19,571 New York Fans Stood Shocked at What Michael Jordan Did in 1989

Michael Jordan’s resume speaks for itself. There were times only NBA fans during the Chicago Bulls’ winning dynasty can recall when His Airness made an impact, even on rival fans. One such moment was when Jordan recorded the first triple-double in a playoff. The historic moment went down on May 9, 1989. Chicago Bulls were playing against the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden. The near supernatural performance MJ displayed in that game stunned the Knicks nation.

The famous clip surfaced recently, and it’s driving up Jordan’s points in the GOAT debate. Jordan had not yet won a championship title. Nonetheless, he alone was overpowering the entire Knicks roster in this game.

Pre-championship Michael Jordan overwhelms the Knicks

The Chicago Bulls faced off against the New York Knicks on their home turf in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on May 9, 1989. Michael Jordan was six seasons into his NBA career then and had yet to win his first ring. Yet, he was showcasing superstar qualities that NBA fans noticed.

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He led the Bulls to a 120-109 overtime victory. He individually has 34 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists. Notably, this was the game he recorded a triple-double for the first time in a playoff.

Jordan has made 28 triple-doubles across 15 seasons in the NBA. It doesn’t measure up to Russell Westbrook, who holds the title for most triple-doubles in NBA history at 198. Of his 28, two of them occurred in playoffs. The first in 1989 and the second in 1993.

In the 1989 game against the Knicks, both teams were neck-and-neck. When the game went into overtime, Jordan became unstoppable.

The highlight of that game resurfaced on YouTube, leaving viewers in awe. The entire Knicks team were focused on Jordan, but he scored and scored.

“Overtime is the perfect time to kick it into overdrive and put everything on the line“, Jordan said after that game. “I have an uncanny talent to create“.

Jordan and then Bulls coach, Doug Collins, knew the Knicks were focusing too much on MJ. The Bulls relied on some nifty strategy to counter the double-team.

MJ gets more GOAT points

As soon as this video began doing the rounds online, fans were stirring the GOAT debate in MJ’s favor. Someone who might be happy to discuss the 1989 game would probably be Shaquille O’Neal.

Big Diesel’s pick has always been Jordan. And he showed it again when he shared a post listing His Airness’ records with his 31 million Instagram followers.

Even Kevin Garnett gave his vote to Jordan. He declared him his “f**king God” in a recent interview.

This just proves that whichever name you throw into the debate for the GOAT, they’re always going to be compared to Michael Jordan. What do you think about this spectacular moment in history?

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