Michael Jordan will likely say that none of his six titles came easy. But he has admitted that the 1998 title was the toughest among them for various reasons. The Chicago Bulls battled fatigue, endured injuries to key players during that playoff run, and had a massive target on their back.
Even so, the series against the Utah Jazz brought out Jordan’s competitive fire. After failing to secure the championship in Game 5 at home, the Bulls headed to Utah with a 3-2 lead and no choice but to finish the series on the road. Fortunately for Chicago, MJ’s will to win was as high as ever.
“I was more competitive than I ever was because I wanted to win more than I ever did,” he said.
Setting the stage for the finale
The title round’s first five games saw the Bulls and Jazz go through nail-biters, with four of them being decided by five points or less. Game 3 was the only exception, as Chicago dominated that matchup 96-54.
Entering the fifth contest with an opportunity to secure a second three-peat in front of their home crowd, the Bulls couldn’t overcome an inspired Jazz squad.
They trailed 83-81 with 1.1 seconds left when coach Phil Jackson drew a play for Toni Kukoc, who was 11-for-13 from the field that evening. Jordan, who watched Steve Kerr sink the title-clinching jumper in the previous Finals off his assist, preferred to take the last shot of potentially his final appearance in a Bulls uniform. He purportedly ran in front of Ron Harper, who was inbounding the ball, to receive the pass. However, his off-balance 3-pointer right before the buzzer was way off the mark.
While the team wanted to conclude the series at home, it just wasn’t meant to be. “His Airness” even realized, “If we wanted a 6th title, we’d have to go to Utah to get it.”
The iconic Game 6 in Utah
The challenge for Chicago, though, was that Scottie Pippen was nursing an injury then, which he eventually aggravated after scoring the first basket of the night.
But Mike was up to the task. He was even prepared to play the entire game if Jackson decided so. That didn’t happen, as the coaching staff subbed him out for a total of around five minutes that evening.
The five-time MVP obviously didn’t want the series to go the distance, perhaps thinking that giving the Jazz the momentum would be a grave mistake. Dragging his hut and gassed squad to victory, he accounted for 35 of Chicago’s 67 field-goal attempts and outscored his teammates.
Jordan saved the best for his last two shots, which also “sandwiched” his iconic steal on Karl Malone.
