Robert Parish knew he and the Celtics would’ve just watched MJ stack points up on them in another overtime.
When Michael Jordan entered the league in 1984 as a top rookie out of North Carolina, many saw him as nothing greater than a one-man show. He was crowned Rookie of the Year at the end of the season but failed to lead the Chicago Bulls past the first round.
However, Jordan earned the people’s respect the following postseason after he dropped 63 points in Game 2 of the Bulls’ first-round duel with the Boston Celtics. MJ played for 53 minutes and nailed 22 of his 41 shots in the game that ended after a pair of overtimes. The Celtics still managed to beat the Bulls, 135-131, but then-Celtics big man Robert Parish admitted he couldn’t imagine what Jordan could’ve done to them if the game went to a third overtime.
“There’s no telling what Michael Jordan might have done in another five minutes,” Parish said afterward via USA Today. “He might have had 90 the way he was going.”
MJ just wanted to win that night
Jordan’s 63-point outburst set a new record in Boston Garden that night. He passed Wilt Chamberlain’s most points scored with 62, Elgin Baylor’s most points scored in a playoff game with 61, and Bob Cousy’s most points scored in an overtime playoff game with 50.
If MJ played for stats, he would’ve celebrated that feat with great enjoyment. However, Jordan knew that regardless of how many points he scored that night, the fact of the matter was that the Bulls still went 0-2 against the Celtics and were already one defeat away from elimination.
“Fifty points, 49 points, 63 points, I just want to win again,” Jordan said after the game. “The points don’t mean anything to me.”Different levels, same approach
Five years later, Jordan finally led the Bulls to their first NBA championship in franchise history. He ultimately reached higher heights and began his own era on basketball’s biggest stage. MJ entered a different realm, but his mentality about scoring and stats remained the same.
“I’m not really into stats, except if they can help maintain the drive for me. For instance, scoring championships. Sure, I know what it takes to win one. I can average 32 points a game and know I’ll win. Eight points a quarter. Three baskets, two free throws. It’s as easy as that. I’m down four, I can get 12 the next quarter. But I don’t let anything like that take away from what the team is trying to do,” Jordan once explained.
“If it came down to me needing a basket to win the scoring title, I would only take it if the team was where it needed to be. I would never go to Phil and say, ‘I want to do this,'” he added.
Source: basketballnetwork.net
