1997 Michael Jordan Took It Personal...

June 11th, 1997. Delta Center, Salt Lake City. He shouldn't have been out there. He couldn't eat, could barely walk. Trainers told him to stay in bed. His teammates were getting dressed for game five. Michael Jordan, he was curled up on the hotel floor, shaking. The Bulls were slipping. They dropped two straight games in Utah and the series was tied 2-all. The Jazz were undefeated at home all playoffs, and the greatest player in the world was at his weakest. But somehow, he showed up and what followed became legend. Jordan on the move, baseline left. This wasn't just a game, it was a war of willpower. And if you've never seen a man drag his soul across the finish line, strap in. Because tonight, the flu wasn't the only thing that didn't stand a chance. So let's rewind and watch a man hunt down respect like it owed him money. Coming off one of the greatest seasons in NBA history, the Chicago Bulls wasted no time proving they were still on top. They opened the year with 12 straight wins and cruised into the all-star break, 42-6. They weren't just good, they were chasing history again. In their final regular season game, they had a chance to become the only back-to-back 70-win team in NBA history. But when Scottie Pippen's game-winning three rimmed out against the Knicks in their last regular season game, Chicago settled for a 69-13 record. Still first in the league, but just shy of the historic mark. But Michael Jordan wasn't coasting. He wasn't satisfied. He was still coming for everything. But then something strange happened. After a season like that, Jordan had a strong case to win MVP in 1997. The year before, he had averaged 30.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists, while leading the Bulls to an NBA record 72 wins and their fourth championship. He won the MVP nearly unanimously, finishing with 109 votes, only thing keeping him from a clean sweep were four stray votes for Penny Hardaway, Hakeem Olajuwon and Carl Malone. In 97, the Bulls didn't quite match their record-shattering pace, but 69 wins were still an incredible follow-up. Jordan's numbers dipped only slightly to 29.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists. Considering the target on their backs and the championship hangover felt throughout the organization, it was still an unbelievable season for Mike. Meanwhile, out West, Carl Malone was having the year of his life. After years of falling short, he finally pushed the jazz to the top of the conference standings with a 64-18 record. And when the MVP votes came in, Malone edged Jordan by just 29 votes, the second-closest margin in league history. Jordan had the scoring title, he had the wins, he had the case, but for some people, it wasn't enough. And in Chicago, some people felt like it had less to do with Malone's brilliance and more to do with voters simply being tired of giving the award to Jordan. The Bulls head coach, Phil Jackson, wasn't afraid to say it out loud. We won 69 games this year mostly on the energy of Michael and Scotty Pippen, Jackson told the Chicago Tribune. We had mishaps with Dennis Rodman and Luke Longley, so we were not together as a unit the whole year. Carl played with that unit the whole season, and they had no injuries. He did his job, there's no doubt about it. But for the excess weight that was put on our team, and still to win 69 games, there's no earthly explanation except that Michael won it so many times, and this year may be Malone's opportunity. Malone himself even seemed to sense the whispers around his MVP. After receiving the award, he couldn't resist poking the bear. I thank Michael for letting me borrow it for one year. Oh, he probably shouldn't have said that. Publicly, Jordan played it cool. He congratulated Malone, downplayed the snub, and reminded people that being in the conversation year after year was already an honour. Because of the opinion of others, they choose to give it to a guy that's been in the league as long and consistent as I was, Jordan said at the time. But decades later, Jordan's The Last Dance documentary revealed the truth. That MVP race lit the fire. Malone's trophy became one of MJ's signature, and I took that personally moments. I'm not saying he wasn't deserving of it. All I'm saying is that that fueled the fire in me. He said, okay, you think he's the MVP? Confirmed, no problem. Even this late in his career, even with four championships already, Jordan was still hunting for any excuse to sharpen his edge. And when the playoffs tipped off, the Bulls came out blazing. They entered as the heavy favourites to repeat, with Jordan and Pippen at the height of their powers. After sweeping Washington in the first round, they drew the four-seeded Atlanta Hawks, a team led by Steve Smith, Christian Lettner, Mookie Blaylock, and Dikembe Mutombo. On paper, this was supposed to be a 103-95. After a brutal third quarter from Chicago, and a 13-point explosion from Steve Smith in the fourth, Jordan was furious. Mike walked into the locker room, and he killed every one of those guys, one Bulls player told the Los Angeles Times. Phil and his assistants just leaned up against the wall. He was going up and down the lockers. You guys don't know what it takes to win, and just kill them all. It was the greatest speech you ever heard. And when it was done, Phil just said, that's it. Whatever Jordan said, it worked. In game three, Chicago came out with vengeance, holding Atlanta to just 36% shooting in a 100-80 blowout. From there, the Bulls took control and finished the in five games. Next up, a red-hot Miami Heat team, fresh of a seven-game war against the Knicks. That 1997 playoff run was the deepest the Heat had gone since joining the league in 1988. It felt like a major breakthrough for Miami, especially with the legendary Pat Riley calling the shots. On paper, the Eastern Conference finals looked like it could be explosive, but that was only possible if the stars from both sides showed up every single night. For Miami, that didn't happen. Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway were supposed to lead the charge, but the Bulls figured them out almost immediately. Chicago's defense locked in, and before the Heat knew it, they were staring at Mourning, in particular, looked shaken. In game three, he finished with just 12 points and nine rebounds, and even worse, he turned the ball over nine times. That opened the door for Hardaway to step up, but instead, he got swallowed up by Chicago's defense. The six-foot guard ended up with only six points, four rebounds, and five turnovers of his own. Michael Jordan summed it up We've made a concentrated effort not to let him get in rhythm like he did against New York. Ron Harper's doing a great job, physically just banging him. We've closed the lanes and made sure he didn't have any outlets to throw to. There was never any doubt about Mourning's physical gifts, but against Chicago, the real issue wasn't his body, it was his mind. Without mental toughness, pure strength and athleticism only carried him so far, and that's where Dennis Rodman came in. Rodman was shorter than Mourning by two or three inches, but the worm was a master at psychological warfare. He loved nothing more than crawling into an opponent's head and breaking them down from the inside. Even Jordan called Mourning out for losing his composure, pointing to how Rodman's relentless antics threw Zoe completely off his game. The Heat managed to salvage one win in game four. Mourning posted 18 points and 14 rebounds, while Hardaway led the way with 25, but asking Miami to win four straight games against a locked-in Bulls team was impossible. Sure enough, Chicago closed it out in game five and punched their ticket to a second straight NBA finals. That wasn't a playoff run, it was a slow execution. Jordan carved through the east with surgical precision, but the real war was waiting in the west. The Utah Jazz, the mailman, Karl Malone was the single biggest source of Jordan's motivation for the postseason. Malone wasn't some pushover. He finished second in scoring behind MJ at 27.4 points per game, ranked 10th in rebounds with 9.9 a night, and shot an incredible 55 percent from the field. And with John Stockton running the point, Utah was dangerous. They had split the regular season series with the Bulls, tied them for the league's best offense at 103.1 points per game, and even edged Chicago in field goal percentage. But the finals didn't start in Utah, they started in Chicago, and the Bulls immediately set the tone. Game one was a classic nail-biter. With 35.8 seconds left, Jordan tied the game at 82 by hitting one of two free throws, then came the famous moment. With 9.2 seconds left, Rodman fouled Malone and sent him to the line. That's when Scottie Pippen walked over and delivered one of the coldest lines in finals history. Remember Carl, the mailman don't deliver on Sundays. Malone bricked both shots. Jordan snagged the rebound, called a timeout, and then, because of course, hit a 20-footer at the buzzer. Bulls up 1-0, or as Mark Heisler of the LA Times put it, MVP voters proposeth, but Michael Jordan disposeth. Chicago kept rolling in game two with a 97-85 win. Stockton struggled under Ron Harper's defense, and Malone followed up his rough opener by going just 6-20 from the field. To make matters worse, he re-aggravated a hand injury he had picked up during the Western Conference finals. When the series shifted to Salt Lake City though, the Jazz finally punched back. Malone dropped 37 points in game three, with Stockton adding 17 points and 12 assists. Game four belonged to Stockton. Clutch buckets, huge defensive plays, and a brilliant pass late to tie the series at two apiece. The Bulls, surprisingly, melted down in crunch time. But maybe it wasn't just Utah's execution, maybe it was Chicago's own trainer. After the fact, it came out that an assistant accidentally swapped out the team's Gatorade for Gatorload, a carb-loading drink meant for endurance athletes, not for an in-game refreshment during a taxing basketball match. Trainer Chip Schaefer later explained, it was like eating baked potatoes. The result? Several Bulls, including Jordan, suffered stomach cramps. MJ even asked to sit out briefly, something he almost never did in a big moment. Another reason the Bulls slowed down might have been a noted defensive adjustment Jazz coach Jerry Sloan made after the finals move to Salt Lake City. He assigned the relatively unknown specialist, Brian Russell, to guard Jordan. Jordan's efficiency dropped in Utah, shooting just 41% from the field, and with fewer trips to the free throw line, he scored 31 and 38 points in game one and two. He managed only 26 and 22 in games three and four. But if Russell thought he'd found the formula to stop MJ, he should have kept it quiet. Instead, Jordan mocked the idea that Russell had the answer. His defense is active, but I don't see how it's stopping me from doing what I want. Is it Brian or Byron? Russell fired back. I can get him back. Is it Michael or Michelle? Ouch. Talk about poking the Bull. And if there's one thing everyone knew, it was that Jordan could take even the smallest slight and turn it into a bonfire. Good thing too, because the finals tied, the Jazz surging, and Jordan running out of help, the Bulls needed every ounce of fuel he could find. And then came the night MJ should never have played. There are countless theories about what really happened the night before game five. Some say it was altitude sickness. That's the version Steve Kerr has mentioned. Jalen Rose has claimed Jordan may have had a little too much to drink. But the most popular story, food poisoning. The Bulls were staying in Park City, Utah, and the resort had no room service. Late at night, Jordan asked his trainer, Tim Grover, to grab him something to eat. The only option, a local pizza place. No room service, Michael gets hungry. So all right, so we're calling all these different places. George and I are looking around. We find one pizza place open. One. So he ordered a pizza, and when the pizza came, there was four or five guys outside the door. Five guys delivering one pizza. Grover has always said he thought the delivery guys knew exactly who the pizza was for. They're all trying to look in, and you know, everybody knew it was mine. So I take the pizza, I pay them, and I put this pizza down. I said, I got a bad feeling about this. Around 3am, Grover got a call back to Jordan's room. Mike was doubled over sick. I wake up about 2.30, throwing up left and right. Three o'clock in the morning, I get a call. My roommate, man, come to a room right now. All right, I get into him. He's literally curled up in a ball, shaking. This man, find a team doc, now. Grover and the team doctor went into treatment mode, and for a while there was real doubt he'd even sued up, but Jordan was clear. Just get me standing, I'll do the rest. With Jordan far from 100%, the Bulls leaned more on Scottie Pippen. The idea was simple. Run the triangle through Pippen in the post, force Utah to send help, and then swing it back to Jordan, or kick it to cutters and shooters. Problem was, the Jazz were ready. They contested every post entry, smothering Pippen, and forced Jordan to create more than he wanted. By the end of the first quarter, Chicago trailed 29-16. Jordan had just four points and looked absolutely drained. His teammates weren't helping. They botched easy passes, gave stocked and free lanes to the rim, and even surrendered offensive rebounds off missed free throws. The Bulls finally woke up in the second. Jordan clawed his way back into the fight, dropping 17 points and drawing five shooting fouls. Suddenly, Utah was reminded who they were up against. Harper, Kukoc, Pippen, and Longley chipped in with big plays, while Dennis Rodman forced Malone to pick up his third foul, forcing the mailman to sit for the last five minutes of the half. Chicago cut the deficit to just four at the break. The third quarter was rough for Jordan again, but this time his teammates carried the load. The Bulls defense slowed Utah's high power offense, controlling the pace and buying Jordan the energy he needed for the final frame. Utah led 72-67, heading into the fourth quarter. But if you knew anything about Jordan, you knew what was coming. Right on cue, he opened the fourth with seven points in two minutes and assisted Kukoc on a transition three. But every burst of brilliance seemed to drain him completely. At one point, cameras caught him slumped on the bench with an ice pack on his neck, too exhausted to even high-five or stand up. Then, seconds later, he was sprinting back onto the court, pulling up over Russell for another jumper. The game slowed into a grind. Chicago's defense squeezed Utah, while Malone unraveled, missing free throws, settling for jumpers and picking up fouls. Stockton nailed a deep three to break even at 82 apiece, with three minutes left. But Jordan immediately answered. This wasn't basketball anymore, it was survival. Even when his body failed, Jordan still found ways to win. With under a minute left, he missed a free throw, but scrambled for the rebound himself, keeping Chicago alive in a tie game. Then came the moment. Jordan dumped the ball into Pippen, guarded by the smaller Jeff Hornacek. Russell came off MJ to double, leaving Jordan alone. Pippen kicked it back out and Jordan drilled the three over Stockton's late contest. Malone could only stand under the rim and watch as the ball went through the net. The mailman was rattled. On the Jazz's next defensive stand, with Utah down one and just 14 seconds left, he either forgot to foul or froze, and the Jazz lost their chance to stay in the game. Even Bill Walton, calling the game, couldn't believe it. Jordan could barely stand, but he stood taller than anyone else, the reigning MVP watching. The world stunned. Jordan had just given them another reason to never doubt him again. He finished with 38 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and a block. One of the most legendary finals performances ever. People compare it to Magic's rookie masterpiece in 1980, or LeBron's game six in 2016. The difference? Jordan did it in 44 minutes of grueling game action, while barely able to walk. Scotty Pippen summed it up best after the game. The effort that he gave us today was unbelievable. We really appreciate the way he stepped up and showed his leadership for our ball club. The Bulls had just one day off before game six, but by then Jordan had somewhat shaken off the food poisoning. He scored big again, but this time someone else stole the spotlight late. With the game tied at 86 and 28 seconds left, Phil Jackson drew up a play for Mike. In the huddle, he addressed Steve Kerr and told him to be ready. Sure enough, Stockton doubled off Kerr, Jordan dished and Kerr buried the jumper with five seconds left. On the final play, Pippen stole the inbound pass from Russell and found Kukoc for a dunk at the buzzer. The Bulls clinched their fifth title and Jordan walked away with his fifth finals MVP, averaging 32.3 points, seven boards, six assists and a couple of stocks a night over the series. Utah's Stockton Malone era produced 18 straight playoff runs, 12 50 win seasons and even three years with 60 plus wins. But against Jordan, they met the same fate as Patrick Ewing, Clyde Drexler, Charles Barkley and so many others. That guy was just better and when Jordan had something extra driving him, game over. The regular season MVP, Malone could keep it. Jordan was after the only trophy that mattered. In the end, Karl Malone's MVP trophy became nothing more than a footnote in Jordan's story. The mailman had the hardware, but Jordan had something more dangerous, a grudge. That 1997 finals wasn't just about winning another championship, it was Jordan reminding everyone who really ran this league. The flu game became instant mythology, but the real story was simpler. You could beat Jordan in a vote, but you couldn't beat him when it mattered. Malone would get one more shot at Jordan in 98, one more chance to prove those MVP voters right. Spoiler alert, it wouldn't go any better. Because Michael Jordan didn't just collect championships, he collected souls. And in 1997, poison pizza and all, he showed the world that even at his weakest, he was stronger than everyone else at their best. The throne wasn't up for debate, it never was. If you thought the flu game was just about 38 points while sick, you missed the point. This was Jordan in revenge mode and revenge, in his hands, was unstoppable. Comment below your favorite Jordan moment from 1997. If you enjoyed this video, hit the hype button and remember to like and subscribe, because there's plenty more videos on the way.