College Clutch
NCAA championship game, 1982
With 15 seconds left and the North Carolina Tar Heels trailing Georgetown by a point in the NCAA title game, North Carolina guard Jimmy Black floated a pass to a pencil-thin freshman named Michael Jordan near the baseline. Despite the pressure of the situation — and the screams of the capacity crowd at the Louisiana Superdome — Jordan calmly nailed a 16-footer to give Carolina the lead. On the ensuing possession, Georgetown’s Fred Brown accidentally passed the ball to North Carolina forward James Worthy. The slip-up sealed it for North Carolina and gave Hall of Fame coach Dean Smith his first national title. “I didn’t see it go in,” Jordan said of his winning shot. “I didn’t look at the ball at all. I just prayed.” Rejoice, basketball fans. A hoops God is born.
Celtics Coming-Out Party
First round of NBA playoffs, 1986
After Jordan broke his foot early in the 1985-86 season, some Bulls executives wanted to shelve their star for the season, afraid Jordan would get hurt again. But His Airness worked his way back in time to treat fans to a historic performance in the first round of that year’s playoffs. In Game 2 of Chicago’s series against the top-seeded Celtics, with everyone at the Boston Garden but the popcorn vendors trying to stop him, Jordan scored 63 points, hitting shot after impossible shot. The Bulls lost the game, 135-131, in double overtime — but Jordan’s record-breaking performance stole the show. “I didn’t think anyone was capable of doing what Michael has done to us,” Larry Bird said afterward. “He is the most exciting, awesome player in the game today. I think it’s just God disguised as Michael Jordan.”
