John Kim 
The last time we featured Michael Jordan in an NBA All-Star Game, we focused on one of his not-so-MJ moments. A missed dunk happens to everyone, but if you’re Michael ‘Air’ Jordan, people have a hard time forgetting! It didn’t take long for Michael to erase that All-Star flub because just one year later in the 2003 All-Star Game, he reminded the millions of viewers around the world why he’s won six NBA Championships. Read up on this memorable moment of Michael Jordan’s career in tonight’s Was It The Shoes? and re-live one of the best All-Star Game moments in NBA history.
In September of 2001, Michael Jordan announced his second come-back to the NBA, joining a young and raw Washington Wizards squad and providing some energetic juice to the much less powerful Eastern Conference. In his two seasons as a Washington Wizard, Michael was selected to two straight NBA All-Star Games – although not as a starter in 2003. While Michael was and is still revered in the NBA, the fact that he was not voted as a starter was proof that the new NBA generation had already embraced a new wave of stars. Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady, the two starting backcourt-mates, had individually offered their starting roles to MJ, who declined their generous offers. It wasn’t until a last-minute plea by Vince Carter, who literally shoved MJ onto the court minutes before tip-off, that Michael was inserted into the starting line-up.
As the 2003 game served as Michael’s final All-Star Game, there was no doubt that the Eastern Conference would concede to the legend and offer up as many shots attempts as they pleased. Jordan embraced, hoisting up a game-high 27 shot attempts in 36 minutes of play and finishing with 20 points. The most memorable of those twenty-seven shots was his final attempt during regulation, when he was fed the ball with 10 seconds to go. Jason Kidd, who dribbled away before setting up an ISO play for MJ, passed the rock to MJ on the right wing. He drove right, and began his ascension – a trademark fadeaway jumper.
Guarded by the spring-boarding Shawn Marion, Jordan let loose a 18-foot fade-away jumper at the baseline – a high-arcing rainbow of a shot that swished through the net without even kissing the rim. The crowd exploded in celebration, and once the Western Conference called a time-out, the entire East squad approached MJ at center court, receiving a slew of high-fives and congratulatory butt-slaps – a rather surprising response from what was, quite frankly, vintage Michael. Poor Shawn Marion though, who Jordan victimized with a game-winner just a year earlier.
However epic that moment was, it wasn’t enough to pull out a win. With seconds to go, Kobe Bryant put up a three-point attempt at the exact opposite end of the court where Michael hit his shot and drew a foul from Jermaine O’Neal. Kobe would hit two of three free-throw attempts, with some going as far as concluding that Kobe missed one on purpose as to not take away from Jordan’s moment and perhaps earn a villainous label. The Western Conference went on to win the game, but there was no doubt that the highlight of the game was Jordan’s fadeaway jumper. The half-time show also served as a special event – a tribute to Jordan’s career and All-Star game dominance.
So was it the shoes? For this game, Michael Jordan wore the White/Royal colorway of the Air Jordan XVIII; the shoe itself was designed with Michael’s passion for racing, using a clean white leather upper shroud (mimicking racing jackets) and a driving shoe-like outsole. The Air Jordan XVIII would in fact be Michael’s final All-Star Game sneaker and the final Air Jordan he ever wore in a game, so it’s a veritable honor to feature the Air Jordan XVIII in this segment of Was It The Shoes?.
