SI Flashback: NBA Finals

Jordan capped his phenomenal career as only he could, breaking down Utah's Bryon Russell and drilling a jumper -- holding his follow-through as if posing for one last photo op -- with 5.2 seconds left in Game 6 to give the Bulls an 87-86 win and their second threepeat of the Jordan Era.

Snapshot from Six Shooter

By Phil Taylor

June 22, 1998 John BIever

The last minute: In one brief, devastating burst of brilliance at the end of Game 6, Jordan had secured another championship. After a John Stockton three-pointer with 41.9 seconds left had given Utah an 86-83 lead, Jordan almsot immediately got the ball at the other end, drove past Russell and scored a layup, using up only 4.8 seconds. On the other end Jordan sneaked up behind Utah's Karl Malone and stripped the ball from him. Back upcourt, he faked Russell nearly out of his hightops to free himself for a 17-foot jumper that gave Chicago the lead with 5.2 seconds left. When Stockton missed a three-pointer, the Bulls were champions for the third straight year. Jordan's game-winning sequence, which capped a 45-point performance, may have surpassed the countless other memorable moments of his career.

They Said It "Hopefully I've put enough memories out there. I have another life, and I know I have to get to it at some point. Hopefully the fans can understand that." —Jordan "Everybody wants to say it's Michael, but Scottie's the key. If he comes back, we all come back." — Rodman

Second banana: Scottie Pippen was in such pain that he couldn't lift his leg onto the training table in the locker room, and several members of the Bulls medical staff worked on him furiously during halftime, including massage therapist Brigitta Kintala, who pounded on his lower back until he felt well enough to start the second half. "We knew Scottie was hurting, and just his presence gave us a lift, offensively, defensively and emotionally," Jordan said.

The end of the line: No one, not even Jordan, knows whether Sunday's heroics will stand as the perfect ending to his remarkable career or just the latest in his continuing series of sensational performances. That will be resolved in the coming weeks and months, when Jordan, Pippen, Phil Jackson, Dennis Rodman and the two Jerrys, as they have come to be known in Chicago -- Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and vice president of basketball operations Jerry Krause -- begin to wrestle in earnest with the possible breakup of the team. Reinsdorf and Krause have lately managed to be simultaneously optimistic and noncommital. ... But during the final days of the series, most of the other principals sounded as if they were anticipating the end of Chicago's dynasty.

Issue date: June 22, 1998