Let Your Game Speak

[Detritus]

Saw a link to this commercial (http://youtube.com/watch?v=F9yQaGj46Nw) at The Sports Guy's blog. It's a little on the glurgy side, but I had forgotten how good the Air Jordan XXI commercial was. Ah, memories.

[Detritus]

I tried tracking down all the distinctive scenes from the commercial as they happened during Jordan's career. The only one I couldn't find was the hand-switching layup from Game 1 of the '91 NBA Finals. The fadeaway and the holding the ball away from the defender thing happened numerous times in his career. The other ones:

One-handed crossover (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VZEgMjeFmE) - Not sure which game this comes from, maybe one of the Bulls-Jazz NBA Finals meetings.

The Dunks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHEHaVbIV_g) - The first one in the commercial happens early on in this clip, and there are 3 free throw line dunks. I think the 1987 version is the one used as the model for the commercial.

The Shrug (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ-PBhbKUew) - The relevant section is from about 3:30-4:30.

The Flying Fist Pump/The Nudge (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FPk9QEtMU4&NR) - #3 and #1 in the clip, respectively. #3 was the series winner vs. the Cavs in Game 5 of the (best of 5) 1989 Eastern Conference quarterfinals. #1 was the championship winner vs. the Jazz in Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals.

[Detritus]

The link in the first page is loading pretty slowly when I tried it last night and this morning. This one (http://youtube.com/watch?v=xh9G0khdhys) is working better right now.

[BattleNymph]

You know, basketball has never been my favorite sport but those were beautiful.

[Detritus]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=SZjbTq4DcAQ

After seeing this, I think most all of the game situation shots occurred during one NBA finals or another. The dunks came from the 1985 and 1987 NBA Slam Dunk contests.

[Detritus]

I had forgotten just how slickly marketed the whole Air Jordan persona was. I ran across another great commercial that I had forgotten about; it turned up when I was looking for that Haddaway song, actually:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQpL8K2YADk&NR=1

This one has a fair number of the disappointments in Jordan's career in addition to the titles -- the broken foot, getting beaten like a rented mule by the Pistons, double-A follies, the Nick Anderson steal. Very entertaining.

[Wook]

<fondly remembers the bad boys and how the institutionalized muggings in the NBA>

They didn't have my favorite Jordan blooper in there though. He bricked a sure dunk on a breakaway so badly that it bounced all the way to half court from the rim. It was hilarious.

[Detritus]

They didn't have my favorite Jordan blooper in there though. He bricked a sure dunk on a breakaway so badly that it bounced all the way to half court from the rim. It was hilarious.
It's a commercial, not a blooper reel. Bricking a dunk, while funny, is of little consequence in the grand scheme of things; climbing Mount Laimbeer or coming out of retirement but not being really ready for it are a lot bigger deals. The Nick Anderson steal is the one moment more than any other that set the Bulls onto the path of their 72-10 season in 1995-'96 (with the possible exception of the Rodman signing), and that's why it's in there.