First he picks up his Most Valuable Player trophy during a pregame ceremony, then he drops 41 points on the Indiana Pacers.
A good day for Michael Jordan, a good fantasy for every other 35-year-old on the planet.
Jordan hit 13 of 22 shots, established residency at the free-throw line and generally carried the Bulls to a 104-98 victory Tuesday. Oh, and he had four rebounds, five assists and four steals.
But Jordan sounded a note of caution afterward, saying the Bulls can’t expect to turn their offense on like a garden hose.
“It’s very dangerous,” he said. “We’re relying upon individual talent right now. In the past, we’ve always let the system and the rhythm of our offense work. Right now, we’re really struggling with our rhythm to some degree.
“Somehow, we found a way, with the leadership on this team to win the game.”
When he wasn’t spotting up and hitting his jumper, Jordan was driving and drawing fouls. He hit 15 of 18 free throws, including eight in the third quarter.
“In the third quarter, they switched defensively and had Derrick McKey on me,” he said. “I started calling my own plays, got to the basket and got some foul calls. . . . I kind of forced the issue.”
The Pacers, like most teams in the league, couldn’t cope with Jordan’s ability to get to the basket.
“We have to play him and not watch him,” forward Antonio Davis said.
“He hit a lot of tough shots–tough shots for most people, but not for him,” Pacers coach Larry Bird said.
The toughest one, perhaps, came just before halftime. Jordan took a long inbounds pass from Scottie Pippen, turned from the right corner and buried a shot with 0.2 seconds left.
Unlike Game 1, when Jordan didn’t touch the ball until almost five minutes had elapsed, he was heavily involved right away. That shouldn’t be considered brilliant strategy, but sometimes the Bulls have to be reminded who wears the cape around here.
“We put a little more emphasis on Michael being the primary scorer early in the game,” coach Phil Jackson said. “He really had a feel. It was a special night for him, obviously, getting the MVP trophy.
“He went out and proved his point.”
Jordan’s teammates said when they looked in his eyes before the game, they figured the Pacers might be in trouble.
“He had to come out and show that he’s well-deserving, which everyone knows he is,” Scottie Pippen said.
At the pregame ceremony, Jordan briefly held up the trophy to the roar of the crowd, handed it to a team official for safekeeping and got down to business.
He seemed to know the routine.
“You have to go out and live up to the challenge,” Jordan said. “I felt pressure to go out and prove to (the media) that you didn’t make a mistake. That’s a great challenge.
“I wanted to get the ceremony over with. Sometimes when you have those kinds of things in the middle of the game, it’s a distraction.”
