At around the 6:30 minute-mark, a comment was made that John Stockton and Karl Malone folded a lot during their era losing games in the 4th quarter. I watched or listened on the radio virtually every game of the Stockton and Malone era in the 90's and saw a lot in the 80's. I saw countless games when Stockton and Malone won close high-pressure games in the 4th quarter. They had a very strong killer instinct. They knew how to win games more than anyone 2nd only to MJ. They won more games regular season games than anyone else during their 18 years together and more playoff games than any other franchise during their time except the Chicago Bulls. MJ was just that much better in the Finals in 1997 and 1998. So instead of saying Stockton and Malone folded under pressure, we should be saying MJ was just a little better a little more of the time down the stretch in games. Stockton and Malone finished 2nd place in the category of winning under pressure. Only one other player during the 90's was better than them and that was MJ. The Utah Jazz went to 5 Western Conference Finals in 7 years. You don't do that without knowing how to win under pressure. They also beat the Shaq-Kobe Lakers 8 games to 1 in both of their '97 and '98 series. They dominated the Spurs throughout the 90's in the playoffs. They beat the defending champion Houston Rockets 7 games to 4 in both of their '97, '98 series. Stockton and Malone beat all the teams who won the Finals in the 90's, the Spurs, the Lakers, the Rockets but the Bulls. The Spurs didn't beat the Bulls either. The Lakers didn't beat the Bulls. And the Rockets didn't beat the Bulls. Only one-team beat the Jordan-led Bulls in the 90's playoffs and that was the Shaq-Penny Orlando Magic in 1995 who then got swept by the Rockets in the '95 Finals. And again Stockton and Malone beat the Shaq-Kobe Lakers 4-1 in '97 and 4-0 in '98. Stockton and Malone dominated a very similar Shaq-led Lakers team that was very similar to the Shaq-led Orlando Magic team which also good enough to defeat MJ in '95. And remember in 1998 the Jazz were 2-0 against the Bulls in the regular season including being down by about 30 points in their game against the Bulls in Salt Lake City and then coming all the way back and beating MJ and the Bulls after being down by about 30 points. Why couldn't MJ not fold and hold onto a 30-point lead? Is MJ soft under pressure? I think the answer is no and that's the same answer with Stockton and the Mailman too. The Jazz and Bulls finished 4-4 in 1998 when you factor in the regular season games too. And the Jazz were inches away from forcing a Game 7 in 1998, barely losing Game 6 but remember Howard Eisley's 3-pointer which was made before the shot clock expired was not counted. And Ron Harper's long 2-pointer which was after the shot clock was counted. That's 5 points that should have been counted to the Jazz, which would have forced a Game 7 and Scottie Pippen's back was hurting him so bad in Game 6, there's no way he would have been able to play in Game 7 and MJ was getting exhausted. If not for that 5-points, the Jazz would have won Game 6, then won Game 7. And I think we can all agree 1990's NBA basketball was way better, way more competitive, way tougher, fun, strategic, balanced than the snowflake sloppy NBA of 2024.
Mj's heart had to be ripped out to beat him, as for Utah - they seemingly peaked in 1988 and then again in 1992 but Stockton and Malone were absolute warriors whom withstood time.
OP - great write up. I agree with absolutely every statement you made except one: a game seven between the 98 Jazz and Bulls would not have been a foregone conclusion. Sure, Pippen would not have played game seven… But practically speaking, Pippen didn't play game six. Yes, he logged minutes, but… 1998 injured, non-all star Scottie was not the top 75 player we all think of when we hear Scottie Pippen. Would Chicago have won game 7? Maybe, maybe not. Only God knows. But I'll tell you one thing, I would not have bet against MJ. But YES, the case you make for Utah is very strong. And right on. The 90's Jazz, tho ringless, is a sorely underrated team. That 1997 and 98 squad was very very good. Good enough to win it all had they played someone other than Chicago. This is plainly evidenced by the all the great points you raise: the late 90's Jazz ran through a VERY GOOD Western conference like a well oiled -buzzsaw- Stihl Chainsaw. Cheers
It wasn't just "fatigue" like you keep emphasizing lol, he had a terrible shooting finger injury (part of the reason he was forced to retire after) and hasn't missed a game in 3 years at age 35... you could've done this better with research.
![Michael Jordan highlights 1993 ECF G4 vs Knicks - 54 pts [60fps]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Jxwb6-az3zI/mqdefault.jpg)
It was a thing of rare beauty to see MJ play the game‼️
Absolutely
Great insights mate, really interesting quote from MJ stifling his frustration by just… smiling. That’s a strong mind right there
At around the 6:30 minute-mark, a comment was made that John Stockton and Karl Malone folded a lot during their era losing games in the 4th quarter. I watched or listened on the radio virtually every game of the Stockton and Malone era in the 90's and saw a lot in the 80's. I saw countless games when Stockton and Malone won close high-pressure games in the 4th quarter. They had a very strong killer instinct. They knew how to win games more than anyone 2nd only to MJ. They won more games regular season games than anyone else during their 18 years together and more playoff games than any other franchise during their time except the Chicago Bulls. MJ was just that much better in the Finals in 1997 and 1998. So instead of saying Stockton and Malone folded under pressure, we should be saying MJ was just a little better a little more of the time down the stretch in games. Stockton and Malone finished 2nd place in the category of winning under pressure. Only one other player during the 90's was better than them and that was MJ. The Utah Jazz went to 5 Western Conference Finals in 7 years. You don't do that without knowing how to win under pressure. They also beat the Shaq-Kobe Lakers 8 games to 1 in both of their '97 and '98 series. They dominated the Spurs throughout the 90's in the playoffs. They beat the defending champion Houston Rockets 7 games to 4 in both of their '97, '98 series. Stockton and Malone beat all the teams who won the Finals in the 90's, the Spurs, the Lakers, the Rockets but the Bulls. The Spurs didn't beat the Bulls either. The Lakers didn't beat the Bulls. And the Rockets didn't beat the Bulls. Only one-team beat the Jordan-led Bulls in the 90's playoffs and that was the Shaq-Penny Orlando Magic in 1995 who then got swept by the Rockets in the '95 Finals. And again Stockton and Malone beat the Shaq-Kobe Lakers 4-1 in '97 and 4-0 in '98. Stockton and Malone dominated a very similar Shaq-led Lakers team that was very similar to the Shaq-led Orlando Magic team which also good enough to defeat MJ in '95. And remember in 1998 the Jazz were 2-0 against the Bulls in the regular season including being down by about 30 points in their game against the Bulls in Salt Lake City and then coming all the way back and beating MJ and the Bulls after being down by about 30 points. Why couldn't MJ not fold and hold onto a 30-point lead? Is MJ soft under pressure? I think the answer is no and that's the same answer with Stockton and the Mailman too. The Jazz and Bulls finished 4-4 in 1998 when you factor in the regular season games too. And the Jazz were inches away from forcing a Game 7 in 1998, barely losing Game 6 but remember Howard Eisley's 3-pointer which was made before the shot clock expired was not counted. And Ron Harper's long 2-pointer which was after the shot clock was counted. That's 5 points that should have been counted to the Jazz, which would have forced a Game 7 and Scottie Pippen's back was hurting him so bad in Game 6, there's no way he would have been able to play in Game 7 and MJ was getting exhausted. If not for that 5-points, the Jazz would have won Game 6, then won Game 7.
And I think we can all agree 1990's NBA basketball was way better, way more competitive, way tougher, fun, strategic, balanced than the snowflake sloppy NBA of 2024.
Mj's heart had to be ripped out to beat him, as for Utah - they seemingly peaked in 1988 and then again in 1992 but Stockton and Malone were absolute warriors whom withstood time.
Great research
OP - great write up. I agree with absolutely every statement you made except one: a game seven between the 98 Jazz and Bulls would not have been a foregone conclusion. Sure, Pippen would not have played game seven… But practically speaking, Pippen didn't play game six. Yes, he logged minutes, but… 1998 injured, non-all star Scottie was not the top 75 player we all think of when we hear Scottie Pippen.
Would Chicago have won game 7? Maybe, maybe not. Only God knows. But I'll tell you one thing, I would not have bet against MJ.
But YES, the case you make for Utah is very strong. And right on. The 90's Jazz, tho ringless, is a sorely underrated team. That 1997 and 98 squad was very very good. Good enough to win it all had they played someone other than Chicago. This is plainly evidenced by the all the great points you raise: the late 90's Jazz ran through a VERY GOOD Western conference like a well oiled -buzzsaw- Stihl Chainsaw.
Cheers
Beautiful,LEBRON wish he had that type of skill.
Great voice, great job. More MJ
Great show! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Bravo! Great channel 😀
And they dare to put Anthony Edwards in the same sentence
MJ AIR JORDAN G.O.A.T. for ever
0 turnovers
0 flops
💪🏿
That’s saying something for somebody who was fatigued, huh? 👍🏼
The goat Michael Jeffrey Jordan
Good job ;))
Bravo
I just noticed the shot clock on Jordan’s finals winning shot was 6.6 as in 6 for 6 championships.
People forget teams rarely beat the Jazz at Utah. So imagine in the playoffs. Even Kobe and Shaq struggled at Utah.
It wasn't just "fatigue" like you keep emphasizing lol, he had a terrible shooting finger injury (part of the reason he was forced to retire after) and hasn't missed a game in 3 years at age 35... you could've done this better with research.
You made his point. Not missing games and going to the finals for the past two years was most certainly an issue.
95 subs😢
Hilarious 😂 Fatigue? Really? He would retire, unretire, get injured, and still play all 82 in his final season.
머냐 이건 티비를 찍은걸 올리노 ㅋㅋ
Bro your trying to hard plus the videos are recorded from TV…. ???
Bro, this is astoundingly dumb coming from someone who puts zero effort into their videos. You should probably stop trying all together.