How Hardaway wins Jordan s respect twice and becomes the only genuine Jordan heir

On March 8, 1995, with the broadcast of veteran sports media such as ESPN and ABC, from Jordan's "I 'm back." The basketball god Michael Jordan officially made a comeback. In the past two years of retirement, although Jordan basically did not touch basketball, because he joined the baseball league, his physical fitness training continued, so his body shape did not improve much.

Jordan's first game after his comeback was not good against the Pacers, scoring 19 points in 28 shots, and was ridiculed by his old rival Reggie Miller. However, in the second game, Jordan recovered and scored 27 points in 17 shots, leading the Bulls to defeat the veteran team Boston Celtics. This third game has already pushed Jordan's comeback scene this season to the climax, because the Bulls played against Magic at home in this game, basketball god Michael Jordan vs. "Jordan's successor" Penny Hardaway.

This battle was filled with gimmicks by the NBA's people who are good at marketing. Jordan's large posters were hung on each high-rise building in Chicago. The highlights of the two playing ball were broadcast repeatedly on the large screen. The ticket price of the United Center was close to the finals and was sold two weeks in advance. A large number of fans were dissatisfied because they could not buy tickets. Bulls owner Rheinstdorf had to arrange six super-large TV screens for live broadcasts in an empty field outside the stadium. For this reason, Rheinstdorf also paid $580,000 as a police officer at the Chicago local police station, firefighters and various volunteers to maintain traffic and public security.

ESPN, ABC, TNT and other TV stations have arranged live broadcasts of this game across the United States and sent out extremely luxurious commentary teams. On the day of the game, as the largest stadium in the NBA at that time, the Chicago Bulls Home Joint Center with nearly 2.2 seats was forcibly stuffed into 25,000 people. The price of sideline tickets has been hyped up to 180,000 US dollars per. Many American and local celebrities also sat on the sidelines to watch the game - there is no doubt that this is a world-renowned showdown!

The Shark O'Neal once recalled that game and said that this game was the most memorable game in his career. The fans were too crazy. They shouted at us, shouted, and tried to swallow us with their voices. Their voices overwhelmed the DJs on the scene. I couldn't even hear the voices of my teammates speaking.

In the game, Jordan personally defended Hardaway. The offensive and defensive showdown brought a refreshing feast to the fans on the scene. The final result was that Penny Hardaway used his performance to crush Jordan and led the Magic to defeat the Bulls. Hardaway made 7 of 15 shots and scored 22 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. One minute before the final game, Hardaway used his signature mid-range shot that looked similar to Jordan, and directly killed the game. Under Hardaway's close defense, Jordan only made 7 of 23 shots, 21 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 steals. After the game, some media naturally interviewed Jordan about Hardaway's "Jordan's successor", but it was obvious that Jordan was still very dissatisfied at this time. He just politely praised Hardaway. What really made Jordan change his view of Hardaway was this year's playoffs.

In the 17 games after Jordan's comeback, he scored 13 wins and 4 losses, helping the Bulls to score a record of 47 wins and 35 losses in the West. As the game deepened, Jordan gradually found his former self and his touch gradually recovered. In the fifth game after his comeback, Jordan scored a shocking 55 points!

The Bulls advanced to the second round 3:1. In these four games, Jordan averaged more than 32 points per game, shooting a shooting percentage of 50.0%. Even the most incompetent three-pointers also shot a super high shooting percentage of 47.1%. In addition, there were 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. It seems that the once omnipotent basketball god has completely returned to his position!

Under the leadership of O'Neal and Hardaway, the Magic achieved a 57-win record in the Eastern Conference, defeating the veteran strong team Celtics in the first round and meeting the Bulls in the second round.

The hot market is naturally not to be said in detail. At the opening game of the series, the two teams played with high-pressure water pipes and electric wires, sparks and lightning all the way. The scores rose alternately until the last 26.1 seconds. The Bulls led 91:90 and had the ball rights. According to the normal script in the past, Jordan was calm and completed the key buzzer-beating goal, but this year, Jordan, in the words of Reggie Miller, said: God does not wear a No. 45 jersey.

After spending time, Jordan faced Hardaway's defense and directly held the ball into the inside, but did not get rid of Hardaway's long arm interference. Jordan made an emergency stop, but in this flash, Magic forward Nick Anderson rushed out from the slash and snatched the ball from behind. Then Penny Hardaway quickly went down, and received the ball with an emergency stop and made a perfect kill!

When Hardaway threw it into the quasi-final kill, Jordan's former teammate and friend who transferred from the Bulls to the Magic last offseason, Horeth Grant, nicknamed "Cobra", shouted in front of Jordan's eyes -

"Did you see it? He can replace you!"

Jordan, who was so frustrated, pushed Grant away directly.

In the whole game, Hardaway played well under Jordan's strong defense, and he scored 16 points and 6 assists in the offensive end. However, his tough defense made Jordan suffer. Hardaway contributed 5 steals throughout the game, and several interferences that were not included in the technical statistics. Jordan made 8 of 22 shots in the game, with 19 points, 3 assists and 8 mistakes.

8 turnovers, tied Jordan's highest number of mistakes in a single game in the playoffs.

Then in the next two games, Jordan scored 38 points in one game and 40 points in one game, proving that he is still the omnipotent basketball god. The Bulls won one win and one lose. In the fourth game, Jordan and Pippen played a critical hit. The Bulls won another game, and the two sides tied 2:2.

In the key battle of Tianwang Mountain, O'Neal was exhausted under the siege of the Bulls' centers and performed extremely poorly. Hardaway stepped forward and almost relied on his own to drive the offense of the entire team. He gave Grant four all-match dunks in the whole game, each of which was wonderful, igniting the whole game. In the end, Hardaway made 8 of 17 shots, scored 19 points and 12 assists, with only 1 turnovers, leading the Magic to defeat the Bulls.

G6, Jordan fell out of standard again under Hardaway's strong defense, scoring 23 points for 19 shots, while Hardaway scored 21 points, 7 assists and 3 steals, leading the Magic to defeat the Bulls, and eliminated the Bulls with a score of 4:2.

This is the only series that the God of Basketball Michael Jordan lost during his six consecutive championships. After the game, Jordan praised Hardaway's performance and said the famous saying -

"If I had to choose an heir for me, I think he would be Anthony Hardaway."

In the world view of the God of Basketball, only the strong are worthy of winning his respect, and this is true for Hardaway. Hardaway is the only player Jordan has personally admitted to being Jordan's heir. All the so-called "Jordan heirs" after that, including celebrities Grant Hill, Kobe, Vince Carter, Starkhouse, etc., are actually fakes.

After defeating the Bulls, Hardaway led the Magic to continue to move forward, and averaged 20+7 per game to eliminate the Pacers, and lost 0:4 in the finals. However, although the team lost, Hardaway's performance was still impeccable, with averaging 25+5+8 double shooting percentage of 50.0%+45.8%.

This year was brought by Hardaway and O'Neal. At the peak of the Magic's history, the combination of Hardaway and O'Neal is also considered a super combination that is enough to challenge the authority of the God of Basketball!

In the third season, Hardaway made progress again. In the fourth game of the new season, facing the Nets, with O'Neal absent, Hardaway opened fire and scored a career-high 42 points, and had 8 rebounds, 5 frontcourt rebounds, 8 assists, 5 steals and 2 blocks! In the 7th game, against the Bulls at home, Hardaway actually suppressed Jordan in the whole game, made 13 of 18 shots and scored 36 points, and led the team to win, while Jordan only scored 23 points in 20 shots!

In the first 21 games after the start of the game, O'Neal was absent due to a thumb injury. Hardaway averaged 29+6+6 per game, leading the team alone to a proud record of 17 wins and 4! In the first player of the month evaluation at the start of the game, Hardaway, who performed well, defeated Michael Jordan in the first month after his comeback in the new season and won the best of the month!

The entire season, Hardaway attended 82 games, averaging 22 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists per game. With no shooting percentage and no decrease in assists, the average turnover average was greatly reduced from 3.4 times last season to 2.8 times this season, which means that he is more calm and sophisticated in playing. When the All-Star started in the season, he didn't run in the first team of the best.

Jordan took the initiative to invite Hardaway to train in his private arena and personally guide Hardaway's football skills.

This season, O'Neal only played 54 games due to a thumb injury, and his condition was not as good as last year. Hardaway still led the Magic to a team record of 60 wins and 22 losses, ranking second in the East, and the first in the East at that time was the 72-win Bulls with the first record in history at that time.

In the East at that time, the Magic and the Bulls were at least one level higher than other teams. The two teams performed extremely easily in the first half of the playoffs. They had only lost 1 game in the first two rounds. It was not surprising that the two sides met in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Before the start of this round of series, there was a small episode. Jordan admired Hardaway who was standing opposite. He even wore the "Air Flight one" sneakers endorsed by Hardaway in the G1 game. This detail shocked the world because this was the first time Jordan wore other brands of sneakers after he had his own signature shoes.

The first game of the Eastern Conference Finals started soon. What is shocking is that the Magic lost nearly 40 points in the last 83:121! Except for Hardaway and O'Neal, the Magic team played well, all other role players were pulled. The three starters Nick Anderson, Hores Grant, and Denico Scott made a total of 0 of 11 shots, and they scored 2 points in total...

However, the first game was obviously an unexpected situation. In the G2 game, as the character players recovered, the Magic could also play back and forth with the Bulls. O'Neal dominated the inside and scored 36 points and 16 rebounds, but Hardaway was at a disadvantage in the duel with Quanli Joe. Jordan easily scored 35 points, while Hardaway only had 18 points and 3 assists, and the Magic lost 88:93.

G3 and G4 were not surprised. The Magic lost four consecutive games and were swept by the Bulls. Although Hardaway could score 25.5 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in the duel with Jordan, it was obvious that he was still quite different from Jordan. Jordan used 30+5+5, 52.0% shooting percentage and a terrifying 63.6% three-point shooting percentage that tells Hardaway that as long as I don’t abdicate, you can only be the prince!

This is that era, from the oppression of the God of Basketball Michael Jordan.

In the first three years of Penny Hardaway's career, he made an amazing performance, was selected as the All-Star starter for two consecutive years, and entered the Best First Team for two consecutive years. It can be said that at that time, at the NBA star level, Jordan had to count Hardaway. Although Hardaway had never played All-Strong Joe, he still won the respect of Jordan with his outstanding performance. It can be said that the 25-year-old Hardaway has become an NBA star at the foot of the game. He naturally has an unlimited future. In time, he will definitely be a Hall of Fame-level superstar!

No one could have thought that just after the Magic was eliminated by the Bulls in the 1995-1996 season, Hardaway was troubled by endless rumors throughout the summer. Of course, Magic could not trade Hardaway, and her trouble came from rumors from the outside world. Hardaway and O'Neal had long been together. In order to be the boss, Hardaway forced the big shark O'Neal to leave.

And what was the situation at that time? Hardaway did force O'Neal away as rumored outsiders and dominate the team himself? And what about the relationship between O'Neal and Hardaway?

Due to space limitations, the content of this chapter will be discussed in the next chapter. Fireworks will continue to output high-quality original content to everyone at 8 o'clock every morning. I feel that Fireworks is well written, and I hope to get a small praise for encouragement. The recognition of the top brother on the list is the driving force for Fireworks Xiaojun to update every day! Fireworks, I’m here to thank you for your brothers on the list!