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RETIRED. Michael Jordan walked away from the NBA months after winning his third title with the Chicago Bulls. Netflix photo
MANILA, Philippines – At the end of the 1992-1993 NBA season, Michael Jordan was unequivocally the best player in the league and the most popular athlete on the planet.
Although he lost the Most Valuable Player award to Phoenix Suns star Charles Barkley that season, Jordan turned it in when he cared the most, as he landed the Chicago Bulls for his first three-mob title.
However, months after his championship triumph, Jordan surprised not only the NBA but the entire world when he decided to retire from basketball.
These are the moments that happened before and after his fateful retirement:
High stakes
In the final stretch of the Bulls’ quest for a third consecutive title, Jordan was put in the spotlight, but for the wrong reasons.
After losing Game 1 of the conference final to the New York Knicks, it was reported that Jordan was seen playing in Atlantic City.
Jordan made just 12 of his 32 field goal attempts after that particular trip to the casino in a 91-96 Game 2 loss when the Bulls fell to a 0-2 hole, giving fans and experts reason to doubt. of your commitment to win.
His gambling habits opened up a can of worms for Jordan like the book Michael and me: our addiction to gambling Richard Esquinas was published a couple of weeks before his getaway to Atlantic City.
Even though Esquinas claimed Jordan owed him more than $ 1 million by betting on the golf games they played with each other, the Bulls star ruled out his addiction to the game because of a “competition problem.”
Determined to prove his critics wrong, Jordan delivered nearly triple the 22-point double, 11 assists, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 assists in a 20-point win in Game 3, as the Bulls finally sent the Knicks over. in 6 games.
Jordan averaged 41.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists in a Suns six-game win in the final to help the Bulls become the third team in NBA history to complete a turbo.
While the Bulls’ triumph overshadowed their off-court controversies, they were believed to have added fuel to their fire to retreat, which a “beaten” Jordan had planned a season earlier according to his biographer Mark Vancil.
Vancil said in the ESPN documentary The last Dance Jordan was aiming to walk away from the NBA at the end of the 1991-1992 season, except that he wanted to win 3 consecutive titles, a feat that Larry Bird and Magic Johnson never accomplished.
Painful loss
The euphoria of winning 3 consecutive NBA titles, however, turned to pain for Jordan a month later after his father James was found dead in a stream in South Carolina.
James was on his way to Charlotte but was killed by Daniel Green and Larry Martin Demery, with their 1992 red Lexus stolen by their killers.
It was a painful loss for Jordan, who always had his father by his side in the most important moments of his career, including hitting the game winner in the 1982 NCAA finals, signing a deal with Nike and winning his first NBA title.
“He was a voice of reason that always drove me and challenged me. That was the kind of father I had,” says Jordan in Episode 7 of The last Dance. “Like a friend.”
As if the death of a loved one was not enough for Jordan, some media implied that his game played a role in his father’s death.
Theories include that Jordan owes a huge gambling debt to the mob, which in turn killed his father as revenge.
Jordan dismissed the allegations but admitted they hurt him.
“I simply cannot understand how others could intentionally throw salt on my open wound by hinting that the mistakes in my life are in some way related to my father’s death,” Jordan said in a statement.
A month before next season began, Jordan announced his retirement from the NBA, leaving the Bulls without their best player in their bid for title retention.
Hard turn
James initially dreamed of Jordan becoming a baseball player, so the NBA icon did exactly that by signing a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox, which was also owned by Bulls honorable Jerry Reinsdorf. .
Years from his last baseball game, Jordan struggled during his first months with the Birmingham Barons, but improved for the rest of the season.
After a year in the minor leagues, Jordan decided to return to the NBA in 1995 because major league players went on strike.
“If it hadn’t been for the strike, Michael would have played next season,” says Reinsdorf in Jordan rides the bus, another ESPN documentary. “I think Michael would have made it to the major leagues.”
Jordan helped the Bulls make it to the conference semifinals, but they fell short against the Orlando Magic led by Shaquille O’Neal, Penny Hardaway and Horace Grant.
Determined to claim his place at the top, Jordan led the Bulls to a record 72-10 record the following season and a 4-2 win over Seattle Supersonics in the final for his fourth crown in 6 years.
Jordan captured two more championships with the Bulls in 1997 and 1998 before retiring for the second time. – Rappler.com
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