With my fiancée at a work dinner, I had the house to express myself through dance.
The Last Dance returned to the ESPN airwaves, and I joined the fun mid-way through the sixth episode. What a freakin’ docuseries. I know we all know this already, but I’m still left astonished by some of the footage we have gotten to see 20+ years later.
The moment that it really hit me again came when Jordan was sitting in the 1997-98 All-Star Game locker room and dissed that “little Laker Boy.” Then, immediately after, we see Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and His Airness all yucking it up like old pals. All of it feels so simple and so normal, which is the exact reason why it’s so mesmerizing. Rarely, if ever, do we get to see true legends in this light.
Included in my binge of The Last Dance was, of course, the Chicago Bulls’ epic 1998 Eastern Conference Finals series with the Indiana Pacers. Coined as Chicago’s second-most challenging foe by Jordan (Detroit was first, duh), we watched Reggie Miller take the historic Bulls all the way to seven games. In the fourth game, he also hit one of the best shots in franchise history to tie the series 2-2. And that shot was exactly 25 years ago today:
25 years ago today, Reggie Miller hit the game-winner over Michael Jordan in Game 4 of the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals.
I’m still bitter about what happened next. Head coach Larry Bird looked ready to upchuck knowing that Jordan still had 0.7 seconds left to get a shot off. And for good reason. The GOAT caught the ball off the inbound and instantly rose for the off-balance heave. It looked good from the moment it left his hand. Then, it banked off the backboard and spun around the rim before landing in the wrong direction. SO. DANG. CLOSE. If that shot goes in, we’re watching it in MJ packages for all of eternity. Just like when he switched hands mid-air against the Lakers. Just like when he nailed The Shot to beat Cleveland. And just like when he gave the Bulls their sixth championship in Utah.
While we’re on the topic of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Boston Celtics are looking to force a Game 6 tonight on their home floor. They won their first game of the series earlier this week, and their chance of claiming this battle got that much better this morning. Miami’s Gabe Vincent will have to sit out Game 5 due to an ankle injury, per Shams Charania. While we can’t put anything past this resilient Heat team, Vincent has been vital at times with Tyler Herro stuck on the sideline. He’s scored at least 15 points in three of the past four games and has shot 50.0 percent from downtown in this series.
Development: Miami's Gabe Vincent is listed out for Game 5 vs. Boston tonight with an ankle sprain.
In other East news, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Wednesday night that Michael Winger has agreed to become the next president of Monumental Basketball, which oversees the Wizards, Mystics, and Go-Go (Wizards’ G-League affiliate). The now-former Clippers GM helped shape the team into one of the more competitive in the NBA since joining in 2017. Overlooking all of Monumental Basketball’s entities, Wojnarowski reports that Winger will be in charge of hiring a “GM-level” basketball executive to help him make decisions about the Wizards’ roster.
ESPN story on Michael Winger agreeing to become the President of Monumental Basketball and oversee the Washington Wizards: https://t.co/lOfSGyAOY5
All things considered, this seems like a perfectly decent hire for the Wizards, which isn’t what we want to hear. Bulls fans could always count on DC to also prioritize rather mediocre basketball. They never felt like a true threat to make noise in the East, but who knows how Winger might be able to change that? Anyway, the last thing Chicago needs is another team jumping them in the race to relevancy. Don’t get leapfrogged again, AK!
If you’re curious about what tools Karnisovas has at his disposal this offseason, I recommend reading one of our latest posts below. WARNING: The post probably isn’t going to make your Thursday better.
Joakim Noah and Loul Deng were spotted at the Basketball Africa League Finals in Rwanda this week. Cameras caught the two playing a little one-on-one, and it looks like Joakim still got that touch!
💥😜 Friendly rivalry continues between former teammates and BAL Ambassadors Joakim Noah & Luol Deng, reunited in Rwanda 🇷🇼 during the #BALFinals. pic.twitter.com/mttQKCMhtn
Elias Schuster is the Lead Chicago Bulls writer at Bleacher Nation. He started with BN full-time in 2019 immediately after graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign with a degree in Journalism (yes, he started with the Jim Boylen Era). Since joining, Elias has been the driving force behind Bulls and NBA content for both the site and social accounts. You can follow him on Twitter/X @Schuster_Elias.
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