Chicago Bulls: 30 greatest Michael Jordan moments of all time
By Luke Askew
27. The dunk from the free-throw line
Bulls fans have been incredibly spoiled by some good dunkers. Zach LaVine wasn’t a member of the Bulls when he won back-to-back dunk contests, but now Bulls fans can look back at those highlights and feel like proud parents.
Before LaVine was shattering rims, though, Bulls fans had Michael Jordan to watch in multiple dunk contests, and the one in 1988 was by far the best.
Jordan was going back and forth with Dominique Wilkins all night long. Nique brought the power, MJ brought the finesse. It was one of the best dunking showcases anyone has ever seen.
Wilkins and Jordan were neck and neck coming down the stretch. For Jordan’s final dunk, he needed a 48 to tie and a 49 to win. So what dunk did MJ pull out of his bag?
He starts at the other end of the court, sprints towards the free-throw line, leaps, and pumps the ball in mid-air before throwing it down with one hand. The score? A perfect 50.
Throw in the fact that this took place in Chicago and it’s a wild moment to reflect on.
26. The personal statue outside of the United Center
I’ve never had a statue of myself dunking on someone placed in front of a major sports arena, so I’m purely speculating here, but I have to assume it feels pretty cool.
When MJ retired for the first time after the 1992-93 season, something had to be done to commemorate all that he had accomplished in his nine seasons with the Bulls.
In hindsight, it feels weird that he received an honor as great as a personal statue outside of the arena before winning his final three championships. But at the time, Jordan had led the league in scoring for seven (seven!) consecutive seasons, and brought the city of Chicago back-to-back-to-back championships. That’s probably enough to warrant a personal statue.
The statue is such an iconic piece of NBA history now that we’ve almost taken it for granted. It’s an immaculate tribute to the greatness that was Michael Jordan.