Michael Jordan had a lot of iconic moments in his long and illustrious career in the NBA. While each fan ranks the said moments as per their own understanding of the game. But if there is a moment that fans put on the top has to be the one when MJ won the sixth NBA Championship of his career.
Yes, we are talking about when Michael Jordan knocked down the game-winning shot vs. the Utah Jazz in the 1998 NBA Finals. The shot is arguably one of the most iconic moments of not only MJ’s career but in all of NBA history.
Although most fans love it, there are many that believe that it was a controversial shot. The reason for it is that Jordan allegedly pushed Byron Russell in order to make that phenomenal shot.
Recently, NBA and Utah Jazz legend John Stockton joined for an interview with Jason Whitlock. During the interview, Whitlock asked about Stockton’s honest opinion on whether MJ pushed Russell or not. Here’s what Stockton said:
“Without a doubt he pushed off. Now whether you call it or not it’s another story. First of all, Byron kind of gets a bad rep for all that. Byron I think held Michael to the lowest shooting percentages of any of his finals and he did the primary job of guard, he did a heck of a job. Michael Michael he makes a obviously a huge shot he gave him a little nudge. I mean there’s a lot if it’s not called it isn’t a foul and uh man you if you’re an offensive player in this league, you know how to use your body you know how to gain leverage. You know how to find ways to get your shot so you know I don’t have any animosity towards anybody if you pushed a little bit it wasn’t called there you go simple.”
(starts at 34:50)
Although Stockton claimed that MJ indeed pushed Byron while trying to make that shot, he still seemed to be content with the refs’ decision.
After all, during the 1990s, the league was much different and players used to play the game a lot rougher than today. At the end of the day, MJ’s shot made history and fans will never forget that iconic moment for the rest of their lives.
