Willpower May Settle Nba Title Jordan-Led Bulls Take On Jazz, Seeking A Sixth Championship

Michael Jordan, going out a loser?

It’s frightening for anyone in the Chicago dynasty to even contemplate, much less discuss. But there was Jordan on the eve of the NBA Finals on Tuesday, the game’s greatest player ever, openly talking about the possibility of losing the last game of his NBA life.

“I’ve had enough success to know you can’t win every time,” he said. “At the end of the season if you lose a game that’s it. It doesn’t stick with me. It doesn’t drive me nuts, it doesn’t keep me from sleeping. It’s part of the game.

I can deal with losing. I just don’t want to lose.”

Jordan hasn’t ended his season with a playoff defeat since the spring of 1990. Prior to that, his most significant loss was having his hair fall out before his 30th birthday.

Still, even Jordan knows this is still Chicago’s title to lose. He and the Bulls are only four victories away from capturing their sixth NBA crown in the ‘90s, a remarkable achievement in any era.

And yet, that sixth ring figures to be harder to secure than any of the first five. The Utah Jazz, who host Game 1 tonight, own the home-court advantage. The Jazz have had nine days to rest and prepare. They won both meetings against Chicago this season. They’ve been more impressive in the playoffs.

The Bulls, who lost all three games in Indiana before winning the series in seven games, even consider the Jazz the favorites.

Said Jordan: “I consider us the underdogs but yet I still consider us to be champions. They still have to take it away from us, no matter what people are predicting.”

Since when did Superman become the underdog?

“We don’t buy any of that, absolutely none of it,” Utah forward Karl Malone said. “I did watch some of the game when they played Indiana and I heard some interview with Jud Buechler where he said that they were the underdog. Yeah right. Michael summed it up. He said, ‘But we have heart.’ Coming from him, that’s all I need to hear.”

The Jordan factor can never be underestimated. The Jazz have a clear advantage along the front line and they could get four home games. The Bulls, though, still have Michael.

And yet Jordan will need a big series from both Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, who was thoroughly manhandled by Malone last season. He can’t do it alone. Jordan, seen gasping for air in the fourth quarter of Game 7 on Sunday, is starting to wear down.

“I can’t say we’re not tired,” Jordan said. “It was a grueling road to get where we are. Physically, I think we are tired. But our hearts and our mental approach are fresh because we have a chance to start this series even 0-0 and somehow make things happen.

“My desire will help me overcome that (fatigue) because I’ve been tired before and anticipate myself being tired in this series. My desire to win is real strong and I’ll go as far as it takes me.”

Of course, the Jazz remember Jordan producing one of his brilliant performances ever in Game 5 last year despite a nasty stomach virus that left him fatigued and dehydrated.

“He was sick on his deathbed last year and he went for 38,” Jeff Hornacek said.