John Kim 
The Sneaker News “Was It The Shoes?” features tonight with another dissection of Michael’s most memorable moments of his career. We’ve covered his All-Star Game triumps and blunders as well as unnerving scoring outputs, but no moment is as defining as this – winning his first NBA Championship. This occurred in 1991 of course, but if we were to select one span of seconds, it would have to his amazing Game 2 feat in which he performed a jaw-dropping aerial assult on the Lakers. More of Was It The Shoes? is right ahead, so give it a read!
It was June 3rd, 1990, and the Bulls had just lost to the Detroit Pistons in a physical seven-game series for the Eastern Conference Finals. Michael, with an eerie poise, spoke with Pat O’Brien after the game and said “We fought hard. They were the better team.” It was tough for Michael to utter those words, considering he’s fiercely competitive and just saw one of his biggest rivals in Isiah Thomas go on to another NBA Finals platform, but Michael’s professionalism and ability to orate without frustration and disappointment shined through once again. He accepted the fact that it wasn’t his time to shine – yet.
Fast-forward to one year later, when Michael was crowned the league MVP title for the second time in his career and once again met the Pistons in the Playoffs. This time around, Michael and the Bulls gave no elbow room to Detroit, sweeping them with complete dominance and solidifying their first-ever NBA Finals appearance. They would face the power-house Los Angeles Lakers, who themselves barreled right through the Rockets, Warriors, and Blazers en route to yet another NBA Finals appearance. Would the jitters of the big lights be too much for Michael and the Bulls to overcome? A quick Game 1 loss at Home in Chicago hinted at perhaps another postseason disappointment.
Game 2 rolled around and Michael Jordan was ready. At one point, the Bulls had sank thirteen straight field goals and they were on the way to victory with a 24-point advantage nearly mid-way through the fourth quarter. Michael could’ve taken the rest of the night off he wanted to, but he nailed the final, emphatic nail in the Lakers coffin with an astonishing power-move that sent the entire city of Chicago into a frenzy. Livingston drove in from the left elbow, drew in some defenders, passed to Michael at the top of the key, and the magic of Air revealed itself right before our eyes; he lept with the ball in his right hand, switched fluidly to his left, and banked the rock for another two points. It was perhaps the greatest lay-up in NBA history and it completely sucked the energy out of the Lakers. Chicago wouldn’t look back and took the next four games, earning their first NBA Championship.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7vsjOHq5E0Since then, that move has long since been emulated by kids in playgrounds and was even highlighted as one of Michael’s distinguishing moves in the inspirational Air Jordan XX1 commercial. What is commonly overlooked regarding the Mid-Air Switch is that his acrobats were entirely…unnecessary. He was already wide open and not a single Laker bothered to jump up and defend the attempt, but Michael did it anyway – and we’re glad he did! Michael on the move: “I saw a clear lane to the basket, so I was going to dunk the ball. I exposed the ball, but then I saw long-arm Sam Perkins there, and it was just instincts to change it. I changed it to my left hand and I was able to get it off.”
The shoes – do we need to even repeat this? Michael wore the Air Jordan VI ‘Infrared’ during this momentous occasion – a shoe that would later be honored as part of 2006’s Defining Moments Package, which paid tribute to Michael’s Championship victories in ’91 and ’96. The Air Jordan VI ‘Infrared’ would go on to be one of the most coveted Air Jordans of all-time, even after a Retro release as recent as 2010. Was this Championship and Mid-Air Switch a direct result of the Air Jordan VI? You tell us.
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