It took years for Michael Jordan’s numbers to translate to wins. Until they did, the North Carolina product faced a lot of scrutiny.
En route to succeeding Larry Bird and Magic Johnson as the face of the league, the lack of team success prompted criticism about MJ’s ability to make his teammates better. But even though he wasn’t the playmaker Bird and Magic were, Jordan felt the backlash was unwarranted, especially given the lack of talent on the 1987-88 Chicago Bulls.
“I’m taking these raps as a challenge just to get better and see that my team gets better,” said Jordan. “But it’s not as if I’m playing with a bunch of all-leaguers. What are the factors here? Are you telling me Kareem and James wouldn’t be All-Stars without Magic? That McHale and DJ wouldn’t make it without Bird? Anybody who thinks that is a damn fool.”
One-man team
In his first three NBA seasons, Michael averaged 31.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 5.0 assists. The Bulls didn’t miss a single postseason, but they couldn’t get past the first round.
Mike also did his part in his first three playoff appearances, averaging 35.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 6.9 assists, headlined by a record-breaking 63-point game in 1986 against the Boston Celtics. However, Chicago only won one game and was no threat to come out of the East, let alone win the NBA championship.
Despite Mike putting up historic numbers, the rest of the team couldn’t keep up—Charles Oakley was the only exception, as he averaged 14.5 points and 13.1 rebounds in the 1986-87 campaign.
“Michael’s their only Division I prospect,” said a Celtics player about Doug Collins’ team.
The roster’s incompetence turned the Bulls into a one-man team, with MJ taking 32% of the squad’s field goals in the 1986-87 season. His playstyle was even labeled as “antithetical to the purpose of the game,” with Bird going so far as describing Mike as a one-dimensional player.
But Jordan knew that wasn’t the case. However, in an era headlined by two of the most unselfish superstars in NBA history, a championship was the only thing that could prove his doubters wrong.
Getting over the hump
Michael continued displaying individual greatness, but the Detroit Pistons became an insurmountable hurdle for him and his team. However, after three straight playoff exits to the “Bad Boys,” Chicago finally got over the hump in 1991, sweeping its rivals en route to the organization’s first-ever NBA Finals appearance against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Ironically, Jordan beat Magic by having arguably his best five-game stretch as a playmaker, as he finished the series averaging 31.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 11.4 assists.
“His Airness” joined Magic as the only other player to average 11+ assists in a championship series—the Lakers point guard did it six times, including the 1991 Finals.
More importantly, Jordan finally silenced his naysayers, proving he knew how to make guys around him better. He also proved that a scoring guard could lead a team to a title, before doing it five more times in the next seven years.