Very fit to finish the year 2001, after matches at 51 and 45 points, on December 29 and 31, Michael Jordan had also managed an excellent match on January 4, 2002, against his former team from Chicago. The back of Wizards had indeed compiled 29 points and 7 rebounds.
The icing on the cake, with this performance, he exceeded the bar of 30,000 career points. Twenty-one years ago, he was only the fourth player in history, after Wilt Chamberlain, Karl Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, to achieve such a feat, but Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James have since followed.
Except that, more than two decades later, everyone has retained only one action from this match. A huge counter, with two hands, in the last seconds on Ron Mercer, to seal the victory of Washington…
“I can still jump when necessary. Especially when I’m stung.”explained Jordan after the game, to the Chicago Grandstand. “It’s one of those times when anger gives you extra energy. »
This counter should never have happened though. After a big second quarter (19 units), the six-time champion launched the Wizards to victory in the first half. The Bulls were on the ropes and were more than twenty points behind.
“It looked like he was gone, and suddenly he took the ball with both hands”
But the Chicago players are going to rev up in defense, Ron Artest is going to muzzle Jordan, who believes for his part that the referees have forgotten his whistles (hence the anger he evokes above), and no of the Wizards takes over. The Bulls come back and in the last 30 seconds, there is only a four point difference (93-89) between the two formations!
“MJ” plays this crucial possession, but is countered by Artest on his attempt at half distance. Ron Mercer plays the transition and goes to the circle. He goes up, but Jordan is behind him and picks him up with a massive two-handed chase-down block. Let’s not forget that at this moment, “His Airness” is celebrating its 39th birthday (which it will celebrate on February 17, 2002)…
“I don’t know where he came from”remarked his coach Doug Collins. “It looked like he was gone, and suddenly he took the ball with both hands. »
With his money-time shot against Shawn Marion in the 2003 All-Star Game, this superb counter is arguably Jordan’s best-known move from Washington. The one that comes to mind when you think of him in this Wizards jersey, which he wore for two seasons between 2001 and 2003.
