-15 3's every game like players of today by the way.
Yep, and he played during the era when the NBA allowed two-handed checking on defense. So that means Jordan had to work extremely hard on offense to get to the basket or get his shot off. The league was much more physical during that time. Jordan had to play against physical East Coast teams like the Celtics, Pistons and Kincks. Jordan took a beating every time he got in the lane to score. He was a straight up warrior with a killer instinct. Averaging 37.1 points per game during that era is insane!!! If he played in the league today he would probably average 50 points per game.
I'd love to see how Lebron would do under these circumstances. Im 40 and was fortunate to have watch MJ from '87 on and i don't even bother arguing with ppl as to why MJ is in a league of his own.
Lebron been great from 03 to present, i'm pretty sure he'd fair well in the 80s and 90s.. dude's built like a footballer and his playstyle is literally mowing down people down the lane, but obviously he won't do better than MJ
Agreed. People do not realize how great he was. They are either too young or have poor memories. This performance as well as many others are unworldly.
Why can't we appreciate the greatness of MJ without LBJ comparisons, honestly think Lebron would do really well in the 80s, 90s. He's built like a linebacker with out of this world athleticism, but obviously nobody's coming close to MJ.
Man it's hard when your teammates can't shoot. This guy is being absolutely swarmed. 1987 Jordan playing in like a 5 out modern offense would be unbelievable.
Yep, Michael Jordan was double-teamed, triple-teamed and in some cases quadruple-teamed by the Hawks. And he still scored 61 points. Michael Jordan was a Barbaric Warlord with a killer instinct 😳
Real basketball real defense. The game now is more about athleticism and 3 point shooting. No defense whatsoever. And "load management"? Jordan missed 8 games in 6 years of basketball. Players now get a multi million $ contract and won't play or barely play (Kawhi & Zion). Jordan revolutionized basketball and was the greatest basketball player of all time no contest!
According to Wilkins, MJ walked into the Hawks locker room before this game and told Randy Whitman to “lace them up it’s going to be a long night” .. proceeds to drop 60 on him
wow. If he actually scored 61 in this game it's more impressive than Kobe's lightly defended 81. They were throwing everything they had at him and brought the wood!
@BuzzinFromda4z doesn't matter...the 80s era defense were intense and the hawks was a good team that time along with Dominique 2nd scoring champ behind Jordan.....and this Jordan 3rd year already reach 3000 pts.... that 81 point Kobe did is literally forgotten 😂...
This was during his '87 season when he was just a scoring machine. He averaged 37.1 points a game (his highest season average). He also became one of two players in history to score more than 3000 points in a season (shared with Wilt Chamberlain).
Wow, you can see the Beta version of his drop step baseline fade. When he spun he didn’t create space and his defender never had to move. And Doc Rivers mellowed out by the 90’s! I never remembered him throwing it down like that
And this is why Michael Jordan had such a hard time in the 1980's winning against the Celtics and Pistons in the east. Look at the scorers on the Bulls. Even Scottie Pippen on the Bulls his 1st season in 87/88 averaged 7ppg. It wasn't till 1991 when Pippen finally started playing amazing defense and was averaging 18 to 20ppg and became an All Star did Michael Jordan get any real help. Horace Grant had also developed into a great rebounder and could score.
@@leechrec well Michael Jordan backed it up with championships, offense and defense. The most overrated player in NBA history is Lebron James with his 4-6 record building championship teams!
Kids today say anything to push their LbJ narrative. The reality is that today's rules allow guys like LbJ and Westbrick to get to the basket on an unprecedented scale. MJ never got to the hoop that often - not even close as the paint was packed. Anybody who says that nonsense is a kid making up fact that suit him.
Outstanding video! All other Jordan videos on RU-vid show the baskets Jordan made in games, but you are showing us the ones he misses and how hard he had to work to get his shot off.
One of the greatest to play the game.But there will never be another mike jordan, I think this was the best era of basketball because it was all about winning and having a love for the game. Nowadays its all about the money and entertainment, the game is some what watered down.
There will never be another player like Jordan in the history of this game. I not trying to discredit Wilt Chamberlain; but being honest with myself, I realized that Wilt would not have the stats that he had if he played during Jordan's era. Wilt was very tall against a bunch of short players with a shorter season; so in my opinion there will never be another Jordan and don't even mention Kobe, Lebron or Dwyane!!!
Steph Curry The G.O.A.T yeah todays defense is so great that a washed up jordan with bum knees scored 51 points at the age of 38 (nba record) going by this its safe to say a prime jordan in this era would do pretty well dont ya think? lmfao
The Bulls seemed too Jordan dependent in '87. Jordan's game also greatly expanded in the following seasons. In this video he doesnt seem to pass out of the double and triple team, insteading opting to be a one man show. Not surprising that both Jordan scored 61 points and the Bulls lost.
I've gotta say, all the players saying that this defense was fantastic compared to today's game, really ought to actually look at the numbers. The NBA league scoring average in 1987 was 109.9. In 2012-2013 it was 98.1. Every year in the 80s the league average was above 108. People like to get nostalgic, but the defense in the 80s was notoriously bad.
You can think that, but it's a matter of perspective, today's defenses are more technical and trained than in the 80s, but you forget that back in the days the game was a lot more physical, the hand-checking was allowed and the "big guys" use to stay under the rim (now they can't for the 3 sec rule!). Many actions "normal" in the 80s and 90s are fouls now as the NBA introduced in 2004 a rule to "curtail hand-checking, clarify blocking fouls and call defensive three seconds to open up the game". So to sum up the game is more open and the points per game are low, from my point of view I can think that today's players are less good than before!
You forgot to mention pace though, which is about 10% (s)lower nowadays, so naturally the league's scoring average should be lower. Not a big difference, at all, in terms of pace but there's a difference still. DRtg is about the same. In 1989, the Pistons "gave up" 100.8 points per game (2nd best in the league), the Knicks, this year, "gave up" 99.4 PPG... Does that mean that current NY is the better defensive team? Do you think that if you had today's Knicks playing back in 1989 they would give up less PPG than the Bad Boys? Of course not, no one would say that. Just look at the names and the games, the type of defense played, and so on. They're not playing against the same teams, against or with the same style of play, etc.
It is UNQUESTIONABLE that the defense was WAY BETTER and THOUGHER in the 80's and 90's. It is VISIBLE and APPARENT in this video. But players back then were also better offensive players, they were more skilled, theyshot the ball way better, they played more together and they played a lot faster and had more stamina, which made the pace higher. If you can't appreciate the quality of the defense here, you're blind. The stats don't matter because offense beats defense in basketball. Kobe Bryant or Lebron James never played a regular season game of THAT INTENSITY.
The defense was "tougher" because of the rules. Its waaaaay easier to play defense when you are allowed to be that physical. Say what you will about whether hand checking should be legal or not but the fact that it existed made playing tough defense a lot easier and they still gave up 108 points a game.
not one open look all night. 61 on double triple and quadruple teams. this bulls teams had no talent so he couldnt pass the ball. Oakley was the next best player lol
69 against Cleveland in regulation: Win 64 against Orlando in OT: Loss 63 against Boston in double OT: Loss 61 against Atlanta: Loss 61 against Detroit in OT: Win Three out of five 60+ point games in his career came in losses, 3 came in OT. Just saying.
People talking bout the defense but I mean fouling ain’t defense😂 if a foul was called that’s just bad defense and fouls were being called. Most of Jordan’s points this game came off wide open mid range buckets which were his bread and butter. Where’s the defense in that 🤷🏽♂️
Wtf is illegal defense? Lebron and Kobe And Wade never had the luxuries like that of tge old players to get isolations all game they wpuldve killed the leauge with those rulez
