The Last Shot (basketball) - Legacy

Legacy

Michael Jordan's game-winner to put the Bulls up 87–86 with 5.2 seconds left is remembered as one of the greatest plays in NBA history. In 2010, John Hollinger of ESPN ranked Michael Jordan's last shot as a Bull fourth among 50 best single-game performances. The shot was recreated for the 2006 television ad "Second Generation".

The officiating of this game continues to be discussed to this day. In 2008, Tim Buckley of the Utah newspaper Deseret News wrote in a profile of Jazz coach Jerry Sloan that the calls involving Howard Eisley and Ron Harper "to this day continue to be discussed and debated by disgruntled Jazz faithful." AskMen.com ranked the no-call on Michael Jordan's last shot of this game sixth on a top-ten list of bad referee calls, although most agree it only looks to be a potential pushoff in slow motion replay. Bryon Russell, remarked in 2009: "Whether he pushed off or not, he was making that shot."

In 2009, Jordan mentioned Russell in his Hall of Fame induction speech, recalling an interaction they had during Jordan's first retirement in 1994: "t this time, I had no thoughts of coming back and playing the game of basketball. Bryon Russell came over to me and said, 'Why did you quit? You know I could guard you.' ... From this day forward, if I ever see in shorts, I'm coming at him." In response, Russell challenged Jordan to a game of one-on-one for charity. Such a match-up has not yet taken place, though the Utah Flash of the NBA Development League did stage a halftime game between Russell and a Jordan look-alike. The Flash offered refunds to fans who expected Jordan actually to appear.

After Michael Jordan retired, interest in the NBA declined, especially after the 1998–99 NBA lockout. Commenting on how the 1999 NBA Finals had the lowest TV ratings for a Finals series since 1981, Eric Boehlert wrote in Salon.com: "Viewers stayed away because the season had been strike-shortened; Michael Jordan had just retired; the Spurs and the Knicks lacked marketable superstars." Although the Western Conference champions Los Angeles Lakers would have won the championship with a victory but instead lost to the Indiana Pacers, Game 5 of the 2000 NBA Finals had only half as many viewers as Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals. However, Game 5 of the 2001 Finals, when the Los Angeles Lakers won their second consecutive championship under former Bulls coach Phil Jackson, had the highest ratings of a championship-winning game on the network since Game 6 of the 1998 Finals. NBC's broadcast rights to NBA games expired after the 2002 NBA Finals, when the Lakers won their third consecutive championship under former Bulls coach Phil Jackson. The 2003 NBA Finals had even worse ratings (9.8 million), and only 11.5 million watched the 2005 Finals; the San Antonio Spurs won both years.