Michael Jordan sent shockwaves through the sports world when he decided to return to the NBA after the baseball strike in 1994-95. While many were ecstatic to see MJ return to his roots, that wasn’t necessarily the case for his NBA rivals who were dominated by His Airness and the Chicago Bulls in the early 90s.
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Among those who weren’t fawning over Jordan’s return in 1995 were Penny Hardaway and the Orlando Magic. In his recent appearance on the Out the Mud Podcast, the four-time All-Star discussed how his Magic teammate gave MJ a taste of his own medicine during their playoff matchup in 1995. But it eventually backfired.
“That’s the year he came back; he got the number 45 [jersey]… the first game they’re up… Nick Anderson was saying something like, ‘This ain’t the same MJ.’ We beat ’em first game because MJ had the ball, bringing the ball up the court, we was up three, and Nick back-tapped him…,” Hardaway said.
The former guard went on to give a detailed recap of the game-sealing play, detailing how Anderson catching Jordan off guard from behind led to a steal and transition dunk for Horace Grant. This sequence ultimately sealed a Game 1 victory for the Orlando Magic in the 1995 Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, prompting further trash talking from Anderson.
This only ended up lighting a fire under the then three-time NBA champion as Jordan responded with a dominant Game 2 performance.
“And then after the game [Nick] Anderson was doing some talking… and [Jordan] came back Game 2 with the 23 on, he had the 45 on [before]… He got 23 on, like, ‘Imma let these n***** know what it is.’ He had a great game, and they beat us at home,” Hardaway added.
Despite getting back on track after a Game 1 dud, MJ and the Bulls eventually fell to Orlando in six games. It was a rude awakening for Jordan in his return to the playoffs, but this uncharacteristic defeat would end up being the last postseason series loss of Mike’s legendary career.
Jordan and the Bulls redeemed themselves after falling to the Orlando Magic
It only took a playoff loss for Jordan to return to his electrifying self as the Bulls dominated their way to 72 wins in the 1995-96 season and cruised to the franchise’s fourth title. In hindsight, MJ’s postseason defeat to an upstart Magic team sticks out like a sore thumb when sandwiched between six championships.
But the Bulls got revenge on everyone in 1996. And it had to be extra sweet for Chicago to sweep the Magic in the 1996 Eastern Conference Finals, a rematch from the season prior. After an incredibly heated six-game series, the Bulls easily dismantled Orlando in four games despite a pair of underwhelming performances from Jordan.
