“Getting 64 points doesn’t mean anything when you lose.”: When Michael Jordan and the Bulls failed to secure a win, despite dropping 64 points on a rookie Shaquille O’Neal and the Orlando Magic

When Bulls’ legend Michael Jordan dropped 64 points on the Orlando Magic, yet lost at the hands of a rookie Shaquille O’Neal

Back in 1993, Shaquille O’Neal was playing his rookie season with the Orlando Magic. Drafted at the first spot in the 1992 NBA Draft, Shaq was certainly showing the world why he was the first pick. In his rookie season, Shaq averaged 23.4 points, 13.9 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks per game. Imagine that stat line coming from a rookie.

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On January 16, 1993, Shaq and the Orlando Magic made their way to Chicago, to play the Bulls. The Bulls had gone to Orlando and trashed the Magic a few days earlier, and the Magic were out for revenge. They got their way, but it wasn’t easy. Michael Jordan put up a huge fight and gave the audience performance for the ages.

“The points don’t make a difference to me!”: Michael Jordan

The clash between the Bulls and the Magic went into overtime, with Shaq and the Magic emerging victorious 128-124. Michael Jordan gave us a performance for the ages, as he recorded 64 points on 27-49 shooting. He also had 6 rebounds and 5 steals. That day Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant both couldn’t find their forms, and scored less than 20 points.

Shaquille O’Neal had a huge game. He came up with 29 points, 24 rebounds, and 5 blocks.

29 years ago today, MJ dropped 64 points in a loss to Shaq’s Magic 🔥

Instant classic from two all-time greats ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/PCm7YV4W0c

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) January 16, 2022

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After the game, Jordan talked about the performance and chose to not blame any single person, but the whole team as one.

“We should be disappointed, we should be mad at ourselves for giving away this game, but not to the point where you start pointing fingers at teammates,” said Jordan as the majority of his teammates refused to comment. “We should evaluate what we did and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Jordan could care less about his performance, all he cared about was not getting the win.

“The points don’t make a difference to me,” Jordan said. “It’s just wasted energy in a sense because we didn’t finish the game the way we should have. ‘We just gave away the game. ‘We played good enough, but we just made some dumb plays. When you blow a six-point lead in less than a minute, there is something wrong with that. Getting 64 points doesn’t mean anything when you lose.”

Just goes to show the winning mentality of the greatest to ever do it.