In 1995 was MICHAEL JORDAN playing to his full potential when he came back to play the last 17 games?

Question

This is for the MJ haters that try to use 1995 against him:

Hell freakin no! He came back off of a spare of the moment thought. After missing the entire 94 season & missing the 95 season except for the last 17 games, MJ was out of shape & rusty. What do you expect after missing almost 2 years of PRO ball. In 95 MJ's stats weren't even up to part for MJ.
Now check this out.
1993: 32.6 ppg, 5.5 apg, 49.5 fg%(he retired after this season)
1995: 26.9 ppg, 5.3 apg 41.1 fg%(the last 17 games)
1996: 30.4 ppg, 4.3 apg, 49.5 fg%(His tune up year)
As you can see 93 & 96 were MJ's full potential. At the time 26.9 ppg was a very low average for MJ....and plus his career average is 30.1 ppg. MJ at his full potential was a 30 & up guy.
A 41.1 fg% in 95 also shows that he was rusty, that was the lowest fg% that MJ ever recorded. Anyways, you MJ haters need to stop criticizing MJ for not winning in 95. It wasn't even a full season. Now what happened in 96? 3 MVP's, recorded 72-10, & a title!

Hoopfan,
19 points & 24 points in a playoff games? Come on dude! That is rusty for MJ. Before that his last playoff performance MJ was averaging 41.0 ppg v.s. the Suns.....and that's the bottom line, because James W said so!

Answer 1

no way was he at full potential. he did show some flashes of what was up coming...especially after dropping that double nickel on the knicks @ msg.

but u know how u could tell he was a little rusty? when they lost to orlando in the 2nd rd of the playoffs...and nick 'the brick' anderson picked his pocket and poked the ball away in the closing seconds. mj would NEVER let that happen...maybe he was daydreaming?

but he did come back the next year and shoed everyone it was still his time.

Answer 2

Then WHY did he come back?

The Bulls were doing just fine without him. Actually, in the ten games prior to Jordan returning, the Bulls were 8-2.

They had TWO shooting guards, playing at "full potential", why do they need another one?

Did he just wake up one morning and decide, " hey, I think I'll go back to the Bulls." No, he knew he was going back, after he saw the Bulls succeeding without him and after humiliating himself at baseball.

See James, the Bulls were supposed to fall apart after Jordan retired. MJ couldn't stand to see the Bulls doing so well. It might give people the impression that he wasn't SOLELY responsible for their three previous titles. So he returned.

They couldn't go to the finals in 1994, so he figured if he joined and led them to the finals, he would get all the credit. So he worked out and practiced and then returned. Believe me, he shook off any "rust" after a few games.

Here are his playoff stats for 1995:

vs Charlotte

Game 1) 48 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists
Game 2) 32 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists
Game 3) 25 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
Game 4) 24 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists

vs. Orlando

Game 1) 19 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists
Game 2) 38 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists
Game 3) 40 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists
Game 4) 26 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists
Game 5) 39 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists
Game 6) 24 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists

Those are not "rusty" numbers, no matter how you slice it, IDIOT!! ........too easy

___________________________________

Well, OK then........

Answer 3

Well he probably could have still won a ring that season he was still the best in the NBA but everyone has off nights even the best player. True he didn't have a whole season playing in the offense plus he had a mental block playing with #45 because Jordan was very supersticious. You can't take nothing from him.

Answer 4

As I said in your other attempt at asking this question, from now on, Michael's new and ONLY "knick"-name will be "Rusty"... "Rusty" Jordan. Forget the "air Jordan" crap...

Jordan shall henceforth be known as "Rusty", in honor of his 1995 comeback.

And it's true... Rusty himself thought that the Bulls would fall apart without him, and not even make the playoffs... he wasn't too happy about the fact that they did better with Scottie and without him than they ever did with him before Pippen arrived.

Answer 5

I think MJ was at full potential.....He had like 2 months to knock off the rust...plus he dropped 55 in the garden!

The thing your not looking at is.....the Bulls were doing great without him!....when you throw MJ in the Mix it's going to disrupt the team chemistry!..(wich is harder to get back).
MJ commands the ball..so him and the team suffered...
because of lack of chemistry.......he should have came back the next year after training camp.....to easy...lol

Bill Russell laughs at those measily 6 rings..HAA....HAAA...HAAAAA!

Answer 6

nope