Celebrating Michael Jordan vs. the Nets
Sep 9, 2009 Basketball Hall of Fame, Michael Jordan
As someone who came to basketball in the early 1990s, Michael Jordan was undoubtedly the greatest professional athlete I ever saw and is the greatest basketball player to ever walk the Earth. With his induction to the Basketball Hall of Fame this week, I thought NAS could honor his airness by listing some of his greatest career accomplishments against the Nets.
While the Nets certainly won’t strike many as one of Jordan’s great foes during his career, he’s actually had a number of career highlights against them. Some of the personal bests achieved by Jordan against the Nets include most free throws in a game (26), most defensive rebounds (15), most steals (10), most steals in a quarter (6) and most free throws made without missing (15). Some of these highlights, and many others against the Nets, may rank among some of the best games of his career. Here’s the NAS list. Those who have focused their fandom on Jordan and the Bulls (and Wizards) may like to quibble and we welcome the input.
#5 March 16, 1996 – Owning the Glass
Jordan proved why he would do whatever it took for his team to win a game. With Dennis Rodman ejected for headbutting a referee earlier in the game, Jordan took over for the rebounding specialist, grabbing 15 defensive boards (a career high) and 16 total for the game. Jordan also added 37 points and 3 blocks, negating Chris Childs’ first-career triple-double in a 97-93 victory in New Jersey. The post-game focus was on Rodman, with now Nets president, then NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Rod Thorn, telling Rodman, “You do not hit an official, that’s for sure.” Jordan, on the other hand, ensured another victory for his team that was already without Scottie Pippen who was sitting out with an injury.