CB98 - 024 RARE MICHAEL JORDAN KISSES FLOOR (2) 35MM NEGS
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:20139633 | Original/Reprint: Original Print |
| Date of Creation: 1950-Now | Listed By: Dealer or Reseller |
| Photo Type: Negative | Signed?: Unsigned |
| Subject: Landscape |
These are originals, not copied or duplicated.CHICAGO, SEPT. 9 – As tantalizing as it was to see him in a basketball uniform, as plainly evident as it was that he could still be the best player in the National Basketball Association if he wanted to, Michael Jordan made it clear in his first public basketball game since his retirement in October that he had come to say goodbye. If there was any doubt about that, he demonstrated his intentions as he walked off the floor after scoring 5...2 points in Scottie Pippen's Ameritech Classic charity game tonight. He paused to plant a kiss on the Bulls' logo at center court of Chicago Stadium, sealing his NBA career and the 65-year history of sporting events at the building. "I think true friends and true fans understand where I am in my life and what I want to achieve, " Jordan said afterward. "They understand what I'm doing. They understand what my objectives are. You've got to understand from my point of view: My life has been where I've provided by a lot of people; at some point in time, it's got to end. I can't play forever. I'm just glad I'm in a state of my life that I can make that choice. Very few people get that chance. And I took it." Jordan stated once again that he intends to pursue his baseball dreams for at least another year, but he showed he could still dominate basketball if he wanted. He made 24 of 46 shots, and was up to his old high-flying exploits. "I can still do this, " Jordan said. "I just don't want to have to do it in front of 18, 676 {fans}. I can do it in any gym with any people that I want to. That's a rare freedom. I like that." Said Pippen, who spent most of the game guarding Jordan after doing so in practice behind a drawn curtain throughout his career: "Judging from the last seven years that I've been competing against him, I can't tell that he's lost anything." The look was the same, from the shaved head to the personalized shoes, with his trademark wrist band cinched halfway up his left arm and his socks rolled down below the calves. The play looked all too familiar as well, from soaring slam dunks to fadeaway jumpers, to the adulation of a sellout crowd in the last sporting event at Chicago Stadium, which will give way to the new, state-of-the-art United Center across the street when the National Hockey League and NBA seasons begin. Even before the game, Jordan received the usual rock-star treatment, with fans screaming and television cameras chasing after his black Porsche as he drove down a ramp beneath the Stadium. But once he got out of the car, it wasn't the same old pregame routine. He was forced to dress in the visitors' locker room. He walked over to the Bulls' dressing room and was astonished to see his old locker missing. It's been moved across the street to be enshrined as part of an exhibit at the United Center. The main scoreboard he lit up with more regularity than any player in the National Basketball Association his last seven seasons was gone too, sold as a six-figure souvenir to a hockey buff in Los Angeles named Wayne Gretzky. Jordan admitted he was nervous before he walked on the Stadium court for the first time since he picked up his third championship ring in a pregame ceremony Nov. 6, and the crowd greeted him with a standing ovation, then cheered every shot he made during warmups. And even in a meaningless summer game, Jordan displayed the competitive zeal that was just as responsible for his success as his extraordinary physical talent. He dunked on people, trash-talked and was the only player on the court aggressively defending the inbounds passes. He seemed to lock into his intense mode after Pippen, his former teammate, blocked one of his shots and then teased him about it. "I'm always competitive, " Jordan said. "I don't go out there just to mess around." Perhaps it felt good to finally be able to dominate a game after so many futile at-bats with the Class AA Birmingham Barons in the minor leagues. It was clearly evident by the reaction of the crowd that it felt good to have him back in the farewell they never had a chance to give. "I really didn't have an opportunity to play my last game in Chicago Stadium, " Jordan said. "I played in Phoenix {in the 1993 NBA Finals}. What I did at the end of the game, kissing the floor goodbye, it was an opportunity to say goodbye to the Stadium, as well as my opportunity to play in the Stadium. "The game of basketball is always going to be a part of me. I never said I wasn't going to play the game, I just said that I wouldn't play organized basketball. I will continue to play basketball." The rest of the world will be denied the opportunity to continue to watch.
