As Tex Winter said, the Detroit Pistons had as much to do with MJ’s greatness as MJ himself. The Pistons challenged MJ to raise his game with their bruising defense and as always, MJ figured out a way to not only beat his challengers, but to dominate them. Perhaps one might say that without the Pistons, MJ might have wallowed in his individual dominance but since they did exist, MJ was forced to elevate his mental game to another level. With the Pistons’ defense, MJ mastered multiple dimensions to his already supreme game: finding split-second open spots before the defense could set, outsmarting traps and avoiding developing double teams, baiting the defense to draw them away from the tertiary shooters for the pass and so on. MJ stated that the physical aspect to the game provided no challenges at this stage and that everything was mental. It was all about outthinking the play and timing each move to get the edge. With that mindset, MJ’s Bulls finally became wise and overcame the Pistons during this year. And as the single toughest obstacle in MJ’s path to greatness, beating them meant nothing could stop them. Of course, it turned out to be true.
Highlights of the greatest NBA players of all time. I usually upload boxing highlight footage, but I am a big fan of Jordan and decided to make a video for him. – Drafted No. 3 by the chicago Bulls in the first round – Six NBA championship teams (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998) – NBA Finals MVP six times (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998) – NBA Finals single-series record for highest PPG average 41.0 (1993) – NBA Most Valuable Player five times (1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998) – All-NBA First Team ten times (1987-1993, 1996-1998) – NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time team (1996) – Highest career PPG ave. (minimum 400 games or 10000 points) – 30.1 – Holds record for most seasons leading the league in scoring – 10 – Shares record for the most consecutive seasons leading the league in scoring – 7 (1986-1993) – Had a streak of nine consecutive games scoring 40 points or more (Nov. 28 – Dec. 12, 1986) – Bulls all-time leader in scoring (29277), assists (5012), and steals (2306) – 14 NBA All-Star Games (1985, 1987-1993, 1996-1998, 2002-2003) – All time scoring leader in All-Star history (262 points) – Fourth highest scoring average for career All-Star games (20.2 ppg) – Named the All-Star MVP three times (1988, 1996, 1998) – Won the All-Star Slam Dunk Contest in 1987 and 1988 – Had his #23 jersey retired at the United Center on 11/1/94 – Returned from retirement on 3/19/95 at Indiana to total 19 points- Has posted 28 career triple-doubles – 2 Time All-American & NCAA Player of …