The Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat faced off in the first round of the 1992 NBA playoffs and Michael Jordan reportedly had a stern warning for Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant the night before Game 3. With the series shifting to Miami, Jordan told Pippen and Grant that they could go out if they wanted, but they better perform in the game or he’d take 65 shots.
“If you guys want to go out tonight, go ahead,” Jordan said. “But if you can’t perform tomorrow I will take sixty-five f***ing shots.”
A lot of players have been tempted to head out the night before a game in Miami over the years, considering the nightlife. Their busy schedules don’t allow them to head over to South Beach all the time, so they do get the temptation to have some fun before they play the Heat.
Whether Pippen and Grant went out that night or not, Jordan did not end up taking 65 shots in Game 3. He did attempt 30 and made 20 of them to finish with 56 points, five rebounds, five assists, four steals, and two blocks to lead the Bulls to a 119-114 win. It was just yet another incredible Jordan playoff game.
While Jordan stole the headlines with that outing, Pippen had a great game too. He had 31 points (12-23 FG), eight rebounds, five assists, and two blocks against the Heat. Jordan certainly would have had no reason to be upset with Pippen over his performance.
As for Grant, he had eight points (4-9 FG), eight rebounds, three assists, and two steals for the Bulls against the Heat. While that seems underwhelming, he wasn’t really asked to take too many shots.
In fact, Grant only attempted 10 or more shots once in the first two rounds in that playoff run for the Bulls. His primary role on that team was to rebound and defend and he did that fairly well during his time in Chicago.
The Bulls would eventually go on to defend their title in 1992, beating the Portland Trail Blazers in six games in the NBA Finals. Another triumph followed the next year as they completed a historic three-peat.
Getting back to Jordan, this was certainly not the first time that he had issued a warning to his teammates. NBA writer Sam Smith revealed that during the 1990-91 season, Jordan had warned Pippen and Grant not to pass the ball to Bill Cartwright in the last four minutes of games. He told them they would never get the ball from him if they did so.
Jordan was extremely harsh on Cartwright for years as he was upset his good friend Charles Oakley had been traded for him. He did eventually come to recognize that he was in the wrong and acknowledged that the big man played his part in that three-peat.
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