Chicago Bulls' Michael Jordan makes the winning shot during Game 6 of the NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, in this June 14, 1998 photo. Jordan, the greatest player in NBA history and the most popular athlete since Muhammad Ali is expected to announce his retirement Wednesday, a source with close ties to the NBA told The Associated Press on Monday night Jan. 12, 1999. The Bulls scheduled a news conference for noon EST Wednesday. (AP Photo/Scott Cunningham, NBA Photos)
It was one of the most memorable moments in NBA history and one that makes Utah Jazz fans sick to their stomachs every time it is replayed on ESPN.
Michael Jordan over Bryon Russell for the win.
Game over. Series over. Title hopes over.
It happened in Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals. The Utah Jazz never recovered and the Bulls went on to win the NBA title.
It was one of the defining moments in Jordan's Hall-of-Fame career, but Jazz fans have long since claimed Jordan pushed off on Russell and should have been called for an offensive foul.
It has always been a sore spot with Jazz fans, so with that in mind, Utah Flash owner Brandt Andersen has come up with an idea.
Why not have Jordan, one of the greatest offensive players in league history, go up against Russell, one of the better defenders in the NBA during his prime, in a game of 1-on-1.
It may be the craziest idea since Jordan retired to pursue a baseball career, but it's in the works.
"There's two reasons why I'm willing to do it," Andersen said. "First, I never got a chance to see MJ play in person and neither did my son, and second it just makes sense to do it in Utah. Michael has a residence here and B-Russ lives in L.A."
What could possible motivate Jordan and Russell to agree?
Andersen hopes the answer to that is charity. If the two will play, the winner can choose a charity that will get a check for $100,000.
Andersen said Russell has agreed to play if Jordan goes for it. The ball is now in Jordan's court.
What about the venue?
Since Andersen is willing to put up the money, naturally, it would be at the McKay Events Center in Orem during halftime of a Utah Flash game.
The bid to tie in Jordan and Russell to the Flash is part of what has been a busy offseason for the team. Last week, Andersen courted former NBA All-star Stephon Marbury, who may be out of NBA options but not D-League options.
Since the team lost to Colorado in the D-League finals, there have been a number of changes. Assistant coach Dale Osbourne took a job with the Tulsa 66ers and head coach Brad Jones' contract expired. The team re-signed Jones and have hired an assistant coach to replace Osbourne. It is expected that former NBA player Eldridge Recasner will join the Flash staff for the upcoming season.
The team also changed one of its affiliations. The Jazz will still be affiliated with the Flash, but Boston has been replaced by the Atlanta Hawks as the other NBA team that will be using the Flash to develop its players.
"Boston has been a very good partner and very good to work with. They sent us a lot of their players, but we're excited to now be working with Atlanta," said Flash president Joe Brown. "We're holding a tryout in Atlanta and that's something we didn't do in Boston, so we're trying to do something different things. We think Atlanta will be good for us and we hope we can be good for them."
The Flash will be holding a pair of one-day tryouts in preparation for the season. The first one will be on Saturday at The Flash Factory in Lehi and the second one will be in Atlanta on Oct. 24.
In the past two seasons, the Flash have selected at least two players from the open tryout to join the team in training camp.
Posted in Basketball on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 12:05 am
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