For Michael Jordan, February 14, 1990, was one of the more unique experiences of his career. He didn’t have a horrible shooting night or get ejected, but it was still surreal for Chicago Bulls fans to see on their TV screens. That particular game was memorable for one surprising reason, and Jordan’s performance stacked up well against some of his other best career highlights.
Not wearing No. 23?
The thing that made that Valentine’s Day game against the Magic so unique is that Jordan did not wear his customary No. 23 jersey. His jersey was stolen, and he had to settle for wearing a No.12 jersey instead.
Having a jersey stolen wasn’t typical for NBA players as security was usually very tight around their superstar players. It was very surprising for someone to swipe a jersey from a locker room.
How did he do wearing the new number?
In the game against the Orlando Magic, Jordan put up 49 points in the nameless jersey. He shot 21-of-43 from the field, while also pulling down seven rebounds. The most surprising stat from this game was Jordan only made it to the line for 10 free throw attempts, making seven of them.
The Bulls lost the game 135-129, but Jordan had his No. 23 back in time for their next matchup; he scored 38 points in a 111-107 win in early April that season.
Other memorable games for Michael Jordan
![Michael Jordan had dozens of memorable moments playing in the NBA, but Valentine's Day 1990 might have been the most unique game of his career.](https://www.sportscasting.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Michael-Jordan-Valentines-Day-Magic-GettyImages-51639806.jpg?strip=all&quality=89)
By the time Michael Jordan dropped 49 points while wearing the No. 12, his status as an all-time NBA legend was already secure. After all, he had several standout performances on his resume by then. When you think of Jordan’s career, which games stand out to you the most? A few come to our mind.
Schooling the Celtics
The first for us is the 63 point playoff performance against the Boston Celtics. Larry Bird said God was disguised as Michael Jordan, and to this day, it is recognized as one the game’s best playoff performances. Chicago didn’t have a lot of scoring options in the early portion of Jordan’s career, so it wasn’t a surprise to see Jordan single-handedly keep this team in the game.
Clutch shot against the Cavaliers
Before Michael Jordan and the Bulls won the NBA Finals, No. 23 was well versed in late-game heroics. During the 1989 NBA playoffs, Jordan’s series-clinching buzzer-beater against the Cavaliers helped spark Chicago on a run to the Eastern Conference finals that year.
Double-nickel against the Knicks
When Jordan abruptly retired after the Bulls’ first championship three-peat, it left a void in the basketball world. The man that became a global icon walked away from the game in the middle of his prime.
His return was even more epic. His first game back against his hated rival the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden was simply masterful. All Jordan did was score 55 points on 21-of-37 shooting.
He was also 10 of 11 from the free-throw line. No one had an answer for Jordan, and he also had a powerful dunk on Patrick Ewing, that Knicks fans to this day say was a traveling violation that wasn’t called.
As Jordan’s second stint in Chicago progressed, he had even more memorable games.
More of Michael Jordan’s most memorable accomplishments
Not only did Michael Jordan power Chicago to three straight titles in the early 1990s, but he also led the Bulls to another three-peat. They won titles against the Seattle SuperSonics and the Utah Jazz (back-to-back matchups against the Jazz).
The “flu game” against the Jazz in 1997, Jordan’s final shot over Byron Russell that sealed the second three-peat in 1998 — we can go on and on about iconic moments during Jordan’s career. Those are two more moments that you can spend hours talking about. The only real question about Michael Jordan’s career was: would the Houston Rockets have won back-to-back titles if he didn’t retire?
Jordan won six NBA championships (with six NBA Finals MVP awards), was named to 11 All-NBA teams, and made 14 All-Star teams. A force on both ends of the floor, he not only holds the record for highest career points per game average, but he was also selected to nine All-Defensive teams.
When you look at what Michael Jordan accomplished during his playing career, wearing No. 12 and scoring nearly 50 points while doing so barely registers. Still, it’s one of the more unique games of Jordan’s legendary career. Would you be surprised if something like this happened in today’s NBA? It would be a sight to see LeBron wearing a nameless jersey, which makes Jordan playing in the No. 12 so memorable.
News
Hoop fans were bummed they couldn’t play as MJ in ‘NBA Live.’ Here’s why
THESE days, the franchise has long been eclipsed by 2K Sports’ NBA 2K series, but back in the late ‘90s, NBA Live was the basketball game to beat. As the 1996-1997 NBA season opened, NBA Live 97 was released to much fanfare. It was the first…
Michael Jordan: Why He’s a 6-Time Finals MVP, 6-for-6 Champion and G.O.A.T.
Michael Jordan is the only player in NBA history to never score less than 20 points in any of his Finals games but that is just one reason that every time the greatest player ever never once let his team…
14 Amazing Tales of Michael Jordan Being a Hypercompetitive Weirdo
As the ESPN documentary The Last Dance proves over and over, Michael Jordan’s life and career are full of stories that would be hard to believe if there weren’t cameras there to capture them. The intense, pathologic competitiveness, the ability to transcend…
A history of Michael Jordan in video games
Michael Jordan is a name that’s synonymous with basketball. Here’s his history with video games, which is as extensive as his professional career. Michael Jordan, a legend of the sport of basketball, and less so of baseball, turns 53 today….
‘That’s where the game changed’: When Michael Jordan credited THIS player for taking the NBA to the next level
The TV series, “They Call Me Magic” dropped in 2022. It narrates the early days of the Lakers legend, Magic Johnson’s NBA journey, from high school to college and the big leagues. Interestingly, Magic was inspired by Michael Jordan’s “The…
On this date: Michael Jordan makes his NBA debut for the Chicago Bulls
On this date, Michael Jordan started his NBA journey. However, his performance against the Washington Bullets was in no way a sign of things to come. MJ’s NBA debut Coming off the 1984 Olympics — Jordan averaged team-high 17.1 points to lead…
End of content
No more pages to load