His Airness Michael Jordan Cements His Legacy: The Last Shot Of The NBA Finals In 1998

One of the most iconic moments in NBA history – Michael Jordan’s game-winning shot in Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Championship – is one that still gives us goosebumps.

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The scene: June 14, 1998, the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, packed to the rafters.

Jordan’s Chicago Bulls were locked in a fierce series with Karl Malone’s Utah Jazz, tied at 3-3. It was the closing moments of a game in which Jordan had already scored 43 points.

But Michael Jordan is a special man, born with a clutch gene rivaled perhaps only by the NFL’s Tom Brady. If it needed to be done, Jordan was the man you turned to.

With just 5.2 seconds left on the clock and the Bulls trailing by one point, coach Phil Jackson called a timeout. The Jazz, like everyone else on Planet Earth, knew exactly where the Bulls needed to get the ball: MJ’s massive mitts.

Bryon Russell tried. Really, there’s not much more you can do. The clock ticking down… 5… 4… 3… 2… and then, magic happened.

Slight hesitation, crossover, and then open space. With 1.8 seconds left, His Airness left the ground. The ball hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity, but the end result was never in doubt. The United Center exploded into complete pandemonium.

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Jordan’s iconic fist pump and the joyful mobbing by his teammates encapsulated the moment. The Bulls went up 87-86, and the Jazz’s last-ditch effort fell short, securing Chicago’s sixth NBA championship in eight years.

But the magic shot wasn’t just a Championship winner, it was also Jordan’s last shot as a Bull. It was the perfect ending to a career that had seen six NBA titles, five MVP awards, and countless unforgettable moments.

Of course, Jordan’s career was not really over – he would later come back to the NBA and provide fans with even more magic – but at the time, MJ stood on the peak of basketball’s Mount Everest. Frankly, he may have even been hovering above it. He was known to do things like that.

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By Hillary Mason

Hillary Mason contributes across multiple professional publications including The Finance Genie and Bounding Into Sports. A veritable encyclopedia of... More about Hillary Mason