Michael Jordan‘s name is synonymous with winning. With six rings and a killer instinct that says he’s going to win every single game he plays, Jordan doesn’t lose often, especially not in a manner such as getting swept in the series. Getting beaten four games in a row? Unheard of for arguably the greatest player of all time.
There are the challenges a young Michael Jordan faced and eventually overcame to become the most dominant player the NBA has ever seen and dominate what most believe to be the greatest era of basketball, the 90s.
Michael Jordan has been swept from the playoffs twice in his career
And yes, he did get swept in back-to-back seasons. Albeit remember the team that was mentioned, having 5 future Hall of Famers? That was the 1986-1987 Boston Celtics. Before anyone gets ahead of themselves let’s first examine the 86′ Bulls roster. A 23-year-old Jordan, and his second-best player? 34-year-old one foot out of the league George Gervin. We’d also have to mention that Iceman was coming off of a leg injury.
The eighth-seeded Bulls, faced first seeded Boston Celtics whose starting five consisted of: Dennis Johnson, Larry Bird, Kevin Mchale, Bill Walton, and Robert Parish. Five players that went on to have legendary careers and become members of the Basketball Hall of Fame. Jordan was still brilliant, dropping 63 points in Game 2, the most ever scored by a player in a playoff game. That record stands to this day.
The only other time Jordan was swept occurred the very next season. Jordan was coming off of his best regular season yet averaging 37 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists with 2 steals and a block and a half. The Black Cat‘s team had received a sizable upgrade with the drafting of Scottie Pippen and the addition of center Artis Gilmore. They were still only able to make the eighth seed as it was a very competitive Eastern Conference in that day and age.
The Bulls matched up with the same Celtics team in the first round of the NBA playoffs in 87′. Jordan and the Bulls put up a much better fight than the previous season but it still wasn’t enough to steal a single game from the Celtics’ superteam. Jordan averaged his best numbers in the postseason yet, but his 36, 7, and 6 weren’t enough against Larry Legenadry’s almost 29-point triple-double.
After that year, Jordan never faced problems with the Celtics due to their team disbanding but maybe one playoff achievement Jordan never collected was that he was never able to defeat Larry Bird. Although he did defeat the Indiana Pacers in the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals who were coached by Bird, so I guess there is nothing you can keep from Michael Jordan.