It was the type of storybook ending that only Hollywood screenwriters could’ve come up with. In Game 6 of the 1998 Finals against the Utah Jazz, Michael Jordan hit the game-winning shot that delivered the Chicago Bulls their sixth championship, cementing his legacy as the greatest basketball player of all time.
But over the years, there’s been a lot of hemming and hawing about whether His Airness should’ve been called for an offensive foul on that play for pushing off on Bryon Russell. Count Utah Supreme Court Chief Justice Matthew Durrant among a certain constituency who simply won’t let it die.
He even went so far as to make a “ruling” on the matter (no, really) during a legislative session last week. Via Lee Davidson of The Salt Lake Tribune:
After recounting a number of technological improvements made by Utah courts over the past 20 years, the justice joked that it’s also been about 20 years since Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan made a controversial play to beat the Utah Jazz in the NBA Finals.
“I know that some argue he did not push off; most of them live in Chicago,” he said. “But after much consideration, I am now prepared to rule. He pushed off. And if you think I don’t have the power to decide that, you haven’t read the Utah Constitution.”
Since we’re digging up the past, the honorable judge should probably also considering re-opening an investigation into the pizza parlor that was allegedly responsible for the tainted pie that resulted in MJ’s legendary flu game. Just sayin.’
