Imagine being current age in the Jordan era, and seeing him 3 peat twice, win 5 MVPs, 10 scoring titles, dpoy etc Jesus
abrnst
Its weird how off defenders had to play back then. Either commit to a double team or run back to your man. No in between.
100PercentRealGinger
That’s a double-dribble, right?
Edit: I’m an idiot that was a bounce pass to MJ, right?
Luka_Fever
almost as good as Luka’s post game
Zoratth
His ability to just float in the air a fraction of a second longer than anyone else is crazy, especially in slow motion.
HellNawlCantDoDis
this angle is so sick. better than anything modern TV production gives
lce_Fight
God Like
DEEZLE13
Dudes was fallin for that in the 90s
WeTheNinjas
Wild how far the league has come. Nowadays we have DeRozan doing this more than once a game and no one bats an eye
trigr91
It’d be hard to find someone in the league today that can’t duplicate this shot.
[deleted]
[deleted]
Physical-Present-302
Why didn’t the defender went out of the way and just watched
Bts121212
Beautiful
samlet
MJ’s mid-range game is aesthetically my favorite skill in NBA history. So cool and so many variations, whether from the post or facing up.
A fun MJ mid-range stat:
The farthest back NBA.com’s shot-location data goes back to is 1996-97.
That season, MJ shot 48.9% from the mid-range on 14.7 attempts a game (KD attempted the most mid-rangers this season at 6.6 per game, amazing how much analytics have shifted the game).
In 1996-97 the league (much lower offensive environment than today) shot 48.0% from 2-point range overall, including all lay-ups and dunks.
So MJ shot better from mid-range than the whole league shot from 2-point range. He has to be the only player ever to do that on high volume. (*edit: nvm, just checked and Dirk did this in 2010-11 and 2006-07. What a legend. Of course, far more of Dirk’s mid-rangers were catch-and-shoot compared to MJ’s post and iso game, so it’s not exactly apples-to-apples.)*
I really wish we had better shot location data from MJ’s prime. There has to be so many insane numbers we just don’t have access to. Cool videos like this will do though.
There are still players like Kawhi that do this. It’s just not true that post skills went away altogether.
Smart coaches just learned to optimize the game. These smart coaches beat teams that didn’t know how to optimize the game.
It was like natural selection.
Offenses that let weak post players bleed efficiency lost. Those coaches adapted or were weeded out.
Meditationberry
Jordan Fadeaway and Kareem’s Sky Hook. Two of the most unstoppable plays in all of sports.
PensiveinNJ
I love a good Jordan post but I wish it was a compilation rather than just one play.
SMOKE2JJ
That ball fake..Jfc..
LyonsKing12
Post control
Another1MitesTheDust
This is that 90s defense I’ve been hearing so much about?
letsgoraps
This is what I remember about watching Jordan: the fade away.
I started watching the NBA in the mid 90’s so I saw the second 3 peat. He may not have been as athletic as during the first 3 peat, but he had mastered the fadeaway. You couldn’t really stop it.
Witch-kingOfBrynMawr
You know, I’m sure this is common knowledge, but whenever anyone talks about how much longer Jordan “hangs in the air” than anyone else, I always want to point out that he just… held the ball longer before shooting. He’d explode into a layup attempt or fade away, but wouldn’t release the ball until he was well past the peak of his leap. That’s where so much of his midrange/close-range advantage came from. He’d wait a few extra beats before committing to a layup, allowing him to throw just ooooone more little ball move to get the clean finish. One some of his famous finishes, it’s a race to flip the ball towards the hoop before his feet hit the ground.
somethingeatingspace
Other than his insane shooting, this is *all* about that bump.
Miserable-Lawyer-233
They put a 6’8 250 slow PF Anthony Mason on MJ. That’s disrespectful. MJ was a guard. Why didn’t he just blow by him? MJ fell in love with his jumper after he lost his first step burst in about 1995. In 1997 Jordan took 1921 jump shots (46.3% conversion rate), compared to 364 layups and 71 dunks.
KungFuJoe23
MJ’s ability to shoot on the way down is peerless. It might seem simple but it is extremely difficult for even elite bball players to do it effectively. You are taught to shoot on the way up your whole life because your shot comes from your legs and shooting on the way down is the absolute worst way to shoot.
But like so many of his other abilities he just did whatever he wanted to whenever he wanted to.
Ingrownpimple
Really, that’s it? I thought there would be more. I seen people at my LA fitness do more in the post. Jordan is GOAT, but this is a single bump and then fadeaway — something most physically abled people can do.
32 Comments
Man seeing this live must have been nuts
Imagine being current age in the Jordan era, and seeing him 3 peat twice, win 5 MVPs, 10 scoring titles, dpoy etc Jesus
Its weird how off defenders had to play back then. Either commit to a double team or run back to your man. No in between.
That’s a double-dribble, right?
Edit: I’m an idiot that was a bounce pass to MJ, right?
almost as good as Luka’s post game
His ability to just float in the air a fraction of a second longer than anyone else is crazy, especially in slow motion.
this angle is so sick. better than anything modern TV production gives
God Like
Dudes was fallin for that in the 90s
Wild how far the league has come. Nowadays we have DeRozan doing this more than once a game and no one bats an eye
It’d be hard to find someone in the league today that can’t duplicate this shot.
[deleted]
Why didn’t the defender went out of the way and just watched
Beautiful
MJ’s mid-range game is aesthetically my favorite skill in NBA history. So cool and so many variations, whether from the post or facing up.
A fun MJ mid-range stat:
The farthest back NBA.com’s shot-location data goes back to is 1996-97.
That season, MJ shot 48.9% from the mid-range on 14.7 attempts a game (KD attempted the most mid-rangers this season at 6.6 per game, amazing how much analytics have shifted the game).
In 1996-97 the league (much lower offensive environment than today) shot 48.0% from 2-point range overall, including all lay-ups and dunks.
So MJ shot better from mid-range than the whole league shot from 2-point range. He has to be the only player ever to do that on high volume. (*edit: nvm, just checked and Dirk did this in 2010-11 and 2006-07. What a legend. Of course, far more of Dirk’s mid-rangers were catch-and-shoot compared to MJ’s post and iso game, so it’s not exactly apples-to-apples.)*
I really wish we had better shot location data from MJ’s prime. There has to be so many insane numbers we just don’t have access to. Cool videos like this will do though.
Why didn’t you share [the IMAX version!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ztb3KhRsBQc)
There are still players like Kawhi that do this. It’s just not true that post skills went away altogether.
Smart coaches just learned to optimize the game. These smart coaches beat teams that didn’t know how to optimize the game.
It was like natural selection.
Offenses that let weak post players bleed efficiency lost. Those coaches adapted or were weeded out.
Jordan Fadeaway and Kareem’s Sky Hook. Two of the most unstoppable plays in all of sports.
I love a good Jordan post but I wish it was a compilation rather than just one play.
That ball fake..Jfc..
Post control
This is that 90s defense I’ve been hearing so much about?
This is what I remember about watching Jordan: the fade away.
I started watching the NBA in the mid 90’s so I saw the second 3 peat. He may not have been as athletic as during the first 3 peat, but he had mastered the fadeaway. You couldn’t really stop it.
You know, I’m sure this is common knowledge, but whenever anyone talks about how much longer Jordan “hangs in the air” than anyone else, I always want to point out that he just… held the ball longer before shooting. He’d explode into a layup attempt or fade away, but wouldn’t release the ball until he was well past the peak of his leap. That’s where so much of his midrange/close-range advantage came from. He’d wait a few extra beats before committing to a layup, allowing him to throw just ooooone more little ball move to get the clean finish. One some of his famous finishes, it’s a race to flip the ball towards the hoop before his feet hit the ground.
Other than his insane shooting, this is *all* about that bump.
They put a 6’8 250 slow PF Anthony Mason on MJ. That’s disrespectful. MJ was a guard. Why didn’t he just blow by him? MJ fell in love with his jumper after he lost his first step burst in about 1995. In 1997 Jordan took 1921 jump shots (46.3% conversion rate), compared to 364 layups and 71 dunks.
MJ’s ability to shoot on the way down is peerless. It might seem simple but it is extremely difficult for even elite bball players to do it effectively. You are taught to shoot on the way up your whole life because your shot comes from your legs and shooting on the way down is the absolute worst way to shoot.
But like so many of his other abilities he just did whatever he wanted to whenever he wanted to.
Really, that’s it? I thought there would be more. I seen people at my LA fitness do more in the post. Jordan is GOAT, but this is a single bump and then fadeaway — something most physically abled people can do.
Thing of beauty
Khris Middleton Regular Bag
I can’t believe it’s not butter
Beautiful.
Rice was a bigger dude than I remember.