The 1993 series between Phoenix and Chicago might have been the closest we have seen Michael Jordan to a game 7, as John Paxson hit the game-winning shot to give the Bulls a one-point lead with 3.7 seconds left on the clock. That being said, Jordan was confident about his victory, even though he and the Bulls had lost game 5 at Chicago, and were heading to Phoenix, Arizona to face Barkley and co at their home. The Phoenix crowd was nothing but hostile, as Jordan even faced death threats while lodging at his hotel.
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But nothing seems to have fazed Jordan, as right after losing game 5, Jordan would board the Bulls plane, announcing to his teammates, that they will be winning game 6, returning home Champions once again.
Jordan’s teammate Darrell Walker, recalls the incident vividly. Telling the media about the incident during the following off-season, the former Bulls player said,
“I remember we were on the charter plane going to Phoenix…M.J. got on with a little bag and he’s smoking a cigar, and he goes, ‘Boys, I packed for one day. We’re coming back as World Champions tomorrow’…That just lifted all the tension off the plane and threw it out the door.”
The confidence from Jordan sure did affect his teammates as well, as during game 6, the Chicago Bulls would go on to make a then finals record, 10 three-pointers. The Bulls were firing on all cylinders, and Jordan seemed to trust his teammates too, giving Paxson the ball, even though No.23 could have taken a fadeaway shot.
Paxson talks about ‘saving’ Michael Jordan’s legacy
To say that Paxson saved Jordan’s legacy would be a stretch undoubtedly, but the legendary shot in the 1993 finals, is surely up there with every other Championship ‘clutching’ buzzer beater ever.
With only 6 seconds left on the clock, Paxson was given the ball by Jordan, as he drew two Sun players down into the paint. With Paxson being alone for a few seconds, he executed a perfect shot, as the ball netted into the rim, giving the Bulls a 99-98 lead over the Suns.
But for John Paxson, the motivation for his shot came from elsewhere. For him, he had always practising the shot, since he was a little kid, something of a drill that he did with his eight-year-old son. Talking about the Shot further, Paxson revealed to the media,
” It’s a shot every kid who has ever been in a park or a driveway has taken, shots to win games. I have a six-year-old son Ryan who does it every day…and he has to make shots at the buzzer. I have lived out the fantasy that I had when I was a young person.”
In all of basketball, there is no greater feeling than making a buzzer-beater to win a game. Your teammates swarm you, and the opponent’s heads drop, you feel like you’re on top of the world, even if it’s just for a few seconds. Many decades later, Paxson reveals that people in Chicago still stop him and thank him for that moment, the moment Jordan’s legacy was ‘saved’.
