Michael Jordan’s performance against the Utah Jazz in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals, infamously dubbed the ‘Flu Game,’ is an irreplaceable chapter in basketball folklore. His defiant performance against the odds is an inspirational tale for all athletes. And those who witnessed it, know what it was like. Jordan’s Bulls teammate, Steve Kerr, once claimed that no NBA player would replicate it.
During an appearance on the Dubs Talk podcast in 2020, Kerr, the former NBA star-turned-head coach, gave a behind-the-scenes picture of the adversity Jordan overcame to play in that game.
“He had an IV at the shoot-around. We were at a high school in Park City, 45 minutes outside of Salt Lake, for that Finals game, and he could barely move.”
Kerr termed the play as a ‘heroic’ from Jordan before reflecting on how things have changed in the current situation. Recalling memories from ‘The Last Dance’ where in the first episode Jordan sustained an injury and the Bulls owner, Jerry Krause came and said there are 10% chance that he’ll never play again, Kerr claimed that in the modern-day NBA, players don’t have their say in medical decisions. Jordan had told Krause that there was a 90% chance that he would play and was rigid to make his comeback.
“Well, we’re not taking that chance now I guarantee you that,” Kerr said.
The NBA has come a long way since the ‘Flu-game’ as it has increased impetus on player safety and has ensured that no other player will be allowed to take the court if they are as incapacitated as Jordan was. Kerr cited Steph’s Curry example to back his claim that the 4x NBA Champion pushed for a return to action in March 2020, which was turned away by the Warriors. The two-time NBA MVP broke his hand after an awkward fall in a game against the Phoenix Suns in October 2019. Curry
Kerr revealed Curry was unhappy about the Warriors not clearing him for a return but added that the superstar understood the team’s call. He said:
“Steph is always very rational and easy to speak with, so he put up a little bit of a fight but also understood why we wanted to take extra precaution. So he’s okay with it.”
Kerr claimed that teams taking away health decisions from players and relying on their medical personnel to call the shots was the right move.
The story behind Michael Jordan’s ‘Flu Game’
The 1997 NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz was tied at 2-2. Game 5 was the last game of the series in Utah before the series headed back to Chicago for Games 6 and 7. A win for the Jazz would mean that the Bulls would need all seven games to win their fifth NBA title. Chicago had never needed a Game 7 in their four victorious trips to the NBA Finals. Ahead of the crucial game, news broke that Michael Jordan was ill.
For over two decades, the assumption was Michael Jordan was down with flu. However, in The Last Dance, the documentary about the 1980s and 1990s Bulls teams, he revealed that he had suffered food poisoning after eating a dodgy pizza the night before the game. Jordan’s best friend George Koehler and trainer Tim Grover insinuated that the Bulls star’s ailment was a concocted plan, not sheer bad luck.
Despite allegedly being up all night, throwing up in buckets, Jordan played 44 minutes against the Jazz in Game 5. He scored 38 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished five assists. He hit the game-winning three-point shot with 25 seconds left on the clock, and the Bulls won 90-88, taking a 3-2 lead in the series.
Jordan and the Bulls closed the series with a 90-86 win in Game 6 and captured their fifth NBA title in seven years. The Bulls and the Jazz met in the NBA Finals again in the following season. Chicago triumphed again, winning their sixth NBA title.