Michael Jordan: Legends in Sports by Matt Christopher Read Free Book Online

let Michael work his magic. He and the Celtics traded baskets in the extra period. It was five-on-one and Michael
     was holding his own. At the end of overtime, the score was tied again.
    In the second overtime, the Celtics finally pulled ahead and won, 135–131. But Michael had scored an unbelievable 63 points.
     No one in NBA history had ever scored that many points during a playoff game.
    Even though they had won, after the game, the Celtics could only talk about Michael Jordan. Celtic captain Larry Bird was
     most effusive in his praise. “I couldn’t believe anybody could do that against the Boston Celtics,” Bird told reporters. “It
     shows you what kind of person he is. I think he’s God disguised as Michael Jordan.”
    The Bulls and Celtics traveled to Chicago for game three. Despite the fact that he had home-court advantage, Michael Jordan
     couldn’t maintain his intensity. After his remarkable performance in games one and two, he scored only 19 points with 10 assists
     and 9 rebounds before fouling out withfive minutes remaining. The Bulls lost, 122–104. The season was over, but one thing was clear — Michael Jordan was the most
     exciting player in the NBA.
    Michael was doing things that no single basketball player had ever done before. It was as if the greatest players of all time
     had been combined into one person. His old hero David Thompson had always been considered the greatest leaper in the NBA,
     but Michael jumped just as well as Thompson. When Michael jumped, he seemed to hang in the air. Defenders went up with him,
     but they fell back to earth while he was still rising. Julius Erving of the Philadelphia 76ers had been considered the best
     dunker in the NBA, but not even Doctor J could do some of the 360-degree reverse slam jams Michael was now making. Magic Johnson
     of the Los Angeles Lakers and Larry Bird of the Celtics were considered the most complete players in the game, but now some
     people were saying that Michael could pass the ball, rebound, and defend as well as either man.
    But Michael was not satisfied with his personal accomplishments. As much as he liked to score, he liked to win even more.
     He wouldn’t be satisfied until the Bulls were winners.
    That summer the team had another new coach. Doug Collins stepped in and replaced Stan Albeck. Like his predecessor, Collins
     turned Michael Jordan loose.
    When the 1986–87 season began, Michael picked up right where he had left off. In the exhibition season, he scored over 40
     points nine times. Four times he scored over 50 points, and in one game he scored 61. Not since seven-foot center Wilt Chamberlain
     averaged 50.4 points per game in the 1961–62 season had any NBA player scored so many points.
    Michael kept right on going in the regular season. With virtually the same lineup as the year before, the Bulls needed him
     to score as much as possible to have a chance to win. No one else on the team was as consistent a scorer.
    Every time the Bulls stepped onto the court in 1986–87, the game featured a solo performance by Michael Jordan. Somehow, he
     seemed to keep getting better. Over the course of the season, he scored more than 30 points an amazing 62 times. In 36 of
     those games, he scored over 40 points; six times he broke the 50-point mark; and twice he hit over 60 points.
    Opposing teams were helpless to stop him. Neither double-teams nor triple-teams made much of a difference. Michael often saved
     his best for late in the game, as if he relished the pressure. Several times during the season, he outscored the other team
     in the final quarter. In one game, against the New York Knicks, he scored the Bulls’ last eighteen points to help Chicago
     win by two, 101–99.
    Michael cemented his status as the most exciting player in the NBA during the All-Star weekend at the Kingdome in Seattle,
     Washington. He participated in the slam-dunk contest and came away with his first slam-dunk title. He called his winning