March 19, 1995 - Michael Jordan's first game after coming out of retirement was against Reggie Miller and the Pacers at Market Square Arena.
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Jordan's Return Created Unprecedented Spectacle
The game was going to be big enough on its own. The Pacers were 39-24, gearing up for another run to the Eastern Conference Finals. Chicago was just 34-32, but still carried an aura from winning three consecutive NBA championships from 1991-93. NBC was in town to broadcast the game nationally on a Sunday afternoon from a sold-out Market Square Arena.
Late Saturday morning, however, the phone rang in David Benner's office and all hell broke loose.
Sam Smith, who covered the Bulls for the Chicago Tribune, was calling to tell him that Michael Jordan was returning to the NBA. And would make his debut the next day, March 19. Against the Pacers. Which meant that Benner would have one day, nearly to the hour, to prepare for what still stands as the most notable regular season game the Pacers have ever played, a game that would draw the highest Nielsen rating of any NBA regular season game in 20 years.
"It was an interesting 24 hours,” Benner recalls.
PHOTO GALLERY: Jordan's Comeback Game at Market Square Arena »
To understand the magnitude of the game, you have to understand the power of Michael Jordan's name at the time. He was the biggest name in sports, a three-time NBA Most Valuable Player who had been voted the MVP of all three of the Bulls' championships. He was clearly the best player in the world, and one of its most charismatic as well. He wasn't just the star of basketball games, he starred on magazine covers and in television commercials. Generations of children, some of whom are in the NBA today, wanted to be like Mike.
He also had been missing. He had shocked the NBA late on Oct. 6 of 1993 by leaving the game. Burned out by his time in the hot flame of fame and grief-stricken by the murder of his father in July of that year, he needed a break from the media spotlight. Four months later, he announced he would attempt a career in baseball. He batted .202 for a Double-A team in Birmingham, Ala. and .252 for a Fall League team in Scottsdale, Ariz. But a Major League Baseball strike had delayed the start of spring training in 1995, however, stalling his baseball dream and leaving him idle.
Refusing to cross the picket line and play with replacement players, he decided to return to the NBA. And he announced it as precisely as possible, with a slam-dunk of a two-word press release: “I'm back.”
Suddenly, credential requests came pouring in from around the country, via phone calls and fax. One reporter called from Dayton, Ohio, where he was covering an NCAA tournament site, to request one. The telephone was then passed on to four or five other reporters, who made their requests. By the time Benner – who was in his first year as the Pacers' media relations director – left the office at 2:00 AM on Sunday, he had filled about 350 credential requests, although many of them would have to watch the game from the media dining area in MSA. Others, from smaller media outlets who had not covered the Pacers to that point, were denied.
The Pacers barely had time to prepare for the game, much less the event. A hockey game was played at MSA on Saturday night, so details such as placing name cards on media seats couldn't be handled until early Sunday morning. It would be all hands on deck from that point. When Benner returned to the arena at 5:00 AM, after just a couple hours of sleep and a change of clothes, he saw Rick Fuson, the vice-president in charge of the arena, vacuuming the carpet that led from the Pacers' locker room between the end zone sections to the playing court.
The NBA flew in someone to help prioritize the media seating and photographer placement, but it would be impossible to satisfy everyone. There were only so many seats available inside the arena for reporters, and only so many spaces available on the ends of the floor for photographers. The three newspapers that covered the Bulls each sent five or six reporters and a couple of photographers, and when a couple of Chicago photographers engaged Benner in a shouting match after learning they wouldn't have a place on the court during the game, he was assigned a security official for protection.
“They didn't take kindly to being told no,” he said.
Expanded measures were required for crowd control, too. Several of the Pacers' front office personnel were called in to help hold back fans on the east end, where Jordan would make his entrance. One of them, Mike Henn, recalls grasping a rope with one hand and trying to keep it taut while being shoved from behind by those wanting a closer look at Jordan. In his other hand, Henn carried a bullhorn to shout instructions and warnings to the more aggressive fans.
Outside, according to media reports, tickets were being scalped for $1,000. Radio announcer Mark Boyle recalls seeing brokers lined up eight blocks from the arena, seeking the tickets that might as well have been printed on gold bars. The thought flashed through Boyle's mind to sell his comps, although not for long. His job was worth more than a couple thousand dollars.
The fans lucky or rich enough to have tickets brought a playoff buzz to the arena. Some of them wore T-shirts issued by Nike that declared, “He's Back!” One CNN commentator, reporting from courtside, said it was a combination of Game 7 of the NBA Finals and a presidential inauguration.
“I guess that makes sense, because the King is back,” he said.
NBC, meanwhile, played up the game for all it was worth, which was plenty. With dramatic music playing in the background and video of Jordan shooting in an empty arena earlier in the day, Bob Costas set the stage:
“The best in the world is back. And in a sports world darkened by constant talk of money, strikes and lockouts, here's a shining reminder of why we're drawn to sports in the first place. The drama. The anticipation. The sheer beauty of the moment. Today, an artist returns to his true canvas: the hardwood courts of the NBA. Michael Jordan is back!”
Jordan, 32 years old at the time, wore No. 45 that day, and for the rest of the regular season, because his legendary No. 23 had been retired by the Bulls. He would go back to 23 in the posteason, but on this day he looked like an off-brand version of himself. Introduced last in the starting lineup and receiving a rousing ovation from the fans, he showed the rust of his 17-month layoff. He hit just 7-of-28 shots on his way to 19 points, and had six rebounds and six assists in 43 minutes.
The Pacers jumped to a large early lead, as Jordan hit just 2-of-9 shots in the first half, and held on to win in overtime, 103-96, to maintain their half-game lead in the Central Division. Reggie Miller led them with 28 points and Dale Davis had 20 rebounds.
“I don't know if it was a good game to come back,” a smiling Jordan told Ahmad Rashad on the court after the game. “Reggie seemed very energized.”
Jordan added that he didn't think it would take him long to get his timing back, and he was right. He hit a game-winning 15-foot jumper at the buzzer in his fourth game back, in Atlanta, and followed with a legendary 55-point effort against the Knicks in Madison Square Garden.
The Bulls would go on to reach the second round of the playoffs, where they lost to Orlando. The Pacers reached the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost to Orlando in seven games. Twenty years later, the franchise can look back on many other memorable playoff games, but not a single regular season game as big as the one Jordan created in Market Square Arena.
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