The Utah Jazz were one of Michael Jordan’s favorite victims during his NBA domination in the 90s. The Chicago Bulls legend beat them twice in the Finals, preventing Karl Malone and John Stockton from winning the Larry O’Brien trophy.
He had to go through rough moments during those Finals, playing after eating poisoned food, going against one of the most controversial crowds in the league, and more. Nevertheless, Jordan never backed down; he was extremely competitive and the 1998 Finals was the prime sample of that.
During Game 6 of that iconic series, the Bulls trailed the Jazz by 4 points with two minutes left on the clock. Even though it looked like nothing could stop the home team, MJ felt they would win that game.
Via The Sport Rush:
Four free throws, a heavily contested layup, and The Final Shot. These are the plays that Michael Jordan made in the final two minutes of regulation for the Chicago Bulls; plays that would result in Jordan claiming his 6th title and completing his 2nd three-peat.
It should also be mentioned that he did all of this while being down 4 in those closing two minutes of the 4th. When head coach Phil Jackson was asked about what the timeout during this closing period looked like, he said, “Michael said, ‘We’re going to win this one,’ and I said, ‘I know’. When Michael says that, it’s a good sign.”
His Airness knew things would fall into place for his team. He never doubted his team and the result was a legendary win that got him his 6th NBA title.
Jordan himself backed this up with a quote that remained true to his character. “My whole thought process was always, ‘We’re going to win this game.’ It didn’t matter whether we were down by 4 points or 24 points. I always felt things would work out.” This is a quote from a book he published 4 months after the 1998 Finals, titles, ‘For the Love of the Game’.
We all remember ‘The Final Shot’ that MJ made over Bryon Russell, crushing the Jazz’s dreams as only he knew. After that title run, Jordan retired from the game, leaving many fans wondering what would have happened had the Bulls ran it back the next year.
