Air Jordan Lands on Oakland
Bulls’ Spunk and Dunk
By Ron Thomas
…………… Correspondent
If basketball superstars were …….. what would Michael Jordan’s look like? …….sparkle with a claster of …..? Would it be a …….. made of platinum?
……… who have played with the Chicago Bulls’ shining light ……………. ……….. Instead, they would ……… the nearest construction …………….. on a metal hard hat, and …………… on the head of the working ………… superstar.
Jordan, the NBA’s leading scorer at 37-3…….. per game, will make his only appearance in the Bay area this season in tonight’s 8 p.m. game against the Warriors. He already has achieved ………….. on which legends are …… of points in the season …… ……….. New York; an NBA record 10 straight points to close out another ………… against the Knicks; and ……………. A team of role players to a ……….
There are accomplishments that ……….. many stars a reprieve ……….. ………. …………. Aspects of basket……. Jordan’s willingness to …… ……. Who his teammates ……………… most to the Bulls.
“There’s a beautiful spirit …….. ….. man,” said former Warriors …… John Bach, now a Bulls ……………. …… “That’s why ……. Air Jordan. ………….. airline to be abroad.”
…………… days ago, the Warrior’s ………………… ……….. was relaxing after pract…… relishing the rare day off ……. ….. receive on Thanksgiving Day. Then several reporters wandered over asking how he would …… Jordan tonight, and Mullin tried ….. best to change the subject.
………. The type of guy who could
ruin your day ,” Mullin said.
Yet, Mullin couldn’t resist telling a few nostalgic tales about Jordan, who was Mullin’s roommate when they both played on the 1984 Olympic team.
“We used to practice three times a day for about two months,” Mullin recalled. “After the first ……… guys were tired and sore, and we’d come to the night practice………. Be sitting down until the coach …….. there.”
Jordan would entertain himself on the court – whriling through the air for 360-degree dunks. Michael Jordan – tired of ………..? No way.
“I’m thinking I’ve got to guard this guy for two hours, and I can’t get out of my seat,” Mullin said. “This is not correct.”
Many players lose the enthusiasm for practice when they must survive the 82-game NBA grind and Jordan has the added mental prestige of performing to a star’s level every night and handling media demands.
His basketball fervor has never ……….
“It’s something rare when a star plays as hard at practice as at the game,” Bulls forward Earl Cureton said. “He works as hard as the last guy on the roster. He’s a guy who loves to play basketball.”
“I like to work hard in practice,” Jordan said before last night’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers. “There’s a saying: you always practice like you play.”
So when his teammate’s spirits are lagging, Jordan said he likes to churn up their competitive nature in practice.
In a scrimmage, he said he might declare that the red team’s going to get their butts kicked. Because of the natural instinct of a basketball player, he’s going to try to retaliate and work harder.
Wednesday in Denver, the Bulls suffered an emotionally draining two-point loss. The next day it was time for Jordan the motivator to take over.
“He’s like a basketball junkie,” coach Dough Collins said. “Yesterday, Earl Cureton was yelling ‘Get him his daily fix! Get him his daily fix!’ on fastbreak drills, the guy was just unbelievable.”
The Collins made darting jabs with his hands, like someone trying to describe the path of a overactive bumble bee.
“He knew we were coming off a downer,” Collins continued. “This team is an emotional team, and there was pain on their faces when they lost the other night. Michael realized it and said, I’, going to get these gyus jacked up in practice today.”
That night the Bulls had Thanksgiving dinner together at the team hotel. It’s not the best way to spend a holiday, but Jordan added a little family spirit by buying two $100 bottles o Dom Perignon champagne for his teammates.
It often is said that superstars are gifted with the rare ability to make their teammates better players and Jordan definitely has done that this seson.
In almost every …………………. …………. Cast, the Bulls were picked ……………………. Last in the Central Division. Though trades, injuries or free agent castoffs, Jordan was the only returning player among last yesr’s top six scorers. Gone were Orlando Woorlridge, Sindey Green, ………………. Delley and George Gervis, ……………… satile Gene banks broke his foot…………… in the exhibition season.
With those players, Chicago had won just 30 games and barely squeezed into the playoffs after Jordan returned from a 84-game absence caused by a broken foot.
The history of the new herd of Bulls could have been depressing. Except for Jordan, no other Bulls on the active roster has a career scoring average of more than 10 points per game, and starting center Granville Walters averaged 10 minutes and 2.7 points in three previous NBA seasons.
Yet, they have become a winning team, despite the fact that nine of their first 11 games were decided in the last 30 seconds. Credit Jordan’s impact and humility.
Guard John Paxon ranks sixth in the NBA in shooting accuracy, shooting 57.7 percent from the field. “Michael has a lot to do with it,” Paxons said. “Teams are double or triple-teaming him, and that leaves the rest of us wide open for baskets. Even though he goes up for a shot, he’s still able to find the open man.”
But Jordan, openly admits that his teammates have made him better, too, by setting picks for him, …….. almost all of the ball-handling ……. can’t be double-teamed and …………. the NBA’s third-best …………… team.
“They have relieved a lot of pressure off me, because they have stepped up and gotten some of the respect that they deserve,” he said. They haven’t sat back and said, “This is Michael Jordan. Let him do all.”
He probably could do it all if necessary, but tonight may be the first time Warrior fans see Jordan at his best. In his rookie year, they ………. Booed former coach Kevin ………… for playing Jordan only …….. minutes in Oakland. And during ….. October’s visit, he broke his left ………. early in the first half of the game.
“I remember it, but it’s in the ……. And I hate to think about it,” Jordan said. “It was just a freak accident, I went up for a long pass, I misjudged my landing and hurt my foot. I’m not even thinking about …….. going into Oakland.
“This is a whole new year. We’ve got a different team, and ………. On a roll.”
