On
March 19, 1995, Michael Jordan returns to the Chicago Bulls to beat the Indiana
Pacers. The return from Jordan to the NBA came after a 17-month retirement, in
which he played baseball for the Chicago White Sox minor league team the Birmingham
Barons.
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| Michael Jordan with the Chicago White Sox in Spring Training of 1994. |
On
March 18, Jordan announced his return to the NBA through a two-word press
release: "I'm back." The next day, Jordan donned jersey
number 45 (his number with the Barons), as his familiar 23 had been retired in
his honor following his first retirement. He took to the court with the Bulls
to face the Indiana
Pacers in Indianapolis,
scoring 19 points.
The
game had the highest Nielsen
rating of a regular season NBA game since 1975.
 |
| Michael Jordan wearing the jersey No. 45 upon his return to the Chicago Bulls ii the March 19, 1995 game against the Indiana Pacers. |
Although
he hadn't played an NBA game in a year and a half, Jordan played well upon his
return, making a game-winning jump shot against Atlanta in his fourth
game back. He then scored 55 points in the next game against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden
on March 28, 1995 (his first appearance at Madison Square Garden since
retiring). Boosted by Jordan's comeback, the Bulls went 13–4 to make the playoffs
and advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Orlando Magic.
Though
at the end of Game 1, Orlando's Nick Anderson stripped
Jordan from behind, leading to the game-winning basket for the Magic; he would
later comment that Jordan "didn't look like the old Michael Jordan",
after which Jordan returned to wearing his old number. Jordan averaged 31
points per game in the series, but Orlando prevailed in six games.
The
return of the Jordan to the NBA was good for television and the league, but
even greater for the Bulls. His “Airness” would lead the Bulls to their second
three-peat championships from 1996-1998.
Jordan
is talked about as one of the best players of all-time, and with good reason he
won six NBA Championships, earning the NBA Finals MVP each time. He was named
the NBA’s MVP five times, an All-Star 14 times, and the MVP of the All-Star
game three times. He was a 10 time NBA scoring champion, and three times the
NBA steals champ, he was also a two time NBA Slam Dunk Contest Champion and was
the Defensive Player of the Year in 1988.
He
was nominated to the All-NBA First Team 10 times, Second Team once,
All-Defensive First Team nine times, the All-Rookie First Team as well being
named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1985.
The
Miami Heat has retired twice by the Bulls and Jordan/s no. 23 jersey once. He
was named to the NBA’s 50 Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996.
In
his career Jordan scored 32,292 points for an average of 30.1 points per game.
Only he and Wilt Chamberlain have averaged 30 or more points per game over
their entire career. He also pulled in 6,672 rebounds and 5.633 assists. Jordan
still ranks third all-time in steals with 2,514 trailing John Stockton and
Jason Kiss.
In
August 2009, the Basketball
Hall of Fame in Springfield,
Massachusetts, opened a Michael Jordan exhibit containing items from his
college and NBA careers, as well as from the 1992
"Dream Team".
Jordan
also won two Gold medals with Team USA at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics
and the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics.
After
Jordan received word of his being accepted into the Hall of Fame, he selected
Class of 1996 member David
Thompson to present him. As Jordan would later explain during
his induction speech in September 2009, growing up in North Carolina, he was
not a fan of the Tar Heels, and greatly admired Thompson, who played at rival North
Carolina State.
He
was inducted into the Hall in September, with several former Bulls teammates in
attendance, including Scottie
Pippen, Dennis Rodman,
Charles Oakley, Ron Harper, Steve Kerr, and Toni Kukoc. Former coaches of Jordan's, Dean Smith
and Doug Collins, were also among those present.
