Original subtitles

Here we go. Quiet, please.

- Roll sound. - Rolling.

Two.

It's funny. A lot of people say they'd like to be Michael Jordan

for a day or for a week,

but let them try to be Michael Jordan for a year

and see if they like it.

Let's try to get one more.

- Rolling. - Two.

It's funny. A lot of people told me

that they'd like to be Michael Jordan for a day or for a week,

but I don't think you can see the true Michael Jordan for just a day.

Five, six.

Rolling.

Cameras.

It's funny. A lot of people say

they'd like to try to be Michael Jordan for a day or for a week,

but I don't think they quite understand it's no fun.

Okay.

All right, well, I just wanted to touch base.

I gotta get something for the news.

This is it. Lay back, watch TV all day.

It's peaceful here until you guys come up in here.

I don't have to worry about anybody bothering me.

I think what people don't realize is that...

From the moment Michael Jordan leaves his hotel room,

the spotlight is on him.

Everybody in the world wanted to either see him, talk to him.

They all wanted a piece of him in some way or another.

He was under pressure to be on all the time with people.

Michael, could I get a picture with you and my son?

Skipping nursery school, huh?

Given his whole hectic schedule, before a game,

he would sit down for five minutes, ten minutes,

with a terminally ill child.

- You ain't got a birthday, do you? Oh. - No.

And he made the kids feel like they knew Michael Jordan.

On top of all that, he had to perform.

Jordan puts up a clutch reverse layup!

Michael Jordan!

He knew that everybody for every game was there to see him.

After the game, he has ten minutes in the locker room to cool off...

And then a room full of media.

How do you deal with the constant media attention?

How are you gonna entertain us tonight?

But even when he's done with the media interviews,

he still had to hang around people that would come up to him.

It was like a flock of bees around honey, trailing him down the hallway.

Listen, everybody. Can we move this way and kind of spread out a little?

I swear to you, he ain't gonna run away.

Then you get back to the hotel, another large group of people.

I wouldn't want to be like Mike.

It's an impossible task.

You know, this is not one of those lifestyles that you envy, you know?

Where you can't... You're confined to this room.

I'm ready for getting out of this life, you know.

You know when you get to that point.

I'm there, with no reservations at all.

I'm there.

A spectacular move!

And the game's over!

Chicago stadium is going wild!

First of all, there's no backstabbing going on here.

It's time for me to move on.

This will be Phil's last year as the coach of the bulls.

Are the expectations way too h/gh 7

Where do we go from here?

The only question: How long can it last?

Oh, you were recording that.

Wayne, k ova/ev and gretzky! And the...

- Oh, that ain't good. - Not that one.

See, they get all the tries till they get one close,

and then I get three or two tries to beat them.

This is the last one right here for me.

Oh.

- Will you get the hell out the way? - Come on.

Nope.

- That's in. That's in. - No!

Nope. No!

- Get our money. - No way.

All right, all right.

Michael was competitive at everything,

whether it was on the golf course or playing cards, whatever it was.

I mean, his life was just one big competition.

Scottie, Michael, Ron Harper.

These guys would play cards in the back of the plane for major money.

We're talking about thousands of dollars.

This is my way of giving some of my money back.

And me, John paxson, b.J. Armstrong,

we would play Blackjack in the front of the plane for a dollar a hand.

He knows that we would never play with him in the back,

'cause it's just too much money.

But he would come up to the front and he's like, "what are you guys doing?

You mind if I play?"

I remember John paxson looking at him and going,

"why in the hell do you want to play with us?

We're playing for a dollar a hand."

I remember he looked at him and goes,

"because I want to say I got your money in my pocket."

- One toss? - Yeah.

- In four tries? - Yeah.

- Yeah, I take it. - Okay.

- How much? $20? - Yeah.

- You can beat that. - Four tries. Come on back here.

Hey, C.T.

Man, your stuff rolls.

See how his just roll up there?

I got good at this.

Y'all get the hell out of here.

Security!

Come get security out of here!

Arrest you.

Hey, Mike. Hey, scottie.

- Hey, my brother. - You guys know the money...

- Oh, the money man. - The money man.

Welcome to another edition of bulls basketball

7'he bulls remain just one game away

from securing home-floor advantage in the eastern conference playoffs.

They can do it with a win ton/ght.

P/ppen gets a screen from I/I/ennington.

Picked up on a switch by scha yes.

P/ppen goes backdoor, Jordan at the baseline.

Boy, ll/lichae/ versus Orlando is a mismatch so far ton/ght.

Jordan ahead to p/ppen. And the jam!

Bo outlaw back quickly. Kerr tees up a three. Ring it up!

Thirty-se ven for Jordan. I think that's the dagger.

And this one is history

Chicago Bulls, with an 87-78 victory over the Orlando magic,

win their 60th game of the season.

Sixty wins.

After a hard day...

I would take grape gatorade, but...

I don't think so.

Hey, if they go back ten years ago,

you'd see half the brothers drinking a case...

- Hey. - At halftime.

When I first joined the team, man, they was drinking beers at half

and smoking a cigarette.

And you know what?

Shit, they were getting the cigarettes from the coaches.

- Yeah, I'm going out the other way. - All right.

How you doing?

Ladies and gentlemen, your world champion Chicago Bulls!

Once again I want to say thanks.

It's been eight years, going into my ninth year,

and we got two championships, and hopefully we got a lot left.

And hopefully we can bring more and more championships to Chicago. Thanks.

You don't have to be a sports fan

to know that this man is beyond human.

At age 30, Jordan has led the Chicago Bulls to NBA championsh/ps,

the dream team to an olympic gold medal,

and most importantly, he's given america and the world a sorely needed hero.

A Jordan s/ghting sparks a frenzy,

his touch, a burst of tears,

and being /I/like means being the most popular human on the planet.

Michael Jordan had become such a huge cultural figure

in the early '90s.

He was so widely celebrated.

Inevitably, there's going to be someone

who's going to start trying to find some dirt.

I guess one of the things that started the problems

was Sam Smith's book Jordan rules.

I'd been an investigative reporter

when I started my journalism career.

I wasn't, you know, a typical sports reporter coming in.

I was sort of interested in what happened behind the scenes.

Every time I looked up, you've been on TV.

You must be...

Because everybody always said, you know, "pull the curtain back."

What really goes on in the locker room?

Obviously when you do books like that,

you got to have controversial things.

You got to have things that are, you know...

People would not suspect or know.

The sun times reports the book details conflicts within the team.

The book outlines alleged turmoil on the club

during its run for the title last season.

In fact, it alleges Jordan was kind of a tough guy with some of his teammates.

Everybody got tired of seeing the McDonald's and the cokes

and all the other stuff.

They really wanted to see something other than something positive.

I was shocked when it exploded like it did.

But the book was popular because it made it public

that Michael Jordan is not perfect.

Not everybody loves him.

He wasn't particularly beloved by his teammates.

Michael actually told teammates not to pass the ball

to a certain player during crunch time.

Threatening the other guys, saying that if they did it,

they would never get the ball from him again.

Jordan also, allegedly, punched I/I/I/I perdue

during a practice session.

Everybody loved Michael around the world.

But after Sam Smith's book, Jordan rules,

there was a certain backlash, and some of the brightness had come off.

People saw a side that we didn't see before.

Concerning team gil/I Jerry krause, Jordan says,

"this thing isn't over. I'm going to get that guy fired."

Jerry invited me to come to his room,

and he had earmarked about 25 different quotations in the book.

And he wanted me to sit and listen to them while he read them.

And that started with, like, you know, "who do you think could do this?

Were you part of this?"

While the earlier reports ha ve brought a flurry of denials,

players giving out sensitive information to the press

is one sure-fire way to cause a division within the team.

I didn't contribute to that.

That was Horace.

He was telling everything that was happening within the group.

You know, as we started winning championships,

and everybody talked about Michael,

and everybody talked about everybody else,

I mean, that really pissed off Horace.

He felt slighted. He was in Michael's shadow.

No. Not one thing have I ever divulged to Sam Smith

about my relationship with my former teammates.

A lot of people, because Sam and I have a great relationship,

used me as a scapegoat, and so be it.

It couldn't have just been Horace.

Had to come from a number of different places.

You know, it could've been the coaches.

It could've been the owners.

It could've been management.

We have a star for five or six years, and then pretty soon

people start chipping away at the pedestal of that star or that hero,

and try to knock him off the block.

You know, if I'm... if I'm gonna be knocked off this pedestal,

I'm gonna make sure I do something, I do something to be knocked off.

I'm not gonna let someone else knock me off for no apparent reason

or comments that I didn't say.

While some of Michael Jordan's teammates

view the book as a bunch of bull,

Smith says it may have a positive effect down the road on the world champions.

I think Phil will use this book to an extent to say,

"here, this is out there. They're trying to divide us apart,"

and I think in a lot of ways, it'll bring this team together.

I was under siege when the book came out.

Everyone turned on me, in fact, to the point where I was getting

a lot of threats and the newspaper had me stay home for a week.

Told me not to come.

The Jordan rules took a big toll on him off the court.

But on the court, he was still the most dominant figure in the game

on the most dominant team.

And Horace with the slam!

Jordan, the intercept. What a play.

They're just tearing them apart!

Fourteen. Jordan past Petro Vic.

Wo w!

J“ hey, hoj“

j“ you drew a picture of m y mornin' but you couldn't make my day, he y/ j“

Michael blocked him!

Denied by Horace Grant

three-on-two. 7'o Jordan. And a foul.

Oh, he scored yes!

J“ this is hip hop for today I give props to hip hop j“

j“ so h/p-hop hooray, hey.. J“

Michael in control, feeds Horace.

Michael on the line. There it is.

Don't foul him here. From mid-court.

Jordan, a 50-footer.

/I/lichael Jordan!

A lot of the people in that era that you would consider Michael's peers

had won two in a row.

Isiah won two straight.

Magic had won two straight.

But none of them won three in a row.

A third championship was the separator.

You win three, you're on mount rushmore.

So for that team, it was all about winning a third straight.

Without question, it was this incredibly tough, motivated

and well-coached Knicks team.

In the early '90s, the Knicks replaced the bad boy pistons

as the team that chicagoans hated the most.

It was very intense 'cause I know how bad they wanted to beat us.

Both clubs going at each other.

Michael Jordan and xa vier ll/chanie/ ha ving words.

Double technica/s were called on ll/chanie/ and Jordan.

They were on the come up.

They were trying to be the next Chicago Bulls,

as we were to the Detroit pistons.

Mentally, they were a hardworking team,

but I firmly believe that when we were playing at our best,

and they're playing at their best, we're a much better team.

Patrick ewing was the biggest focus for us offensively.

We hated each other.

It was extremely physical.

It wasn't really a foul until you drew blood.

When I was coaching the Knicks, I told the team,

"you can't let him dunk on you."

Hello!

You got to knock him down.

If we don't meet him at the rim, he's going to embarrass you.

No, but he followed up. Jordan with the recovery

and Jordan, and the foul!

The only way we could beat this guy, we had to hit him,

let him know that you just can't fly to the rim.

The battle lines were drawn between them, and then, of course,

the 1993 playoffs, they're playing the Knicks in the conference finals.

It has come down to this game 7

of the eagerly anticipated best-of-se ven eastern conference final.

Patrick ewing and his New York k nicks

facing Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.

We got tested in that playoffs by the Knicks.

The Knicks had that same defense that we just had to overcome versus Detroit.

They were going to be physical.

They were going to come up body to body all the time.

Things beginning to get a bit rough.

That was a tremendous battle.

The basket counts and the foul!

So the k nicks defeat the bulls in game 7 of this best-of-seven.

Jordan knows that all eyes are on him ton/ght

as the bulls go for the needed split in New York

in the eastern conference finals.

After shooting three for 73 in the second half Sunday,

Jordan needs to fight it up in game 2.

And Jordan is... He is walloped b y anthon y/

oh, the bulls are very upset.

The second game in the series,

they were stepping things up and really physical.

Ewing!

Oh, look out! Cartwr/ght submarined

starks. Yes!

What a move by starks who was able to sky for the basket.

In sports, the Chicago bulls are down two games to none

in their playoff series with the New York k nicks.

Some are suggesting that superstar Michael Jordan

may ha ve dropped the ball.

In the last quarter against the New York k nicks Tuesday n/ght,

- /I/lichael Jordan looked tired -for three.

Was he worn down by the k nicks' defense

in a grueling, physical game,

or was he worn down by a visit to this Atlantic city hotel

on the Eve of the game?

The New York times said today Jordan was seen in the hotel's casino

as late as 2.30 in the morning.

My father said, "let's get away from New York City.

Let's you and I go to Atlantic city," and we got a limo.

We went and gambled for a couple hours. We came back.

Everybody went totally ballistic.

"Hey, he was in a casino last night."

It wasn't late. We got home about 12:30, 1:00.

The reason that I was there was I wanted to get away from the city of New York,

forget about all the losing, you know, the game situation,

whatever, just to get my mind away from the game of basketball.

I couldn't go play golf, so I rode up there with my family and my friends.

Jordan's hours tr/ggered harsh headlines

and dominated the sports talk shows.

What it shows me is a lack of commitment to what is the goal right now,

and that is to win a third championship.

Jordan had violated no team rules,

no league rules, no state laws.

All he violated were people's expectations.

I addressed the Atlantic city thing,

and he was like, "going down to Atlantic city in the afternoon

and getting back at midnight,

that's not going to affect my basketball.

It's going to take my mind away from this pressure

that we have building up in the playoffs."

Okay. The backstory is this.

So the bulls win in '91. They win the championship.

Well, you go to the white house when you win the championship.

Ready. Get set. Go!

Except Jordan didn't show.

He said, "oh, time with family. Got to be..."

No, he was out gambling with slim bouler.

Slim bouler was a golf hustler,

and back in December of 1991,

he was brought up on drug and money laundering charges,

and federal agents found a check made out from Michael Jordan

to slim bouler for $57,000.

Jordan initially said, "ah, it was just a loan that I made him."

But Michael was a witness

in this case involving slim bouler.

And Michael admitted that he was repaying a gambling debt.

”What was the money for?” asked bouler's attorney

answer: ”/t was what / lost gambling. It was never a loan.

Isaid it was a loan strictly to save the embarrassment and pain. ”

So when Michael spends all night gambling in Atlantic city,

after they lost game 1,

it became a very public issue in terms of,

is this signs of some kind of a problem with him?

And then you add to that the esquinas book,

which came out in the midst of that Atlantic city fiasco.

In a book titled ll/lichae/ & ll/le: Our gambling addiction,

Richard esquinas, a one-time general manager of the San Diego sports arena,

makes the claim that Michael Jordan owed him more than $1.2 million,

a result of gambling on their golf matches.

Yeah, Richard esquinas, we met from a third party.

You know, I'm actually playing golf with people all the time now,

and if they want to gamble, we gamble.

The character of those individuals,

I find out later what kind of people I was playing with.

I learned that lesson, but the act of gambling,

I didn't do anything wrong.

Right away it went right to the most deepest,

darkest kind of side of it, that is he throwing games?

Has it gone beyond golf?

It never has. It never has.

Michael and I were competitive and gambling on the golf course.

We played cards. I was in many of the card games,

but never anything else.

I never bet on games.

I only bet on myself, you know, and that was golf.

Do I like to play Blackjack? Yeah, I like playing Blackjack.

There's no laws with that.

And the league did call me in. They asked questions about it,

and I told them exactly what was happening.

Michael was betting on his golf game,

larger numbers than you or I might bet if we played golf together,

but we... you know, given Michael's earnings and the like,

we just never... it never reached epic crisis levels in my view.

I understand that people would see and hear about amounts of money like that

and go, "wow, that's a lot of money."

What I used to always say to people is that, for Michael Jordan,

$10,000 is like you gambling $10. He's got it.

He's good for it, you know? You don't have to worry about it.

The thought has occurred that you aren't really gambling with money.

You're gambling with your reputation,

gambling with your good name.

What would they consider my good name?

The purest of all pure, the person that doesn't make mistakes?

It wasn't all part of this carefully cultivated image that he had had

of being the best basketball player in the world

that everyone wanted to be like.

Do you think you have a gambling problem at all?

No, because I can stop gambling.

I have a competition problem, a competitive problem.

It didn't affect his endorsements.

It didn't affect him monetarily.

It didn't really affect his popularity,

but the damage was to his reputation...

And the price to pay was how tedious this all became for Michael

to have to answer these questions.

Were you playing $1,000-a-hole golf down there?

- Is that was what was going on? - Is this an addiction?

When you're answering these questions over and over again

and feeling you have to defend yourself,

it's exhausting.

Guys, let's start up.

He was really starting to grate against the media onslaught.

Michael becomes irate and refuses to talk to the media.

The curtain of silence started to come down.

He wanted no part of it.

Let someone like his dad have to answer these questions for him.

I stopped talking. My father said, "let me handle this."

I said, "dad, you don't have to." He said, "nah." He wanted to.

He has given the best of him.

He has sacrificed to try to satisfy everybody,

and after doing all of that, people still find a way of knocking him,

and he's saying, "damn, how much is enough?"

Around that time, I remember magic Johnson saying,

"you guys are going to drive him out of this game if you keep this up

because he's tired of it, he's tired of you guys picking on him."

People build you up to tear you down.

And it happens in sports all the time.

If a team wins too much, you want them to lose.

The public has a appetite for these kind of rise-and-fall narratives.

Let's go, baby!

I think he was disgusted with what happened,

and Michael had to respond.

And respond he did.

Here is Jordan with a pull-a way

Jordan off the hesitation dribble.

Look out.

Starks went barreling into p/ppen, and starks in the face of p/ppen,

who just looks to walk away

and look out. They're pushing and shoving.

And they continue on!

Jordan wanted to go at him!

J“ something ain't right j“

The team rallying in support of Michael Jordan,

who was so upset with the criticism he received for his journey

down to Atlantic city.

A convincing Chicago Bulls' victory

Michael could make things up to motivate himself.

He didn't have to make anything up here. This was real.

This was the media scolding you.

And he says, "I'll show you.“

and he did.

Jordan for three.

Standing ovation for the Chicago Bulls.

Fifty-four points for Michael Jordan.

Game 5, the series is tied.

The bulls are up one with 20 seconds left,

and there's poor Charles Smith

trying his best to get the ball into the basket.

Ewing for Smith. Smith.

Smith! Smith stopped

Smith stopped again by p/ppen!

What a play by scottie p/ppen!

Jordan and pippen and Horace Grant...

Simply refusing to let the ball go in the basket.

Wouldn't allow it.

One of the great defensive sequences of all time.

And the bulls have defeated the k nicks!

That's the series, and they close it out in Chicago in the next game.

And it is Chicago going on to the NBA finals.

Chicago will attempt to three-peat,

trying to become only the third team in NBA history

to pull off three in a row.

Did you feel like all that negative publicity about Michael

going down to Atlantic city really pulled you guys together this week?

Yeah, we take that personally.

We're a team. We've been a team a long time,

and when you attack one of ours, we got to bond together.

It's the only thing we have, and I think it showed today on the floor.

11:45.

- What is it? - Eleven-forty... I'm sorry.

- Let's go, Phil! - 1:45.

Ten minutes are over.

Come on, man. Let's go.

- Where you going? Let's go. - I'm with it. You hear that?

Nah, nah, nah, nah.

- Y'all miss out on this. - Now, that's entertainment.

1:45.

Let's go!

Nah, man, we done. We out of here. Let's go, pip, come on, man.

- Just till Phil comes by. - Nah, nah.

Come on, Mike.

Scottie, how you feeling? Everything all right?

Yeah, I'm feeling good, just a little sore.

Is there any chance Michael has got a tee time?

Come on, get on here, bill.

- Hey, give me 20 cents. - You must be ready to go.

Hey, give me 20 cents.

Y'all got to pay a fare to get on this bus.

Let's go!

Get out the way.

Do you know how to put it in gear?

- Yeah, watch this. - Oh, no.

- Step back. - Look out, you guys.

- Let's go! - He's loose.

What?

Go watch some tits and ass.

Shit.

Let's go, man.

Hey, don't leave. Hold on!

Okay?

You all right, though?

Bye-bye.

All right, thanks.

- Fore! - Fore!

Fore! Fore!

Oh, yeah.

Ah!

- Boom! - Didn't even hesitate.

- Bang! Hey. - Went out there and hit that shit.

Shit.

Okay. You're right.

But I win $20 on that hole anyway.

No, I win $40 on that hole.

As Michael Jordan and the bulls

get ready to take on the suns in Phoenix,

the y're knocking on the door of the pantheon of the greats.

I/I/inning three stra/ght NBA titles would put Jordan and his teammates

in the company of the great dynasties of the past.

Hi everybody I'm Bob costas, and welcome to the NBA finals.

The news is that Michael Jordan has broken his two-week media silence.

About an hour and a half before the game began,

he was willing to talk specifically to Ahmad Rashad

Before game 1, Michael goes, "hey, man.

Can you go get a camera? I want to do this interview.

They've been talking about my gambling. I'm sick of all this stuff.

Let's just get it done right now." I went, "okay."

Do you have a gambling problem?

No. I enjoy it. It's a hobby.

If I had a problem, I'd be starving.

I'd be Hawking this watch, my championship rings.

I would sell my house. I would do this.

My wife would've left me, or she'd be starving.

My kids would be starving. I do not have a problem.

I enjoy gambling.

Now, it didn't help that Michael had sunglasses on

when he was doing the interview,

which just... I mean, take them sunglasses off.

The media has taken it far greater than what it is.

Soon, whenever I walk away from this game,

uh, I think that's the only thing that people are going to say

was a bad thing about Michael Jordan.

Could soon be after this year?

Could be.

In Phoenix, we had a great year.

We had the best record in the league,

and Charles was the mvp that year.

I felt very confident going into that series.

We were very determined

because if there's anybody you want to beat,

it's Michael Jordan.

Barkley behind the back!

Barkley from ll/lajer/e to the re verse!

Kevin Johnson.

Dumas puts it down!

I was a little bit upset that I didn't get the mvp that year,

and they gave it to Charles barkley.

But with that said, okay, fine. You can have that.

I'm going to get this.

Jordan with the steal, and Jordan goes all the way

beautiful finish by Michael

The purple heart award goes to Dan majer/e,

who has to guard Michael Jordan.

I knew that Jerry krause loved Dan majerle,

and just because krause liked him was enough for me.

You think he's a great defensive player? Okay, fine.

I'm going to show you that he's not.

Defense! Defense! Defense!

Jordan spins away on majerle,

he 7! Take it all the way to the basket and drops it in!

I put it in my mind-set that, "if I don't do this,

then they're gonna consider him on the same level as me."

And that motivated me to attack.

Jordan off the dribble.

So the Chicago Bulls take game 7.

7'he y led by as many as 23,

and they win it 700 to 92.

Game 1 of this series could be summed up in a word: "Nerves."

The bulls showed that experience does pay.

The suns' lack of it cost them.

We lost game 1 because we were so nervous.

But in game 2, I played as well as I could play.

Barkley from the outside.

Barkley barkley!

Barkley! Phoenix with...

And Michael just outplayed me.

Jordan. Yes!

Jordan! And Jordan!

Michael Jordan.

The suns looking down a real dark road right now.

That was probably the first time in my life

that I felt like there was a better basketball player in the world than me,

to be honest with you.

So, the final score: The bulls 777, the suns 708.

We had won two games in Phoenix,

and we came back to Chicago, and like, "well, let's finish this out."

Jordan to throw for three. Yes!

Barkley shooting for the three, and he hits it!

It was, like...

One of the most roller-coaster series I've ever been in.

Game 3 went into triple overtime.

We head on to a third overtime.

Not to brag on myself, I was not going to let us lose.

Chambers with a steal and barkley able to finish it offi

barkley on the intercept!

Charles barkley with the interception and the field goal.

The Phoenix suns in tnp/e overtime

have defeated the Chicago Bulls 72.9-727.

They're finding their way back into this series.

After Sunday night's epic,

there's a feeling that the Phoenix suns are here as foes,

not foils, that they made it a series again,

and now it's the bulls' turn to respond to a challenge.

Jordan. Yes!

Jordan around dumas. Yes!

Oh, Jordan and ainge trash-talking.

Ainge with his hands on Jordan.

Jordan just told him, ”get your hands off me. ”

Bulls with a two-point lead

Jordan! Yes!

So the Chicago Bulls have taken a 3-games-to-7 lead,

led by Michael Jordan,

who had 55 points.

Before game 5,

they already started the celebrations in Chicago.

They were boarding up the windows.

They want you to celebrate with class and don't destroy stuff.

And by the time you get to the game, you're steaming, to be honest with you.

We're like, "guys, we cannot lose this game."

Jordan's pass broken up.

Johnson for barkley, Armstrong back,

and Charles barkley extends to a 27-75 lead

Jordan...

Stopped from behind! Dumas got a piece of it,

and dumas will finish it ofif

Michael Jordan upset.

Lte/I you, the Phoenix suns are playing better.

They're hotter. They're playing better than the Chicago Bulls,

and the bulls are in trouble.

That will do it. The Phoenix suns,

leading most of the way, remain alive in this best of se ven,

but this series goes back to Phoenix.

Take that shit off the windows.

You don't need it tonight.

We lost game 5,

so we have to fly out to Phoenix and play this game number six.

Michael got on the plane.

He had a cigar, then he said he wanted to speak to the team.

Everybody's dreading getting back on the plane and going back to Phoenix,

so I just say, "look, man.

I don't know about you guys. I'm only packing one suit.

We going back to win one game. I'm not going there to play two games."

Michael Jordan on a pull-up. Yes.

Jordan for three.

And Michael Jordan has tied the game.

Jordan hits another three!

Michael had that ability where he was not going to let them lose.

With just under one minute remaining in this fourth quarter,

suns lead 98 to 94.

Frank Johnson, not the man that the suns would have wanted to take that shot,

and Jordan was able to go the distance.

Worst thing that can happen!

Let them score and use up very few precious seconds.

It's Chicago's game to win or lose.

They put 74.7 seconds up. Suns lead by two.

They're going to put the ball in Michael Jordan's hands.

It's come down to this possession. The suns by two.

And p/ppen got the snatch.

Here's paxson for three! Yes!

7'he bulls take a one-point lead!

Yeah! Yeah!

Hits the three, and this crowd is stunned!

John paxson nails the three!

That's the first score by anybody other than Michael Jordan

in the entire fourth quarter!

The ball was not supposed to come to me,

but as a player, you're always ready.

And for me personally, it was pretty special.

And it's all over!

The Chicago Bulls win three stra/ght NBA championsh/ps!

A three-point shot by John paxson, the game-winner.

I have no problem losing to Michael.

Losing to Michael, there's no shame in that.

Sports are like a gunfight...

And we lost to the fastest gun.

Whoo!

- Yes, yes! - Thank you!

Michael!

Physically, I was getting exhausted.

But, mentally, I was way past exhausted.

When you try to do something repetitively,

you lose some of the hunger and some of the edge.

Here's the thing: I think when we won the third championship,

being around him, there was more, like, relief than true joy.

You know, like, "it's over," you know?

He was tired.

You know, the aftermath, like, you kind of feel like...

"You know, what are we going to do?

This has been a very hard and trying time.

This has been a tough year."

- Do I have to do anything else? - Nope.

- Can I just sit here for a few minutes? - Yeah.

Yeah, man, yes.

Just dial straight out...

Is it joy, or is it relief, or is it a combination?

This has been a great year but a tough year.

It's both. You know, it's a relief, plus it's great to win.

I think we have gone through a lot.

Me personally, I've gone through a lot of ups and downs,

but to cap it off this way means a lot to me, believe me.

Yeah! Yeah!

My fame is, uh...

It was good at the beginning.

Anytime people talking about you in a positive way, yeah.

It's great to hear those comments, but now that you're on a pedestal,

it's not just the positive talking that you're hearing.

You hear some points and some people taking shots at you,

and that really changes the whole idea

of being out there for people to see you.

You want to get more behind closed doors so people don't know you as much,

so I'm at that stage of my career and my life that, you know,

I'd rather get behind closed doors than to be out there in the spotlight

to be taking shots from everyone that really don't know you as a person.

If I had the chance to do it all over again,

I would never want to be considered a role model.

It's like a game that's stacked against me.

You know, there's no way I can win.

I think I've been asked about a million times,

“is he going to quit or is he not going to quit?"

I'm having fun making up stuff.

No one wants me to walk out

knowing that I can still play the game.

I want to leave two years before my skills say that I can't play this game.

Mm-hmm.

I don't want to miss my time to go because a lot of players say that,

"I'm going to play until I can't play ever again."

- Right. - I think Patrick said that one time,

that they'd have to carry him off the court.

You know, I said...

"Nobody's going to carry me off the court. I want to walk off the court."

And then a lot of people say, "well, you're going to miss it."

I'm not sure if I'm going to miss it.

I don't think I'm going to miss it.

There is, says Michael, a zen calm around the bulls

as they start their postseason ton/ght,

a calm that blocks out the speculation about Jordan's retirement,

Phil Jackson's departure, all the front-office politics.

If indeed, this is the fabled last dance, then pay attention

because it does begin ton/ght for a team that has a rested scottie p/ppen,

the best player in the world, the top eastern seed,

and five games to tune it up against the New Jersey nets.