The Shot

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For other uses, see The Shot (disambiguation).

The Shot refers to a basket made by Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls in an NBA playoff game on May 7, 1989 against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Contents

[edit] Setup

Cleveland had led for the entire game until Chicago took the lead, 99-98. Cleveland called a time-out and sent Craig Ehlo to inbound the ball. Afterwards, the ball was passed to Ehlo, who scored to regain the lead at 100-99 with 3 seconds left. Chicago quickly called time.

[edit] The play

After the timeout, the ball was inbounded to Jordan. Craig Ehlo (one of Cleveland's top defenders) jumped in front to block it. But Jordan seemed to float forever, and when Ehlo landed, Jordan made the shot and gave Chicago the win, 101-100.

[edit] The call

   
“
 The inbounds pass comes in to Jordan. Here's Michael at the foul line, the shot over Ehlo...good! The Bulls win!!! They win!!! Superman was Superman and no one is going to talk about that missed free throw in Game 4 now! - Jim Durham
   
”

At the news conference following the game, head coach Doug Collins described the "plan" of that play as,

   
“
 Give the ball to Michael and get the f[bleeped]k out of the way!
   
”

[edit] Reasons that made it memorable

The Shot was memorable because:

  • It was the buzzer-beater in the best-of-five series, giving Chicago the series 3-2.
  • The Shot is considered one of Jordan's greatest clutch moments, and the game itself a classic.
  • It is related to Red Right 88, The Catch, The Drive, and The Fumble. All three of these sports events happened at the expense of Cleveland-based teams.

[edit] Gatorade ad

In 2005, Gatorade produced an advertisement featuring The Shot. The premise of the ad was "what if great moments in sports history were an inch off?" The ad featured edited footage of The Shot, altered to look like Jordan missed it, causing the Cleveland team and home crowd to celebrate. Later in the ad, the real version of the telecast (in which Jordan makes the shot and leaps in the air to pump his fist, while Ehlo crumples at the sideline) is shown.

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