MJ's amazing moves and dunks (1995 PO ECSF Game3)

[TheRasprauve30]

people need to understand and i dont think they do...once jordan got on top no one beat him. he is undefeated in the nba finals 6-0. if he did not retire the first time no other time would have one an nba title in the 90's. thats how i see it. he would have had more than 6 rings.

[Vikruntasas]

So it's not the shoes??? :O

[AOEPWNS11]

Ankle Breaker on Shaq at 2:40?

[SairousClaou]

The No.23 Legend.

He's life is like a 5 star Holywood Movie...a myth by itself. Amazing!

He is the best atlete I've ever seen ....

[KingRam33]

I herd some reporters on the ESPN graetest dunkers of all time count down say Jordan should not be #1 on the list because he never dunked on Shaq and Vince Carter did.Jordan Dunked on the entire team including Shaq in this game.What the fuck are they talking about.

[fifa1688]

Even Penny liked that dunk.

[MrCanadarulez]

I wish I had a Delorean...I would jump in it, gun it to 88mph and go back to 1995 to watch these games again live...we had no idea what we were witnessing...Micheal forever...no quit in that man.

[metajna]

it¨s just incredible how MJ lost speed and hops in 1995/1996 season. Here in 1995 playoffs his body looked great. He had speed, quickness and leaner dunks as well, like in 1993. I think he lost 2 best years of his life(1994,1995). Maybe in summer 1995 he worked too much on muscles. But in 1997 and 1998 his speed came back due to hard work on his body and lowering weight, but the years were doing their. Do you agree?

[Soundtrack1000]

great poster

[maskriderrx]

seems like he wasn't put on his AJ in that game.. right?!

[Soundtrack1000]

:))))

[Jumpman1989]

that  layup against O'neal was godlike. I mean you cant imagine better move. It was so smooth and perfect. Damn that was godlike

[popeyeisgood]

i agree with you on that!

[popeyeisgood]

to really appreciate that whole sequence of move you have to start from the beginning when he is on the left side of the court and is forced by the double team to take the left. the speed of that first and second lefty dribbles is insane( on top of that mj recognition of defense is instant and instinctive), the rest of the move is like jumpman 1989 said, godlike.

[jumpnam]

like that or if he just chose not to, but I kinda missed it watching Mike from '96-'98. Obviously it's not important cos they still won 3 more rings and he cemented his place as the GOAT, but for nostalgia's sake I would have loved to have seen him play with this kind of athletic aggression. Jordan said himself he realised maybe he couldn't play the same type of game that he used to. But I think he could have : )

What do u guys think?

[jumpnam]

I always wondered what happened to Jordan in the '95 offseason. I mean I know he shot the movie and pushed himself to the limit to get back in basketball shape, and was clearly an improved player in the '96 season, but it strikes me that he lost something. Look at the sequence at 2:26. I dont remember once seeing him execute that kind of move in '96. The length of stride, acceleration, and aggressiveness of that move was straight outta '92. I don't know if he lost that ability to attack the hoop

[jaa0702]

in one game.. so many highlights.. spectacular..

[jimmychuang]

Actually MJ played very well in1995 playoffs, but he made some mistakes in important games, that's why they lose.

[jaboo82681]

yeah, for the most part in the Orlando series. In the Charlotte series he was the MJ of old.

[bballmemories]

i've been waiting for this one, thanks for posting.

MJ didn't wear his Air Jordan sneaker that game but we know it was never the shoes..lol..

You could see his fresh legs from not playing ball for 1 1/2, even at 32 he was dunking from all over the place.

[josette5]

what type of shoes is he playing with they don't look like jordans

[medestinier]

MJ laced up Penny's sneakers in this game.

[josette5]

why i thought mj only whore jordans

[bballmemories]

The NBA fined him for gm1 & 2 for not wearing same color shoes as the rest of his teammates. He wore AJ XI with black patent leather. In game 4, he wore the Space Jam XI. In this game he just wore a regular Nike air shoes.

[josette5]

naw it couldn't be the XI because they came out in 1996 when they won 72 games. in the 1995 playoffs he wore the

9s and 10s

[bballmemories]

you're wrong, he started wearing the XI in 95 playoffs game 1 &2. Checkout medestinier video on game 2 of 95 playoff where he scored 38 after he switched back to number 23. Jordan never wore the 9s in an NBA game, he wore the 9s to play baseball. Nike transformed the shoes into baseball cleats.

[JCR1992]

yeah bballmemories is right they came out in 95

[jumpnam]

Nike showed Jordan the prototype for the AJXI after the Charlotte series. They were planning on producing them for the start of the '95-'96 season, but when Jordan saw them, he liked them so much he asked them to begin production early.

Nike managed to make just enough to get him through the Orlando series. Which I'm assuming would be 5 (not including game 3) seeing as MJ liked to wear a new pair every game.

By the way, the "Space Jam" edition of the XI's are being re-released later this year

[kOrOne79]

That's what I thought as well, dv122. Jordan himself said in his 'Above and Beyond' video that Phil and him met; that they couldn't come up with another challenge. From a health standpoint, he was able to start the season.

[airjordan1585]

We never got to see the *lightning* fast Air Jordan lace up in the United Center....except for his brief stint in 95..

[kOrOne79]

I'm not implying he would be as fast as the '92 Jordan, but he wouldn't be as tired as he was in the 1993 Playoffs either.

Of course Jordan's explosiveness in the 1995 Playoffs was due to the fact that he played only the last 17 games of the regular season.

About his injuries - never heard they were career threatening, so I have to take your word for it.

[kOrOne79]

On another note, MJ laced up Penny's sneakers in this game because the league fined him for the white XI's in Game 2.

[popeyeisgood]

yea!

i had a pair of them back then (in white) but i forgot the name of it.

do you by any chance remember the name of that pair?

[kOrOne79]

This site is probably useful: nicekicks[dot]com/penny-hardaw­ay/

[RR0849]

The sequence at 2:30 is one of my all time faves. He just runs around until the defenders are all paralyzed and then flies to the rim. :)

[popeyeisgood]

yea those are really big strides and dribbles and for some reason i think he was amazingly athletic during this game, like the mj back to 90-92 seasons.

[RR0849]

He also did that great breakaway leaner during this series. He was definately in 92 form physically.

[kOrOne79]

That's what I'm talking about! MJ had several sick moves in this game alone. 2:26 and 4:13 are two of my favourite plays ever from Jordan, yet they don't show them in most Jordan videos for whatever reason.

I truly believe that we missed his final prime years because of the retirement in 1993. Some people argue that Jordan already lost a step in 1993, but I don't buy it. Thanks to the Olympics he had no rest in the summer, that's why he looked a bit slower in 1993 compared to the years before.

[popeyeisgood]

yea i think it might be the reason for that.

he is obviously slower starting from the 96 season compares to his uneven performance in the broken 95 season. but like i said in this game he is the very old mj himself.

[r8mi]

MJ is a killer...

[waffleirontmacsplat]

this dude is 31 and had been almost two years retired and he's killing these clowns...if he had played the full season he would of swept that team with ease

[SPMJ]

He's actually 32 here.

[Soundtrack1000]

are you sure :)))))))))))))))))))))))))