More from this creator
Other episodes by Kitty Cat.
Transcript
The full episode, in writing.
The series was tied two games to two. Game 5, June 11, 1997, at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. The Utah Jazz had gone 10-0 at home in that postseason. A win meant they were one game from the title.
At 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Michael Jordan woke up vomiting. He had diarrhea, sweat through his sheets, and called his personal trainer Tim Grover, who found him curled in the fetal position, shaking, barely able to sit up. The Bulls' team doctors diagnosed a stomach virus or food poisoning. Jordan eventually pinned it on a pizza ordered to his hotel room the night before — he confirmed the food-poisoning version in the 2020 docuseries The Last Dance. Bulls trainers told him he could not play. He insisted. He got out of bed at 5:50 p.m. Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tip-off, and missed warmups.
The Jazz jumped him. Karl Malone, the regular-season MVP, and John Stockton built a 36-20 lead in the second quarter while Jordan moved like he was wading through tar. Then Jordan dropped 17 points in the rest of the half. The Bulls cut the deficit to four by the break: 53-49.
Phil Jackson sat Jordan to start the third. Utah pushed back ahead, 77-69. Jordan returned and scored 15 in the fourth. With 46.4 seconds left and Chicago down 85-84, he was fouled, made one free throw, missed the second. Toni Kukoč grabbed the offensive rebound and kicked it back to Jordan. He passed to Pippen, who was double-teamed; Pippen passed back to a now-open Jordan, who hit a three with 25 seconds left to put the Bulls up 88-85.
Greg Ostertag dunked to bring Utah within one. Luc Longley answered with a dunk. John Stockton stepped to the line for two free throws that could tie it — and missed the first. Final score 90-88 Bulls, series 3-2 Chicago.
Jordan finished with 38 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block in 44 minutes. As the seconds ran out, he collapsed into Scottie Pippen's arms — the photograph that became the visual shorthand for the game. Karl Malone scored 19 on 7-for-17 shooting and air-balled an off-balance jumper on the possession before Jordan's three. Two nights later in Chicago, Jordan dropped 39 in Game 6, the Bulls won 90-86, and Jordan was named Finals MVP for the fifth time in five Finals appearances.