Michael Jordan

**^{At the time, this play was anything but starkly overrated …}**
**^{and then the rest of the series happened.}**

Invariably, the NBA playoffs yield some memorable moments.

The image from this week’s #FanTeaser is from the 1993 Eastern Conference Finals between the New York Knicks and the Chicago Bulls in New York’s famed Madison Square Garden.

New York Knick John Starks dunks over Horace Grant and Michael Jordan. — ^{New York Knicks guard, John Starks, elevates to throw down a monster dunk over Chicago Bulls’ forward, Horace Grant, and guard, Michael Jordan, during the 1993 NBA Eastern Conference Finals in New York’s Madison Square Garden. (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBA Entertainment)}

In the closing minute of Game 1, Knicks’ guard John Starks drove baseline and threw down a massive left-handed dunk over Bullls’ forward Horace Grant and guard Michael Jordan and put the host Knicks up by five points. New York went on to win the game, 98-90, in part behind Starks’ 25 points.

New York added a win in Game 2, 96-91, before losing four straight to the Bulls who then defeated the Phoenix Suns in six games to complete its threepeat.

The image – which became poster material almost immediately – was captured by our guest from this week’s episode of Conversations with Sports Fans, Nathaniel S. Butler. The photo is also featured in Butler’s book, Courtside: 40 Years of NBA Photography.

Butler was kind enough to donate a signed copy of Courtside to The Sports Fan Project which we’ll give away through a random drawing of subscribers as of May 18. To subscribe please complete the information requested at this link and keep an eye out for further communication.

Just to review, The Fan Teaser was the creation of former Ann Arbor News Sports Editor Geoff Larcom. Longtime friend and fellow Ann Arbor News alum, Pat Schutte, took it to heights previously unknown. We aim to keep it alive here at The Sports Fan Project. The cropped photo and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.

**^{Who belongs to this sweet, or is it sour, swing from a}**
**^{Spring Training past?}**

In the spring of 1994 the world’s greatest basketball player at that time turned up in the Chicago White Sox training camp in Sarasota.

Yes, Michael Jordan – that Michael Jordan! – who’d retired from the NBA on the eve of the 1993-94 season, decided to give baseball a try as an homage to his father who’d been murdered the summer of 1994. James Jordan Sr. had reportedly envisioned his son as a professional baseball player.

Jordan toiled away with the White Sox AA Birmingham Barons for the 1994 season, played in the Arizona Fall League, and then gave up the dream the following spring amidst MLB’s labor uncertainty. He then rejoined the Chicago Bulls,, played the final 17 games, and finished 11th in the MVP voting!

Here is Jordan’s Baseball-Reference page for his season in Birmingham. And a bit of an oral history from a recent piece in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

^{During the MLB work stoppage in 1994, ESPN picked up occasional Birmingham Barons’ games. Here’s Jordan coming through 2-run single.}

Just to review, The Fan Teaser comes courtesy of longtime buddy, Pat Schutte. The cropped photo below and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.

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