Hoops4theSoul

May

18

5-18-1998: Jordan Wins 5th NBA MVP

Filed Under On This Day . . ., NBA, Chicago Bulls, Loose Balls

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Michael Jordan in Game Action against Seattle in 1998 Michael Jordan Buries the Utah Jazz in 1998 Michael Jordan with a well-deserved smoke after the 1998 NBA FinalsAfter defeating the Utah Jazz in Game Six of the 1998 NBA Finals, Chicago Bulls’ superstar Michael Jordan admitted that this sixth championship in the last eight years was the most difficult of them all.

That would prove to be an understatement, as Chicago had to fight age, injuries, internal tensions with General Manager Jerry Krause, and awful personnel moves off the court with declining bench production and depth, questionable officiating, and up-and-coming teams on the court.

But with Jordan still in the fold, anything and everything was possible.

When all was said and done, Jordan would deliver a fifth MVP and sixth championship in a way that only he could produce.

Here’s a look back at Jordan’s MVP performance in the most-difficult 1997-1998 season.

A Stomach-Turning Off Season of Will They or Won’t They Return?

Prior to the 1997-1998 NBA season, the Bulls defeated the Utah Jazz in a 1997 NBA Finals that really could have gone the way of the boys from Salt Lake City.

With the exception of a Game Two blowout win by Chicago, every game in that series was tight.

Chicago won a scary Game One with a Jordan jumper at the buzzer, lost Games Three and Four in Utah, were rescued by the flu-ridden Jordan in Game Five, and fought back to win the series on a Steve Kerr free-throw line “J” in Game Six.

Still, Utah really pushed the Bulls that series, and four of those five close games could have gone either way. While Chicago earned its fifth championship the hard way, the Bulls had to feel very appreciative and a bit lucky to have done so.

After title number-five, questions remained as to whether the Bulls would come back for another championship run. Jordan, Dennis Rodman and Phil Jackson were all free agents who needed to be resigned, and Scottie Pippen was very unhappy about a contract he signed with the team back in 1991.

Rumors surfaced around the 1997 NBA Draft that Chicago was going to trade Pippen, who had one year left on his contract, to a team like Boston, which had two high first-round picks.

Ultimately, the Bulls would keep Pippen and set the stage for Jordan returning by signing Jackson to a one-year deal in July. Those difficult negotiations between Jackson’s agent and Krause came to a head after the signing, when Krause basically made it clear that Jackson would not be back after the upcoming season.

Jordan had made it clear that he would not play for anyone else besides Jackson, and immediately lobbied after Game Six of the 1997 NBA Finals that his Bulls deserved another chance to defend what they had earned.  The Bulls would give Jordan that chance after signing him to a 1-year, $36 million deal shortly after coming to terms with Jackson.

As for Rodman, he remained a huge question mark. The 1996-1997 season was arguably Rodman’s least effective on the team as his mind drifted and he struggled against Karl Malone in the Finals.

Chicago desperately needed a power forward to win another championship, and basically didn’t have the money to resign Brian Williams,  a late-season acquisition who bolstered the team’s run to title five.

With Williams signing with Detroit, Rodman’s status was still in the air. The Bulls would go to play in Paris for a preseason McDonald’s tournament with Rodman not yet signed.

Pippen would also be missing from the overseas trip as he had ankle surgery late in the summer in a move that some saw as a ploy to further display his anger about his contract.

Ultimately, Rodman would sign a one-year deal with the Bulls prior to the season.

A Rough Start but Strong Finish to a Difficult Season

With Pippen out for the first 35 games of the season, the Bulls would get off to a rough start, losing to the young Celtics on opening night and having a pedestrian 8-7 record after 15 games.

Center Luc Longley, who played well early in the year, would also miss 24 games due to injury.

At mid-season, Krause would trade backup power forward Jason Caffey, a modest but valuable body, to the Golden State Warriors for journeyman David Vaughn in what was interpreted as a cost-cutting move and one that was further sabotaging the Bulls’ depth.

Vaughn would play in only 3 games with the team before being released. Krause would then sign former afterthought power forward Dickey Simpkins off the street in a move that would draw more laughs than it eased concerns.

With all these distractions and questions about this being the final run for the Bulls, Jordan would do his talking on the court en route to:

Here’s a breakdown of Jordan’s scoring in 82 games played during the 1997-1998 season.

Games with 40-49 points: 12. 

Games with 30-39 points: 24.

Games with 20-29 points: 32.

Games with 10-19 points: 14. 

Here’s a nice video of Jordan tearing up the Rockets — led by three future Hall of Famers in Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and Charles Barkley — in 1998.

Jordan Elevated His Game in the Playoffs

As had been the case for Jordan, he saved his best for last in what turned out to be a very challenging playoffs. Jordan would average 32.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists in the 1998 NBA playoffs.

The Bulls would never lose a first-round game in the six championship seasons, but the 1998 first-round sweep of the New Jersey Nets was hardly easy, with the first two games producing nail-biters before a Chicago rout in Game Three.

After splitting the first two games against the Charlotte Hornets in the second round, the Bulls would put that series away with three straight wins.

Chicago appeared to be headed towards a 3-1 lead against the Indianapolis Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals but Pippen missed some late free throws, Reggie Miller pushed off on Michael Jordan and buried a three, and Jordan missed a game-winning three at the buzzer.

That series would go the distance (for only the second time in Chicago’s six title runs), and the Bulls would rally from a double-digit deficit in Game Seven to advance to the 1998 NBA Finals.

Not many people, including myself, expected the winded Bulls to beat the Jazz in the Finals rematch. Most people had Utah in six, but Jordan and the Bulls would surprise, taking a 3-1 series lead after four games.

After losing Game Five at home, the Bulls looked to be in trouble in Game Six.

After Pippen injured his back on the first play of the game and could barely move the rest of the way, Jordan rose to the occasion.

Trailing by three points with under 40 seconds to go, Jordan scored a quick layup, stole the ball from Karl Malone and then hit a cross-over, series-winning jumper over Bryon Russell.

Finishing with 45 points in the 87-86 victory, Jordan literally did everything in the final minutes to secure a sixth championship that just didn’t seem feasible.

Here’s a breakdown of Jordan’s scoring in the 1998 NBA Playoffs.

Games with 40+ points: 2.

Games with 30-39 points: 12.

Games with 20-29 points: 7. 

With all this considered, if that season proved anything to me, it was that I would never doubt a Michael Jordan-led team ever again.

Even when the cards seemed stacked against the Bulls all season long, Jordan simply would not let this team lose.

There will never ever be a player with the competitive greatness of Jordan, as his final season with the Bulls proved.

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