Michael Jordan: 69 points vs Cavs 1990 (career high) 

That was basketball beauty. Watching Jordan in the zone is watching basketball played to perfection. The greatest ever.

People forget that in this game Jordan grabbed a career high 18 rebounds.

Anybody who truly believes that LeBron's Era is tougher then Jordan's was obviously dropped one too many times.

Thank you SO much for the slow mo bill cartwright free throw....i forgot how truly awkward his shot was...we would mimic it as kids and just bust up laughing

All the great players of today would get put on the hardwood by bigs in Jordan's era. Hand checks don't get you free throws in his time. Jordan would've dropped 80 multiple times playing in this era cause he would've average 40 free throws a game.

The GOAT BABY

One of the Greatest performances in the history of the NBA!

He was amazing in this game. He did absolutely everything, and he always craves for more when Ehlo is defending : )

Also Jordan poured 63 @ Boston (55 in regulation), against the Celtics, in the playoffs, when Boston ended up winning the NBA title. Kobe's scoring against this Celtics team in the Finals were 24,36,30,17,25, and 22. So it took Kobe roughly 2 games to match MJ and the champion Celts of this year are not better than the 85-86 title team (the one Jordan dropped 63 on)

also MJ was already 34yrs old when he had the flu and lite the jazz up,MJ was an amazing athlete.

jordan scored 63 in the playoffs in his 2nd year! c'mon 81 wouldve been possible if he wanted it. jordan scored 69 with less attempts, less 3point attempts and 18 boards. jordan 69 and 18 was more impressive to me.

michael is so amazing. this is my favorite michael jordan moment. every time i watch this i feel something i cant describe.

Lol 69 is the result of tripling 23.. Cleveland was clearly the most special victim of MJ

@THETOYOTAable The most incredible thing is that you left out 90% of feats/achievments/whatever MJ done that can be as remarkable as those from this list.

5:10 just shows you how fast Jordan was. He easily sprints down the court leaving defenders behind.

5:08 (MJ grabs rebound and leads fast break) Announcer: THIS'LL BE GOOD!!!!!!! (MJ does a simple dunk) Announcer: .....................

In MY Opinion Kobe cant compare to Michael Jordan, MJ has too much greatness!

Great work. I haven't added this one myself because I knew others might do it. With you now adding games, we will eventually get every single game worth putting up on this site.

1:24 slow mo might be the best part of this video

24 years ago hard to believe!

Jordan era had: Bird, Magic, Penny, Hakeem, Wilkins, Thomas, Drexler, Barkley, Malone, Stockton, Kemp, Shaq, Kidd, Payton, Robinson, Miller, Morning, Mutumbo, Ewing, etc. Lebron era: Kobe. Durrant, Carmelo, Harden, George, Duncan, Paul, Curry, Aldridge, Love, Lillard, Davis, Griffin, Parker, WIlliams, Westbrook, Rose, Howard, etc.. If you look at the competition, they're both legit and both very talented. The only difference was the rules and work ethic. Good old fashion fundamentals were more prominent in the Jordan era as well as pure toughness as it was a much more physical game then. I'd give the slight edge to the Jordan era. Also, Jordan is hands down the goat regardless of what these young folks think they know

Man, basketball back then was so exciting. I don't watch basketball these days, but I found myself watching like a million of these Michael Jordan videos because he is such a beast.

LOL!!!!!!!! @ 1:19...WHAT IN THE WORLD KIND OF SHOOTING FORM WAS THAT, CARWRIGHT!

man, jordan made it look so easy too. I like the move he did on ehlo at 2:13. he had 69 points, but he also 18 rebounds AND 6 assists AND 4 steals. Thats just amazing right there.

He is a LEGEND :). Forget Kobe Bryant, he is never ever so good like MJ !

MISS WATCHING MJ LIVE. GREATEST EVER.

A fantastic game. On my MJ-era NBA podcast, a recent episode breaks down this game, in-depth. Plenty of humor and insight. Search for 'In all Airness'. Thanks.

dam the quality is good as hell on this homie, good look on the throwback MJ....

Jordan is better than curry

Man i wish i grew up in the 90's so I could watch the basketball of the 1990's. A lot better than today's game.

Jordan: "Yes, he's good - I consider it a challenge" :D :D :D

I think rebounding too much, kind of made MJ tired in the 4th quarter.

Editor is hella petty for that slow mo 😂😂

Steve Kerr. Damn.

damn i always jus round it to 70.. Naw he shoulda had 70 tho

Michael Jordan you are good at basketball

Shaq had 61 with 5 minutes left in the game he could of beat him just saying

My goodness, this guy was unreal that night. The majority of his points came on jumpshots, which shows how great a shooter MJ was. Excellent vintage video !!! This gets 5 stars for the shots of legends alone. Bavetta, Phil and Doug Collins have been doing this for a very long time.

I saw a full game of this in youtube, it seems that MJ got cold in the 4th quarter. I guess he was tired, but if he had rested more I think he would have gotten 70+ plus points easily.

Lol, the comments about "let him beat us if we can" and "but he can beat you" were priceless.

I NEVER thought I would see, let alone ENJOY, Bill Cartwright.....in slow motion. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Just the fact that this even crossed your mind to do this.....Pure. Genius. 🤣🤣🥳🥳🥳

I read in the Slam Magazine Gold Edition for MJ,and he said he took a hard hit from John "Hot-Rod" Williams and the Cleveland's crowd roared loud and he got pissed and then he put up an amazing 69 POINTS! You gotta thank Hot Rod and Cleveland's fans for causing a unreal 69 point game performance by Jordan.

@temorello VERY WELL SAID " JORDAN THE GOAT" UNDEFEATED IN FINALS !!!

Kobe's 81pts game : 81pts (28/46 60%) 6rebounds 3steals MJ's 69pts game : 69pts (23/37 62%) 18 rebounds 6pass 4steals 1block with hand checking

As a young kid my favorite player was MJ, and now it is Kobe. While everyone is arguing back and forth about who is better, I am just rejoicing that I saw who I consider the two greatest players of the game play during my lifetime.

Jordan did this in an era where that many points wasn't normal. Today's NBA is more offense oriented and dropping 50 in the first half isn't out of the question nor would it be a shock. This was a feat back then.

and the great part about the aftermath of that shot.. MJ just went right to the bench and sat down. the man just wanted to play ball.

MJ is the greatest nba player of all time... and there is no question about it... No need to argue.

These announcers probably said Michael 1000 times

Lmaooo I can't stop dying off the replay slow-mo of bill Cartwright free throw in the beginning of the video lol that's too funny haha

Oh, And Kobe was playing the RAPTORS PPL! Matt Bonner, Morris Peterson, and Jalen Rose were checking him that game with 6'10" Bosh at CENTER! MJ was playing AT a Cleveland Cavs team that was a mainstay in the playoffs for about a decade AND had a REAL Center guarding the middle AND during the days when you could handcheck full court...MJ is the greatest we will ever see.

@Eyesonme805 your post is a perfect example of "I have no idea what to say because I have no proof to back up my statement so i'll just make up whatever comes to my mind". Starks was a journeyman who played well for a few yrs, and he played for one of the most bruising defenses of all time.Plus he was a great athlete and a streaky shooter.Give me the 1994 Knicks against either of the Finalists of this year, with the 94 rules, and they'd never lose a 7 game series.

@CaveKanem Also J. Kidd guarded LeBron in the finals and he did pretty well and he's 38

And he's doin this wit skills not driving and dunking the ball. But using those amazing skills to repeatedly beat the double team. Not to mention the 18rbs 6ast and 4stls...Wow just simply The greatest basketball player/Athlete of All-time!

Every time when I look MJ I see joy of playing basketball. It's not just awesome dunks, what make U great, when U have 6'6 it's not hard to dunk. But..but all other aspects he moved to another level as well, like footwork. Man...add to that fake moves He was doing every time. To cheat opponent, to make a bit more place for clear shoot or penetrate defense and dunk. When He got the ball his not looking for fast way to pass to someone...it's like to pass all that joy, possibilities what ball in Ur hand can create..other players they usually trying to pass somewhere else and kill own spirit own passion. There are players who love to make nice moves but often without will to score, just to shine for a sec and pass the fckn ball. Here with MJ, everything is to score to pass defensive player like U are 1on1. He took that chalange game after game. Not enough words to praise his momentum , acceleration after fake move where defense went wrong way. He had that movement poetry, which camera loved from very beginning.

even if there will be a player that could tie him by any athletic means ... still jordan is the most passionate and dedicated player EVER + he has charisma & greatness & still alot of respect for small things

@c2g1980 Later in his career he was a much more habitable teammate. But in the late eighties and early nineties, before he got a couple championships, wow, a brutal guy. Openly disparaged the coaches, his teammates, his touches, just a huge Ego. That Jordan, if playing today would be despised.

he shot over 61 percent from the field and rebounds,assists and steals to go with it...remarkable game he took that many shots because he had 31 points at half he was on fire

MJ's highest scoring games came when his team was on the verge of losing the game till the final seconds. Every single one of his 60+ pt performances. In KB's case he had his team confortable ahead but couldnt resist to stat padding.

I like that this clip shows how MJ played hard on both ends of the floor.

Greatest Of All Time baby! :D

Jordan scored 59% of Chicago's points in this game. Meaning over half their team's points. That's amazing.

check this video out.this is the defense the pistons used called the "jordan rules".soon after the pistons started using this tactic, many other teams around league adopted the "jordan rules" as well.if you watch the vid closely,you'll notice jordan gets hand checked almost every time he drives.but jordan was so quick that he could usually still beat his man off the dribble.but even when he did beat his man,the pistons were in the lane waiting. watch?v=NLv2F33snCE&feature=channel_page

Yeah, and he managed to dish it off for a score 6 times too! Fuck Kobe's 81, his stat line was so one dimensional that night. Jordan's is just sick, and he did it against a playoff caliber team, not a bunch of lottery bums. Jordan: GOAT!

Not only that, but an 84-93 Jordan would be AVERAGING 40-45+ points per game in this league, where centers can't actually dominate the paint and guards and small forwards can't hand-check you to hinder your progress.

Career high in points and rebounds in the same game for the greatest player to ever play=greatest single game performance in nba history.

MJ 69ing the cavs, just like he would today

Your 21? That says it all. Kids today simply can't get their head out of their asses and accept there are players that came before Kobe that did everything he does, and better. Namely, one Michael Jordan.

in an 11 year career kobe has scored 3686 points, Jordan in a 15 year career and 13 years in the playoff has 5,987. kobe's career avg is 25ppg and his playoff is 24.3. Jordans career 30.1 and his playoff career is 33.4

And not just that but he added 18 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals and a blocked shot to his performance, far more of an all round game than Kobe could have HOPED to achieve when he scored 81. As rrTale mentions, if Jordan was as inclined to shoot as many shots as Kobe did in this game and through his career, there would be no QUESTION of Jordan's superiority since he would have multiple 60+, 70+, 80+ and maybe even 100+ point scoring games. But Jordan wasn't like that thankfully. :)

@DarkJafar excuse me ? "above average player"? cmon he's one of the greatest to ever pick up a basketball. To me you're just a hater.

"yes hes good and i consider him a challenge" hahah

wow, while getting 69 points, he got 18 boards, and an amazing 6 assists!! Has kobe even got 6 assists in his lowest scoring game? i know im exagurating, but common..

that helps MJ's case actually. the more you shoot, the more you miss, and MJ still shot 53 % from the field! 36 ppg on 53 % shooting in 17 Finals games. that's dominance, consistency and efficiency LeBron could only dream of.

before you guys mention kobe.....jordan scored 69 and had 18 boards with less attempts for the field and from 3pt range as well. Jordan scored 69 in a highly contested game. Kobe scored 81 when the game was already out of reach, they were up double digits and he was still pullin up for 3's early in the shot clock. IT WAS A STATS GAME FOR KOBE! listen to the commentator at 3:32-3:36 he says, " that's the greatness of Michael Jordan"

Thank you SO much for the slow mo bill cartwright free throw....i forgot how truly awkward his shot was...we would mimic it as kids and just bust up laughing

You can't watch this clip and even say that there is anyone near Jordan, he is the greatest basketball player ever.

Jordon played in a defensive era, even Phil Jackson (former coach) and Larry Brown said Kobe would average around 50 in this era of basketball. There was more dominant centers and more defensive minded players in his era (80's and 90's) NBA changed a couple of rules like the Offensive 3 second violation and the hand check rule to make the game more offensive oriented, there was one point that games were some nights when teams would barely score 80 or 70 points. MJ was more contested by far

What's more impressive to me rather than 69 points is 10 scoring titles with a DPOY to go along with them. KobeMJ

@MasterFlip89 Just a guess...but he probably rested the beginning of the 4th quarter. Teams usually rest their starters the first 3-6 minutes in the 4th. Could be wrong...

@temorello Not only that but in this game cleveland was fighting for their playoff lives to secure the 8th spot.

And yes, LBJ can and SHOULD be in the argument for best player in the league currently. Even if the league is much weaker in terms of defensive ability and intensity than in previous decades, Lebron's numbers this season have been pretty amazing, especially for someone only in his fourth year as an NBA player. He's been just as much of a team player as Kobe has been this year, in fact a better one actually, and to get the reshuffled Cavs into the playoffs was very impressive.

Yes, you'll notice I made that very point earlier, it's a matter of historical fact. But when evaluating that Laker team, it's clear who the relevant player actually was. Shaq won all three finals MVPs without a contest. I understand you're trying to make a contrarian point, but Shaq won with Wade on the downslope of his career. Look, all you have to do is read Phil Jackson's book to find out who he thought was the most important part of that team.

Hey, I have no problem with that. Your a Kobe fan and I can respect your opinion, especially since you've been honest enough to watch what Jordan could do and admitted who had the superior game. :) Kobe is a great player, no question about it. I just think it's unfair on him to have so many people making comparisons with MJ that Kobe will find impossible to emulate and surpass.

If you watch Kobe scoring 60 vs Memphis in the '06-'07 season, they look exactly the same. That's crazy to me.

If you compare this with Kobe's performance there are some factors to consider. Jordan hadn't refined his 3 point shot at this time. If he had done that, he probably would've had considerably more. As mentioned, Kobe scored 81 on the Raptors, an obvious mismatch between the teams. At the time, Cleveland was no bottom feeder. They were a perrenial playoff presence. Plus 18 rebounds for a gaurd is pretty spectacular. Both performances were incredible, but let's put things in perspective.

3:34 How prophetic was that statement???

lol look at the cavs bench everytime jordan scores

The GOAT would score 69 as a career high lol

3:34 How prophetic was that statement??? 1994 of course was the year Jordan was playing baseball.

this is even more hilarious: 2007 - 27 ppg on 48 % regular season, 26 ppg on 43 % first 3 playoff rounds, 22 ppg on 36 % Finals 2011 - 27 ppg on 51 % regular season, 26 ppg on 46 % first 3 playoff rounds, 18 ppg on 48 % Finals 2013 - 27 ppg on 57 % regular season, 26 ppg on 51 % first 3 playoff rounds, 25 ppg on 45 % Finals LeBron - the biggest underperformer in NBA Finals history.

Don't get me wrong, Kobe is a great player, this finals performace moved him into the top ten all-time, but this game shows one of the many differences between Jordan and Kobe. This game was close the whole way, Jordan is scoring points late in the game with his team only up by two possessions. Contrast that with Kobe in game 1 of the finals. His team is blowing out the Magic, but he comes back into the game with his team up by 20, demands the ball, and starts jacking shots to get to 40.

And no one talks about with the 69 points 18 rebs, OMG I have never seen someone play at such a high level as a individual and as a team player.

one COULD argue that chamberlain was more dominant in his era, but yeah jordan was probably the greatest all round player ever

the man just cant miss reminds me of the 86' boston game

Everybody relax on "81 is more that 69" . david robinson, elgin baylor, wilt Chamberlain, David Thompson scored more that 69 but that doesnt make them better than Jordan so just chill. 69 pts is an incredible point total and the skill to get that many is just absurd. Remember Jordan won the scoring title....for a decade!! 7 years in a ROW! 31.5 pts per game career when he retired in 98. (30.1 after wizards)

here are the nba league scoring averages on a year by year basis,since the rule changes in the summer of 2004.you noticed the ppg jump in the 2005 season after the rule changes?but according to you the the rule changes didn't do anything.on top of that,the pace of the nba hasn't changes at all since the rule changes, but the scoring average has continued to rise. (2009)100 (2008)99.9 (2007)98.7 (2006)97.0 (2005)97.2 (2004)93.4

Jordan said that he was knocked down hard in that game and people booed him, so he got -upset- because they couldn't care that an athlete was hurt..and made a statement there!

@mattrancho He had 5. But who needs assists when you score all your teams points?

@blackadam06 Bravo, extremely well put. I felt like I was reading the Great Debaters.