Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan played golf with Danny Ainge a day before scoring an NBA playoff record 63 points against the Boston Celtics.
Jordan and Ainge talked a lot of smack to each other during their golf match.
“Tell your boy Dennis Johnson I got something for him tomorrow,” Jordan told Ainge.
On April 20, 1986, Jordan scored 63 points in 53 minutes while shooting 22-of-41 from the field and 19-of-21 from the free-throw line. The Hall of Famer also had five rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks.
“I played practically every minute in the second game,” Jordan said in The Last Dance docuseries. “I just never stopped. Stan Albeck kept putting me in isolated situations and I took advantage of my youth and my energy.”
In Game 2, the Bulls and Celtics went to overtime, with Boston winning by a final score of 135-131. Chicago wound up getting swept in the series, but Jordan showed the NBA world that he would be a big problem for everyone.
“That wasn’t Michael Jordan out there,” Celtics great Larry Bird said. “That was God disguised as Michael Jordan.”
The Bulls and Jordan became world beaters in the ’90s, winning six championships in eight years and three-peating twice. Chicago went undefeated in the NBA Finals.
With the Bulls, Jordan won six Finals MVPs, five regular-season MVPs, 10 scoring titles, three steals titles and one Defensive Player of the Year Award. He’s arguably the best player in NBA history.
In two stints with the Bulls, Jordan averaged 31.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 2.5 steals and 0.9 blocks. Chicago beat the Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns, Seattle SuperSonics and Utah Jazz (twice) in the NBA Finals.
Jordan finished his career with averages of 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.3 steals and 0.8 blocks with the Bulls and Washington Wizards. He’s first in NBA history in points per game, fourth in steals, fifth in field goals and second in player efficiency rating.
Following his fifth championship in 1997, Jordan was asked by SLAM Magazine where he put himself next to Bird and Magic Johnson. MJ said he, Bird and Magic were on parallel ground.
“I don’t put myself above them,” Jordan said. “I think that we’re all on parallel ground here. You know, they educated me about a lot of things about the game from a team standpoint. So I can’t put myself above. I mean, people try to, but we played in different eras.
“I had an opportunity to go against them in the peak of their careers while I was still young. And I went against them when I was at the peak of mine when they was on the other end. So it was a passing of trends there, and we never had the opportunity to play against each other in peak years. You know, so it’s hard to say that I’m above them by no means. I like to consider myself parallel to them.”
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