Throwback Game 2: Michael Jordan Shrugs Off the Entire Portland Trail Blazers Organization

Eli decided to replace the Bulls last 14 games of the season (which are now postponed) with some of the best Bulls games of all-time! Over the next month, expect every originally scheduled game day to have one or two posts about some sort of awesome game from the past.

Check out the full calendar here: 

Previously: Nate Robinson vs. the Brooklyn Nets
Today: The ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Game

Game

Portland Trail Blazers at Chicago Bulls – Game 1 of the 1992 NBA Finals (June 3, 1992)

Bulls Starters

  1. Michael Jordan
  2. Scottie Pippen
  3. Horace Grant
  4. John Paxson
  5. Bill Cartwright

Hanging out on the bench were future Bulls broadcasting greats Stacey King and Will Perdue. And also, B.J. Armstrong — who led the team in 3-point shooting percentage at 40.2 percent.

Blazers Starters

  1. Terry Porter
  2. Clyde Drexler
  3. Jerome Kersey
  4. Kevin Duckworth
  5. Buck Williams

Future Celtics GM Danny Ainge was lurking on the bench, as was long-time headband enthusiast Clifford Robinson. The Blazers were coached by Rick Adelman, who would go on to feel future heartbreak at the hands of the Lakers in eight years or so. Poor guy couldn’t catch a break.

HIGHLIGHTS

Moment of the Game

Michael Jordan, never known for his 3-point marksmanship, drilled six triples in the first half of Game 1 of the 1992 NBA Finals. Not bad for a dude who shot 27 percent from beyond the arc in the regular season. After uncorking the sixth made 3-pointer of the night over Clifford Robinson, Jordan turned to the scorer’s table, gave a glance at the broadcast team of Marv Albert and Magic Johnson, and gave a shrug as if to say “what the heck can I say? I’m the G.O.A.T., after all.”

Jordan went on to finish the game with 39 points on 16-for-27 shooting (59.3% from the field!), 11 assists, two steals, and three rebounds.

TL;DR?

via GIPHY

What it All Means

The Shrug game was so impactful, it inspired generations of future stars to be like Mike and imitate the move:

Jordan’s effort pushed the Bulls to a 122-89 win that allowed Chicago to take Game 1 of the NBA Finals. But just because the Bulls won the series opener in a blowout doesn’t mean it was cruise control on Easy Street for the defending champs. The Bulls lost Game 2 on their home court by a 115-104 score, but won two of three in Portland before closing it out in Game 6 at Chicago Stadium to secure the team’s second consecutive title.

Good luck trying to get someone to tell you where they were and what they remembered from the Bulls’ other wins that series. Odds are you’ll get one of these …  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ …  when you do.

written by

Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.

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