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Perhaps the best performance of Michael Jordan’s career is typically shrouded in adversity and mystery.
That performance, of course, is the “Flu Game” in which Jordan, battling “flu-like symptoms,” presented 38 points (13 of 27 shots), seven rebounds, five assists and, effectively, the shot Game winner in a 90-88 away win over the Utah Jazz in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals. The victory jumped the Bulls ahead 3-2 in the series and set the stage for a factor. decisive in Chicago two days later. It also produced perhaps the most iconic and enduring image of the Bulls dynasty years:
Pippen taking Jordan off the court in the infamous “flu game” pic.twitter.com/35pgIkQWuT
– Sneaker Chefs (@SneakerChefs) October 8, 2014
The “Flu Game”, and the mythology that surrounds it, will surely be a focal point of the upcoming finale of “The Last Dance”. For a long time, conspiracies swirled that Jordan’s debilitating fatigue and apparent discomfort throughout the contest was the result of last night’s excess.
In some ways, that is not far off, according to Jordan’s personal trainer Tim Grover, who is featured prominently in “The Last Dance.” He confirmed that food poisoning was to blame for Jordan’s illness in an appearance on Barstool Sports’ “Pardon My Take” podcast.
“100 percent was food poisoning. 100 percent, “Grover said.” But it obviously sounds better to be the ‘Flu Game’ than the ‘Food Poisoning Game.’ “
To hear him tell it, the fiasco started with an order for pizza from the only open food vendor Grover could find in picturesque Park City, Uta. on an innocent June night. Apparently word had gotten out of the city where the Bulls were staying (and thus Jordan), so upon answering the hotel door, Grover found five delivery men.
“I said, ‘Michael, I have a bad feeling about this,’ Grover said.” And he was like, ‘Oh man, fuck you.’ I was like, ‘OK’. “
Jordan swallowed a couple of slices (according to Grover, he was the only one to eat the pizza) and crashed. Hours later, Grover received a call.
“So, around 3 in the morning, I got a call to my room that just said, ‘Hey, man, come to MJ’s room,’ and she literally snuggled into the fetal position,” Grover continued. A few slices from Utah ‘za had knocked down the GOAT.
“I don’t know of any flu that can hit him that fast, but I know how fast food poisoning can hit him,” Grover said.
Still, Jordan found a way to the ground and of course put on an absolutely vintage performance. Beyond the accumulated points, the rebounds snatched or the assists distributed, 44 minutes played score his statistical line.
“Once you’re in the game, you have to stay,” Grover recalls saying to Jordan. “You should play as long as you can, because once you sit down, that’s it.”
And so he did. There will probably never be a definitive end to speculation with the tin foil hat surrounding tonight, but Grover tried to put a cap on it as blunt as possible in “Pardon My Take.”
“That’s my story, that’s what I observed,” Grover said. “I was in the room when all of this was happening, so if someone had a better view than me, I’d like to see who that person was because they were definitely not there.”
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