“The only one who could stop Michael Jordan – Mike on Gatorade”: When the sports beverage brand came up with one of the most innovative commercials of all-time

Akash Murty | 10/05/2022
Gatorade saved $1 million on Michael Jordan's ‘Be Like Mike’ campaign through an ingenious move

Michael Jordan at age 23, just two years into the league, was one of the best basketball players in the NBA

Although the 1987-88 season should be declared his best individual overall season where Jordan would win his second scoring title, his first MVP, as well as his one and only DPOY award, the season before that, has still not been touched by any of the prolific scorers who came in next 35 years.

After suffering his first and only major injury setback, just 18 games into his second season in the league in 1985, MJ would make a comeback the following season that would announce his arrival in the grandest Basketball stages of all.

There were just 5 better seasons offensively in the NBA – four by Wilt Chamberlain and one by Elgin Baylor, then comes Jordan’s 37.1 PPG in the 1996-97 season. And nobody has come close to crossing that mark since, apart from James Harden, who scored at 36.1 in 2018-19.

Also read: “I give Kareem Abdul-Jabbar full credit for breaking my all-time scoring record!”: When Wilt Chamberlain emphasized on Lakers legend’s long-time excellence

 

At 32, Michael Jordan had already become a Legend of the game

Nine years later, in 1996, Jordan (32) was a 10x All-Star, 4x NBA champ, 4x Finals MVP, 4x MVP, 8x scoring champ and 8x NBA All-Defensive First Team selection. Between all that the Bulls legend also became a pro-NBL player while he took off from the NBA for two years at 30 years of age, after his and the Bulls’ first 3-peat of Championships in 1993.

Well, that’s some unreal brilliance that proved that man was unstoppable and could do anything he wanted at any time he wanted. And so Gatorade took the opportunity to make an innovative commercial to show who could stop that man.

None among Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon teamed up with Charles Barkley, Knicks’ Patrick Ewing or a young and hungry Shaquille O’Neal would be able to stop the 32-year-old Jordan to win 2 more rings and some more individual accolades in the next two seasons. Reggie Miller came close but couldn’t do like the rest.

Maybe just maybe, in some kind of multiverse where time travel would be a thing, the Jordan of 1988 could have stopped the Jordan of 1996 and 97 from performing The Last Dance.

Also read: “Is David Beckham bigger than Michael Jordan?!” Shannon Sharpe goes back-and-forth with fans backing his take of the Bulls GOAT being more popular than the soccer legend

 

 

 

 

 

Post Edited By: Akash Murty
Chicago Bulls Gatorade Michael Jordan

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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