The Pittsburgh Steelers had the “Immaculate Reception” by Franco Harris. The San Francisco 49ers had “The Catch” by Dwight Clark.
And now the Utah Jazz has “The Pass.”
For a dozen years the Jazz has watched in wonder as John Stockton has fed Karl Malone for big buckets. But on Sunday night they hooked up for their biggest ever.
On the scoresheet it went down as “K. Malone FB LAYUP (J. Stockton).”
In the Utah history book, it will go down as the moment that the Jazz declared itself a legitimate contender to the Bulls’ throne, the moment that these two old teammates and friends lifted the Jazz to a thrilling 78-73 victory over the Bulls in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
It happened in a heartbeat. It will be replayed in the Wasatch Mountains for the next, oh, hundred years.
Even if it didn’t look as though Stockton’s pass was a good idea.
“It was like, `No, no, no–yes!’ ” Stockton said.
“Of all the plays that he’s made, I’ll remember this one here for the rest of my career,” Malone said.
It wasn’t the only play Stockton made Sunday night. First, he hit a three-pointer as the shot clock wound down to pull the Jazz to 71-69. Then with 1 minute 35 seconds left, he stripped Michael Jordan of the ball and drove for a layup. Jordan fouled Stockton, who made 1 of 2 free throws to cut it to 73-70.
The play that set up “The Pass” occurred with 45 seconds to play in the game and the Jazz trailing 73-72. Jordan, who had dragged the Bulls into the lead in the fourth quarter, missed a 17-foot shot as Malone ran at him.
The ball bounded to Stockton to the left of the bucket. He wheeled and looked upcourt and saw–who else?–Malone chugging toward the other basket.
Many Stockton-to-Malone passes are carefully scripted. This one was all instinct.
“I’m not a cerebral player when I’m out on the floor,” Stockton said. “I just try to play.”
The ball rose through the din of the Delta Center. There was only one man to beat: Jordan, who happens to be one of the best defenders in the NBA.
At that moment, Stockton’s teammates and the Delta Center throng couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Was Stockton really daring Jordan to steal the ball and, with it, Utah’s last best chance to win this series?
The ball descended in front of the Bulls bench, where coach Phil Jackson watched with anything but disbelief. He had seen this Stockton guy play a few times.
“That was a great pass, there’s no doubt about it,” Jackson said. “It looked like we were capable of perhaps getting to it. He put it just in the right spot.”
“I saw the pass, but I didn’t think I had the opportunity to get it,” Jordan said. “I wasn’t in sync to get it. I’m pretty sure people are going to play it over and over that I should have got that pass, but I didn’t have the momentum to get it.”
Stockton didn’t know that when the ball left his palm.
“Michael was the guy that I saw,” Stockton said. “I thought Karl had position and I had great faith that he was going to be able to fight for the ball.”
Malone didn’t even have to jump. All the Mailman had to do was turn and accept delivery.
“Once it hit his hand, it felt pretty good,” Stockton said.
Malone turned and tossed in a layup. The Jazz led 74-73. They wouldn’t trail again. Utah scored the last nine points of the game. Those two are all anyone will remember.
“Stock definitely realized that it had to be the perfect pass,” Malone said. “I think we take him for granted sometimes.”
