Since I was all of four or five years old when Jordan won the last of his first three titles, I missed out on experiencing them first hand. Fortunately, through films like Come Fly With Me I had learned about the buzzer beaters from Jordan’s time at North Carolina up until him rising over the Cavaliers’ Craig Ehlo for the game winner in the first round of the 1989 playoffs, but had yet to experience any of these moments firsthand.
That is until the ’98 Finals.
I can still tell you where I was. I was sitting anxiously on my living room floor, instead of the couch or a chair like a normal human being. I remember sitting some three feet away from the television set and the Bulls being down one with with :20 seconds left in Game 6. Then it happened: Jordan stole the ball from Karl Malone, brought the ball up court, and knocked Byron Russell off-balance before rising up over him for the go-ahead basket.
That moment was special because it represented everything we tend to romanticize about the Finals: a great player coming up big at the most pivotal moment. For someone my age, we were able to witness a feat like those of which we had only been able to read about or watch on film. Moments like these are also why we played out these scenarios in our driveways as children.