Michael Jordan built an enduring legacy out of his tendency to drain clutch shots late in crucial games. His unwavering tenacity to make important buckets in crunch time is a huge part of his lore in the league. However, it wasn’t just purely luck or skill. Jordan built the confidence to take those high-pressure shots by methodically breaking down situations in his mind and playing without fear.
Advertisement
In a 1990 feature called Playground, Jordan gave an in-depth insight into his psyche and revealed how he took over games in crucial moments. He explained that to deliver late in games, it’s crucial to forget the clock or the score and focus solely on executing the correct play. Explaining his process, Jordan said:
“You have to want the ball. The clock….The pressure….You block all that out…It starts in the huddle. I’m listening to the coach set the play, but I am also running plays in my mind.“
Jordan revealed, in those clutch moments, his mind wandered back to the NCAA National Championship Game from his Freshman year at North Carolina. Jordan hit the game-winner with 15 seconds left to win the national title for his alma mater. It was an iconic moment, but to Jordan it was only one more shot that he sunk. He explained:
“At that time, that was the biggest shot of my life. When I got to the NBA, I had to prove myself all over again.“
Jordan added that he never thought it was a compulsion for him to take the last shot. All that mattered was making the right play. He proved his willingness to win to be his priority later on in his career by passing up the final shot in Game 6 of the 1997 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz. With ten seconds left on the clock, Jordan drew a double-team before passing it to teammate Steve Kerr, who hit the game-winning shot to end the series.
Even before he won his first NBA title, Jordan’s clutch gene instilled fear in coaches. Head coach Chuck Daly and his Detroit Pistons eliminated Jordan and the Chicago Bulls from the playoffs thrice in a row between 1988 and 1990. However, they still feared he might take over the game. Daly once said:
“What happens is, he [MJ] trips on. And all of a sudden, the ball is his, the game is his. And he’ll go on a tear that usually isn’t seen in this league very often.“
Daly knew it wouldn’t be long before Jordan took over the league. He probably first felt it when the Bulls’ superstar scored 46 of his team’s 99 points and hit the game-winner against the vaunted Pistons defense in Game 3 of the 1989 Eastern Conference Finals.
Daly’s fears came true eventually. In 1991, Jordan and the Bulls won their first championship after sweeping the Pistons in the East Finals. In the subsequent seven years, they would add five more to their resume.
The Playground was produced and released in 1990, one year before Jordan’s crowning moment. Yet, players and coaches in the league were already fearful of the Bulls superstar and his clutch gene. To them, it wasn’t surprising that the Bulls became a dynasty unlike any other in NBA history, with Jordan at the forefront.
Michael Jordan’s two greatest shots
Michael Jordan cemented himself as the NBA’s most clutch player with a game-winner, now remembered as ‘The Shot’. In Game 5 of the first-round series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls, Jordan scored a bucket with six seconds left to give his team a 99-98 lead. However, the Cavaliers’ Craig Ehlo responded in only three seconds of game time with a layup to give Cleveland the lead.
With three seconds left, the Bulls prayed for a miracle, and Jordan answered. Despite being double-teamed, he caught the inbound pass and hung in the air for an eternity before hitting a smooth jumper from the top of the key to break the Cavaliers’ hearts with a buzzer-beater.
Jordan recreated his 1989 heroics nine years later during his final act as a Bulls player. In Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz, the Bulls trailed by one point with less than 30 seconds left. Jazz superstar Karl Malone held the ball with eight seconds on the shot clock when Jordan stole the ball from him and marched down the court. He drove the ball before pumping the brakes, sending defender Byron Russell skating and hitting the jumper to give the Bulls the lead. The shot was later christened as ‘The Last Shot’.
These were only two of the 28 game-winning shots that Jordan hit during his career. However, they stand above the rest due to the stakes, the pressure, and the score. The tougher the situation, the more likely it felt that Jordan would deliver. No player has ever struck more fear in the hearts and minds of opposition players and coaches than the Chicago Bulls icon. Because in crunch time, he never hesitated to take the game-winning shot or make the right play to ensure his team had the best chance of winning.
