“I got anxious and lost the ball”: Michael Jordan was hilariously pushed into talking about his most embarrassing play against the Lakers by Phil Jackson

Phil Jackson forced Michael Jordan to open up about perhaps his most embarrassing play against the Lakers, by Phil Jackson. 

Being considered the greatest to ever lace up onto NBA hardwood would most definitely drive into any player’s ego, including Michael Jordan. Ever since he capped off his illustrious career, he’s not been shy in letting everybody know that he believes he’s the ‘GOAT’ when it comes to the game of basketball; rightfully so. 

However, back in the 1992-93 NBA season, nearly 30 years ago, Jordan was not considered to be the ‘GOAT’. In many people’s eyes, he was the guy who only recently got over the hump after getting humbled by the likes of Larry Bird and Isiah Thomas repeatedly in the NBA Playoffs.  

So, it would make sense that he would, so freely, talk about any mishaps that happened on his part when on the court as he still had room to grow as an NBA player, despite the fact that he repeated as champions with bench boss Phil Jackson. 

Michael Jordan made a silly mistake when going up against the Los Angeles Lakers. 

Michael Jordan made his name in the league by digging deep into his bag of tricks whenever need be. Whether it was a quick right to left crossover into an acrobatic layup or a fadeaway from the baseline, Jordan had a flurry of moves that he could bust out on any given moment. His most potent move however, was the dunk. 

In a game against the Los Angeles Lakers in 1992, Michael Jordan and the Bulls looked to beat up on the Magic Johnson-less squad. This didn’t play out the way they wanted it to as Chicago lost by merely two points to the purple and gold. Those 2 points, could’ve been made up on the offensive end of the floor if ‘His Airness’ just made a simple breakaway dunk. 

When on the fast-break, Jordan claims to have wanted to do throw the ball off the backboard but couldn’t make up his mid in time, resulting in him losing the ball out of bounds. A rare miscalculation from Jordan turned into a very winnable loss for the Bulls. 

Michael Jordan owns up to his mishap with the Lakers. 

He made up for it in their next game by dropping 40 points on Charles Barkley and the Phoenix Suns. Prior to the game, Phil Jackson forced Michael Jordan to sit down with Dan Roan and talk about this ‘embarrassing’ moment.  

“I was thinking too much. In my mind, I think I was going to throw it off the backboard as I did in Miami, and I just got so damn anxious with the ball. I just couldn’t grab it, and I kept trying to grab it and the next thing you know, it’s gone. It was really embarrassing but everyone makes mistakes,” said Jordan.