NBA icon Michael Jordan got away with fouls during his playing career because the NBA’s supervisor of officials at the time knew fans didn’t want to see MJ foul out of the game.
Even if it were obvious that Jordan committed a foul, officials would give the Chicago Bulls superstar shooting guard the benefit of the doubt.
Fans who rooted against the Bulls in the ’90s were always curious why Jordan got away with fouls. Former Chicago guard John Paxson, who won three NBA championships with Jordan, revealed the answer in 2017.
During an interview with Melissa Isaacson of The Athletic in 2017, Paxson said former NBA supervisor of officials Darrell Garretson told the Bulls why Jordan got away with fouls and other players didn’t.
“He told us, ‘Look, we all know the fans are here to see the great players like Michael Jordan, so if there’s a play where Jordan and Paxson are together, and there’s a foul and Jordan smacked the guy on the arm, I’m giving the foul to Paxson because the fans don’t want to see Jordan foul out of the game.’ So I knew where I stood,” Paxson said. “But that didn’t make me feel any better.”
Fans paid a lot of money to watch Jordan play live, so it makes sense that the officials officiated him differently than other players.
Utah Jazz supporters still believe Jordan pushed off on Bryon Russell in Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals on his game-winning jumper.
However, there’s another play Jazz fans may take issue with regarding Jordan.
With 5.0 seconds left in regulation of Game 6 of the 1997 NBA Finals between the Jazz and Bulls, Steve Kerr hit a jumper to give Chicago a two-point lead. He was wide open after John Stockton left him to double Jordan, who may have intentionally tripped the Jazz star point guard so his teammate had a clean jumper.
Fans rarely discuss this clever move from Jordan, but Kerr and Scottie Pippen touched on it during a conversation with Rachel Nichols of ESPN in 2018.
“Stockton kind of slipped,” Kerr said. “I think he got his feet tangled up.”
Pippen also added, “Yeah, I saw that on the film. I watched this a lot. Stockton tripped trying to get back to him.”
The Bulls defeated the Jazz in the 1997 and 1998 NBA Finals, with Jordan winning both Finals MVPs to finish his career with six rings and six Finals MVPs.
Stockton and Karl Malone came so close to becoming champions, but Chicago had the top player in the world, who may have had an advantage since officials swallowed their whistle for him.
Since Jordan retired, plenty of superstars have gotten favorable calls. Fans want to see players play and put up fantastic numbers, not watch them sit on the bench due to foul trouble.
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Is this a LeBron thing?
The Jordan slander on this site lately has been at an all time high.
How about another article about something negative Scotty Pippen said? Do we have enough of those yet?
Why are we talking about Jordan at all? Those who have been paying attention to sports media lately know why. There has been an admitted agenda to raise LeBron’s legacy by pulling down the legacy of those in front of him. No mention of all the other stars that refs favor? Including LeBron? Just Jordan? Another article about Jordan’s “flaws:?
Looking pretty desperate. It’s 2024. Jordan played 30-40 years ago.
here are a lot of good basketball players in the NBA today. Is it too much work to do some real exploring and perhaps interviewing of your own as a sports journalist these days? How much do we know about our own Cavaliers team? Our biggest rivals? About there lives? Or about their journeys, obstacles, business ventures, or otherwise? Is the Jordan vs LeBron angle going to be all we get anymore? I used to avoid ESPN to come here about real things going on. This is turning into hatefest. One article about Pippen’s book would have been enough. One article taking Jordan down a peg would have been enough. But it continues. Whether for clickbait, or to raise another guy up by comparison, a very pathetic method by the way.. this is getting old. It was old 10 years ago. And now it’s only getting worse.
The idea that another guy, another winner, like Magic or Russel or anybody else could be the GOAT. (leaders and winners). How about imagining that? Respecting the greats? Talking about what people DID do, instead of “theories” why one guy might be overrated. Something real, there’s plenty our there. It just takes a little bit of work.
Go Cavs!
It is not a ‘theory’ that John Paxson was Jordan’s teammate for three title runs, or that he directly heard and reported that Darrell Garretson said he would call other Jordan teammates for fouls Jordan committed (naming Paxson directly in his example).
Paxson put it in his book, and later confirmed it in an interview with a respected source. Paxson also said he had always wondered why he was often getting foul calls when Jordan had fouled, and that finally, Garretson had provided the answer. It was a deliberate incorrect call to favor Jordan staying in the game, unhampered by foul trouble.
Another official once publicly stated the fans came to see Jordan score 50, and that it was their job to help make that happen. He wasn’t called for fouls he committed, and got fouls on his defender they did not commit as well. Several teams made films and sent them to the league showing what they considered obvious ‘phantom’ calls for Jordan (often by a late whistle, when his shot missed). So a simple missed shot turned into two free throws (and points).
Paxson’s book confirming the first part of it from hearing it first hand is only 7 years old, not 30 or 40 years old.