“A Lion Getting Out of the Cage”: All-Star Freeze Out Made Michael Jordan Confine Himself Indoors

Michael Jordan had already shown flashes of his otherworldly talent when he entered the NBA. His rookie season in 1984-85 saw the fans sit up and take notice of the flashy youngster, but some of the more seasoned vets didn’t appreciate the attention he was receiving. Of course, Jordan was unaware of this resentment brewing, and it all came to a head at All-Star Weekend.

The 1985 All-Star Game is infamously known as the ‘Freeze-Out Game,’ after some of the older players on the teams decided to haze the rookie from the Bulls. Rumor has it that Chicago native Isiah Thomas allegedly kept the ball away from the super popular rookie in an attempt to embarrass him and demonstrate that he’d have to wait his turn behind the stars of the day, like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

While the older players passed it off as nothing, that game had a deep impact on Jordan. Roland Lazenby, in his book ‘Michael Jordan: The Life,’ claims it hurt the rookie to see one of his idols turn his back on him in that way. The idol of course is Magic Johnson.

According to Lazenby, Jordan retreated into his hotel room and grew increasingly distant from the media. “Magic Johnson had been his hero. As Jordan told reporters, the incident made him want to crawl in a hole and hide,” he wrote.

In fact, it became so rare to see Jordan out of his room doing normal activities, that Tim Hallam, the Bulls’ PR official, was shocked whenever he did. In ‘The Life,’ Lazenby recounted what Hallam told him the time Jordan ventured out of his room, detailing,

“Only occasionally would he emerge from this isolation, Tim Hallam recalled. ‘It was like, ‘Wow, Michael’s out!’ You were happy for him. Meaning, it’s kind of like a lion getting out of the cage and walking free within the boundaries of the zoo for a while.”

Jordan may have felt a sting of betrayal from Magic, but that never tarnished their relationship. He did, however, harbor a genuine dislike for the alleged mastermind behind the ‘Freeze-Out’ – Isaiah Thomas. Jordan and Thomas still have a fiery rivalry.

Michael Jordan v Isaiah Thomas

Jordan’s Bulls and Thomas’ Pistons were touted as upcoming rivals even in 1985, but the hatred between both sets of players would only show much later, in the 1988 playoffs.

The Pistons would seem to have the Bulls’ number for nearly 3 years, in which they defeated the Chicago side in the playoffs. They also won the title in 2 of those years, further rubbing salt into the wounds. MJ would eventually have the last laugh, though.

Michael Jordan and the Bulls ran through the Pistons in 1991, on the way to their first title. They would go on to win 5 more in the next 7 years, solidifying their dominance over their rivals.