Michael Jordan spent two years in the middle of his two three-peats retired. This is a fact that everyone knows and is part of what makes them so impressive. MJ went and played baseball for a while, missing a season and a half of NBA ball before returning in 1995 to join the Chicago Bulls.
Even for the GOAT, missing a season and a half while playing another sport is not something to recover from easily. Michael Jordan lost in the playoffs in the 1994-1995 season, with the Bulls falling against the Eastern Conference champions, the Orlando Magic. In that series, he came up against Penny Hardaway, one of the league’s most exciting rising stars at the time, and the two shared a funny incident.
Penny Hardaway Spoke About How Michael Jordan Wore His Shoes Without Asking Him For Them
Even if he wasn’t on the same level yet that he had been at before, Michael Jordan’s return meant a lot to the NBA. He was a megastar and his return coincided with his new show, the latest Concords at the time dropping. And it led to a wild story that Penny Hardaway later recounted to Andscape.
“After two games in the Concords, Jordan was slapped with a $5,000 fine by the NBA for wearing the primarily white shoes, which violated the league’s uniform guidelines by not conforming to his team’s jerseys or footwear.
“So before Game 3, Jordan had a decision to make. With a primarily black version of the Air Jordan 11 not yet available to him, which sneakers would he wear? Jordan could’ve returned to the Air Jordan 10 or any of his other iconic silhouettes. But instead, Jordan paid homage to the kid — taking the court for Game 3 at Chicago’s United Center in a pair of Hardaway’s Nike Air Flight Ones.
“’It was very weird,” Hardaway said. ‘He’s Michael Jordan. He was the man. He didn’t ask me for them. He just told Nike to give them to him,’ Hardaway said. ‘He said, ‘Hey, man, give me some of the kid’s shoes.’ I thought, Of course … how many pairs do you need? Do you need mine? It was like, ‘That’s Michael Jordan … wearing MY shoes.’”
For Michael Jordan to flex his muscle at Nike like that and face Hardaway in his shoes shows that he knew he would return and continue to dominate the game. While he lost that series against the Orlando Magic, MJ reminded everyone just who he was and then promptly claimed another three-peat. His stories often leave one at a loss for words.
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