Michael Jordan needed little to no motivation to put on a show every time he stepped on the court. However, on the rare occasion that an opponent stepped up to the mark to try their hand at containing the Bulls icon, it’d flip a switch in his head and push him to showcase why he was the best player in the world. Former Washington Bullets star Tim Legler recalled when his teammate Calbert Cheaney tried to clamp the six-time NBA champion but learned the hard way that it wasn’t possible.
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After losing Game 1 of the 1997 playoff series between the Bullets and the Bulls, Washington knew their only chance of pulling off an upset win in Game 2 was by stopping Jordan. They handed the task to Cheaney, a defensive stalwart. The guard did everything he possibly could, but that’s not what the box score would suggest. Recalling what transpired in that game during an appearance on the CHGO Sports show, Legler said,
“Calbert Chaney was one of my close friends, and teammates, he was our starting 2. One of the better defenders in the league at that spot. 6’7, strong as an ox, pogo stick legs. This dude was draped on Michael Jordan in that first playoff game, and Jordan still dropped 50. Like you’ll never see a guy play a guy better and had no effect on a player as Calbert Chaney did that game.”
Jordan finished the game with 55 points on 22-of-35 shooting, seven rebounds, and two assists, leading the Bulls to a narrow 109-104 win. He had one more point than the rest of his team combined. Had it not been for the guard’s otherworldly display, the Bullets could’ve left the United Center with an upset win. It was the same story in Game 3 as well as the rest of the playoffs.
Jordan’s incredible run in the 1997 playoffs
Game 3 in Washington was an even closer affair, as the Bulls beat the Bullets 96-95 and completed the sweep to advance to the second round. Jordan scored 28 points and dished six assists to guide his team to victory against a resilient opponent.
The Bulls’ struggles in putting away the eighth-seed Bullets likely gave hope to the rest of the teams in the playoffs that they could upstage the reigning champions. However, that didn’t prove to be the case.
Chicago beat the Hawks 4-1 in the Eastern Conference semifinals, thrashed the Heat 4-1 in the Conference Finals, and defeated the Jazz 4-2 in the Finals to win their second straight championship and fifth in seven seasons.
Jordan ended the postseason with the most points (590) and was named the Finals MVP for the fifth time in his career. The Bulls became only the second team to win back-to-back titles multiple times and a year later, they’d go on to become the first, and to this day the only team, to win two three-peats.
