I’ll review one play in Michael Jordan’s brilliant basketball career and it’s all you need to know about his defense, if you know what you are looking at. View this YouTube video for reference:

After he makes that famous shot, notice the great defense by Michael Jordan in confusing Fred Brown who is trying to pass to a teammate on the right but MJ is directly in the passing lane after he had picked-up his dribble in a posture & position where he couldn’t shoot.

James Worthy gambled on an overplay steal and was caught badly out of position when Fred Brown checked his pass to the right, but in that confusion (and with a five-second count ticking as MJ is defending two players at once), Fred Brown blindly passes the ball to James Worthy. That’s MJ greatness everyone witnessed, but few understand. Watch it again if you haven’t seen this, it’s total greatness. Billy Packer never saw it, even on the replay. I never hear anyone talk about that defense, just the shot, but MJ was a complete great player at that point and that play proves it.

Fred Brown made two critical mistakes before he threw the ball away. First was picking up his dribble before he knew what to do, along with being in poor shooting posture. Always remain in ‘triple threat’ position when holding the ball. After he picked up his dribble, all Fred Brown could do was pass and MJ played it perfectly. The second mistake was not calling timeout when MJ had him locked up and approaching a 5-second violation.

Georgetown had one timeout remaining, which John Thompson wasted as Billy Packer correctly points out before Worthy misses both free throws. But really, Fred Brown is on that list with Craig Ehlo, Bryon Russell, etc, as guys Michael Jordan dominated when the cameras were on and his team needed to win. Any serious baller can see the phenomenal athleticism, instincts & basketball IQ from MJ to lock up Fred Brown and force that error. MJ won that game for UNC at the end, on both ends.

Clock & timeout management was in its infancy back then and it shows. UNC had 4 timeouts remaining [!] after taking that famous TO with 32 seconds left. No tenths of a second, no shot clock, no three-point shot, or replay officiating. Apparently, neither team knew an intentional foul had been called on those final Worthy free throws, which is VERY poor officiating but also poor coaching by John Thompson. He took that timeout to organize his troops, so has to go to the officials and say, “That was a one-and-one foul, right?” You MUST KNOW before talking to your players about a plan for the final two seconds of the game. He definitely got out-coached by Dean Smith.

It’s striking how much the game was condensed w/o a 3-pt line. Poor spacing allowed MJ to eat up the space between Fred Brown & James Worthy’s guy he had to cover at the same time. Worthy being so out-of-position became a gift when Fred Brown figured it couldn’t be a UNC defender in that spot. James Worthy always gets the credit for that steal, and it was his steal, but it was entirely created by a basket savant named Michael Jordan.

Good spacing became easier to achieve with the 3-pointer finally in the NCAA Tourney in 1986. It’s as if you have to put a line on the court to direct players on where they should be. The game is better for it, that’s for sure and Georgetown-UNC in 1982 was THE game that catalyzed all that change in college (and pro) hoops.

So from now on, if you ever hear anyone say (as I’ve heard for decades), “I still can’t figure out what Fred Brown was thinking on that play,” you can correctly interpret that as an admission of not understanding the greatness of Michael Jordan. MJ knows, so it’s actually disrespectful. It happened in front of everybody, so why don’t you see it?  This happened before anyone knew Michael Jordan was Michael Jordan. But we all know MJ now, so it becomes easier to recognize when looking back at it.

Acknowledging this type of greatness separates those who love & understand the game from those who are in it for the hype. MJ attracted all that & more, but appreciating that level of skill used to matter a lot more in sports to people like Michael Jordan. When people don’t truly appreciate all that greatness, which took a lifetime of effort & sacrifice to achieve, it kills your passion for the game. I believe that is why MJ sold his Charlotte NBA franchise and went into racing.

In The Last Dance (2020) they show a clip of an ESPN reporter asking Michael Jordan what he was thinking after making that last shot. The freshman hero gave a canned, touchy-feel-good answer everyone loved and no one remembers. But his thoughts were, “I’m gonna lockdown Fred Brown (and whoever else I have to), then fake him out his shoes, until he cracks and throws the ball away.” Michael Jordan must have been thinking that because that’s what he did.

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