Whenever one hears the name Michael Jordan, they picture a 6-time NBA Champion, who is arguably the greatest player of all time. However, things weren’t the same back when MJ was still in the league. While we, as fans, picture the legend he was, the case wasn’t the same for guys who played against him. Former Knick and current TV Analyst, Greg Anthony, gave us an insight into what it was like to face MJ as a player.
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Jordan entered the league in 1984 and made his presence felt right away, but he was nowhere close to taking over as the face of the league. The NBA was the Magic Johnson and Larry Bird show in the 80s. Once MJ took down Magic and the Lakers in the 1991 NBA Finals, he finally got a shot at becoming the face of the NBA.
Talking on The Jim Jackson Show, Anthony described how the 1991-92 season was the “coming out party for Michael Jordan.” He discussed the 1992 postseason, where the Knicks took on the Bulls in the 2nd round. Down 3-2, the Knicks won Game 6 and forced a Game 7.
Remembering the same, Anthony said, “They beat us in seven, but we were the only team to take them to seven, you know, cause they ended up winning the championship, I think in six. In fact, they had never, he had never, you know, MJ never played a seven game.”
The former Knick had his facts a bit wrong here. MJ had, in fact, played one Game 7 before 1992. In 1990, the Bulls forced a Game 7 in the ECF against the Pistons, but fell short to the eventual champions.
Jackson then asked Anthony whether playing Michael Jordan in the regular season was different than taking him on in the playoffs. “As a competitor, you didn’t look at anybody differently,” he replied.
Giving credit to Pat Riley, who was the head coach of the Knicks back then, Anthony said, “A lot of that had to do with our coach, cause that’s Pat Riley, Hall of Famer, all the success he’d had and, and what he instilled in us, it was always about us and what we did. It didn’t matter about Michael Jordan again.”
Anthony then explained the notion of how people listening to these stories perceive MJ versus how players back then thought about him. “Their perspective is Michael Jordan as having already become who we know him to be today,” he said. “Our perspective is he is still ascending. At that point, he was just becoming the face of the league.”
He doubled down and explained, “Players really are not in awe of anybody. We didn’t not sleep at night the night before playing against the great Michael Jordan.” Anthony explained how the Knicks weren’t in awe because they didn’t believe Jordan was heads and shoulders above their best player, Patrick Ewing.
However, that did not mean they did not respect him. “We knew he’s a great player… When you one of the top dogs in the league, we respect that, but we’re trying to beat your team. And so we didn’t lack confidence or belief.”
Jordan and his Bulls formed an epic rivalry with the Knicks in the 90s, potentially denying them of multiple championships. They met in the playoffs five times between 1991 to 1996, emerging on top four times. The only time the Knicks beat the Bulls was when MJ took his first retirement, but the Knicks fell short to the Rockets in the 1994 NBA Finals.
