One of the signature moments of Michael Jordan’s legendary career came in the form of his iconic buzzer-beater against the Cleveland Cavaliers during Game 5 of the 1989 Eastern Conference playoffs.
Jordan went into that final possession of the game with 42 points, and in Sunday’s third episode of The Last Dance, the Hall of Famer admitted that Ron Harper had done a solid job defending him in the game. So, when the Cavs elected to have Craig Ehlo match up on Jordan, MJ knew that it was game over.
It turned out that Harper thought the same thing at the time. (Warning: NSFW language)
A still-bitter Harper said during Sunday’s episode:
“We up by one. I said, ‘Coach, I got MJ. I got MJ.’ So the coach goes, ‘I’m gonna put Ehlo on MJ.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, OK. Whatever. (Expletive) this bull-(expletive).'”
We all know what happened next:
Jordan burned Ehlo, received the inbounds pass, got space on Ehlo (AGAIN) to hit the series-clinching shot at the buzzer and finish with 44 points.
Sunday was not a great night to be Craig Ehlo.
