In March 1995, Michael Jordan, basketball’s greatest legend, returned to the game after a brief retirement. But instead of cheers, Jordan was met with boos at Madison Square Garden, a place that had once been filled with admiration for him. As Jordan struggled on the court, he looked nothing like the player who had redefined the game. Among the disappointed crowd that night sat 10-year-old Marcus Lewis and his father, Thomas. Little did they know that this painful moment would become the beginning of a journey that would shape their lives in ways they could never imagine.
It was the first time Marcus had ever seen Jordan play in person. He had grown up with posters of his hero lining his bedroom walls, his every basketball move an inspiration. His father, Thomas, had saved for months to buy tickets to the game, hoping to give his son an unforgettable experience. But as the game unfolded, it was far from what Marcus had imagined. Instead of awe-inspiring dunks, Marcus saw Jordan, now wearing the unfamiliar number 45, struggle to find his rhythm. The familiar swagger was gone, and the crowd’s disappointment echoed throughout the arena.
“Why are they booing him, Dad?” Marcus asked, his face scrunched in confusion. It didn’t make sense to him—how could anyone boo Michael Jordan? To Marcus, Jordan was invincible.
Thomas tried to explain, “Some people just don’t like seeing their heroes falter. They’re Knicks fans, and they’ve been beaten by Jordan too many times. They want to see him fail.”
But for Marcus, this was hard to understand. The boos continued throughout the game, growing louder as Jordan missed shots he would have made effortlessly in the past. At one point, Marcus even heard a man shout, “Overrated! Go back to baseball!” Anger rose within him as he turned to confront the man, but his father held him back.
“Don’t listen to them, Marcus,” Thomas said softly. “People forget too quickly. But remember this: true fans stick by their heroes, even when things aren’t going well.”
Despite his father’s words, Marcus couldn’t shake the feeling of sadness. He had never seen his hero fail, and it felt wrong. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Heroes were supposed to rise above all challenges, not be mocked by the very people who once cheered for them. He sat there, watching as Jordan struggled, and wondered why the magic had vanished.
When the game ended, the Bulls had lost, and Jordan’s struggles had been on full display. He had scored only 19 points, and the boos had followed him as he left the court. As the crowd filed out of the arena, Marcus remained seated, staring at the empty court. It was the first time he had ever witnessed his hero fail.
“Dad, why did they treat him like that?” Marcus whispered, his voice tinged with confusion.
Thomas knelt down and looked Marcus in the eyes. “What you saw tonight is an important lesson. Even the greatest fall sometimes. But what matters is what Jordan does next. Will he give up, or will he use this to fuel his comeback? That’s what separates legends from everyone else.”
Marcus nodded, but he wasn’t sure. He believed in Jordan’s greatness, but the doubts in his mind lingered. His father’s words stayed with him, though. He couldn’t help but feel that Jordan would come back stronger. “I believe he will,” Marcus said quietly.
The following days were filled with speculation. The world had watched as Jordan’s return to the NBA was met with disappointment, but that only fueled the fire inside him. By the time Jordan’s first full season back was in full swing, Marcus was glued to his TV, cheering on his hero. And then, it happened: Jordan returned to Madison Square Garden for a rematch against the Knicks.
This time, the atmosphere was different. Marcus had his doubts, but he refused to let them consume him. As he watched the game unfold, he could see it. Jordan was no longer the player he had been in his previous comeback game, where the rust was evident. This time, Jordan was a man on a mission. He scored 55 points, reminding everyone of the legend he had always been. The crowd, which had once booed him, was now in awe of his performance. The once-doubtful fans now gave Jordan a standing ovation.
As Marcus stood in the crowd, watching Jordan’s incredible performance, he realized the true power of belief. His father had been right all along. It wasn’t just about how many shots you made or how many trophies you won—it was about how you responded to failure. And in that moment, Marcus understood that true greatness wasn’t about never falling; it was about how you rose after the fall.
Years passed, and Marcus continued to follow Jordan’s career, watching him win championships and solidify his legacy. But it wasn’t just about the basketball games. It was about the lessons Jordan had taught him through his struggles and triumphs. Jordan’s refusal to give up, even when the odds were stacked against him, became a cornerstone of Marcus’s life. He applied those lessons in everything he did, from his career to his personal life.
Years later, Marcus was working at a youth community center in Harlem, helping kids who faced struggles similar to those he had experienced growing up. One day, while working with his students, Marcus received an unexpected invitation. It was from the Charlotte Hornets, the team Jordan now owned. The letter was a reminder of the 1995 game, and how Marcus had believed in Jordan when the world had turned its back on him. The invitation was not only a recognition of Jordan’s legacy, but also of Marcus’s own journey.
At a ceremony honoring Michael Jordan’s return to basketball, 20 years after that infamous night, Marcus and his father were invited to attend. As they stood side by side, watching Jordan accept his accolades, Marcus was overwhelmed with emotion. The same crowd that had booed Jordan all those years ago now stood to honor him. It was a full-circle moment that tied Marcus’s journey with Jordan’s in a way he could never have imagined.
As Jordan took the stage, he spoke about resilience, the importance of never giving up, and the lessons he had learned along the way. He shared stories of failure, of being booed, and of how those moments had shaped him into the man he had become. Jordan turned to Marcus and his father, thanking them for their unwavering belief in him during his darkest time.
In that moment, Marcus understood. The real lesson wasn’t about basketball—it was about life. No matter how many times you fall, what matters is how you rise again. Jordan’s journey wasn’t just about basketball; it was about the human spirit’s capacity to persevere, to overcome, and to inspire others. And in that moment, Marcus felt a profound connection not only to Jordan but to the very essence of what it meant to be great.
AP Was There: Michael Jordan retires for 3rd, final time
Michael Jordan retires at the age of 40 for the third and final time after an illustrious basketball career
Michael Jordan retires at the age of 40 for the third and final time after an illustrious basketball career. He finishes with 15 points in 28 minutes of a loss by the Washington Wizards to the 76ers in Philadelphia. Jordan receives several ovations through the game from the last sellout crowd that will ever watch him play. That includes nearly everyone in the arena giving Jordan a final lengthy standing ovation including coaches and the other players as he exits the game for good. Jordan says he’s come to grips with the fact he’ll not be in a uniform anymore with this his final retirement. The Associated Press is republishing verbatim the story of Jordan’s final game on April 16, 2003.
Michael Jordan’s coach pleaded with him to go back in the game, and the opposing coach made sure Jordan had the chance to end his career with a basket.
Jordan’s last shot was a free throw, and like his final appearance in an NBA uniform, it was good.
One of the greatest players in NBA history played the final game of his illustrious career Wednesday night, not in the setting that he would have preferred but in a special atmosphere nonetheless. Jordan’s final moment on the court ended with him receiving applause and a lengthy standing ovation from nearly everyone in the arena — including the coaches and the other players.
He soaked it all up with a wide smile and a wave to the crowd after exiting for good with 1:44 remaining in the fourth quarter of a 107-87 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
“Now I guess it hits me that I’m not going to be in a uniform anymore — and that’s not a terrible feeling,” Jordan said afterward. “It’s something that I’ve come to grips with, and it’s time. This is the final retirement.”
Jordan finished with 15 points, four rebounds and four assists in 28 minutes — drawing several adoring ovations from the last sellout crowd that will ever watch him play.
“The Philly people did a great job. They gave me the biggest inspiration, in a sense,” Jordan said. “Obviously, they wanted to see me make a couple of baskets and then come off. That was very, very respectful, and I had a good time.”
Jordan’s final points almost looked scripted, with Eric Snow of the 76ers fouling him in the backcourt for no apparent reason except to send him to the line.
“Coach (Larry Brown) told me to foul him, get him to the line to get some points and get him out of there,” Snow said.
Both foul shots went in, and the Wizards committed a foul one second later so that Jordan could be removed from the game and receive the proper send-off. In a rare scene, the 10 players who remained on the court turned to Jordan and applauded, too.
The 40-year-old Jordan would have preferred to end his career in the playoffs, but the Wizards never clicked during his two years in Washington and finished 37-45 in both seasons.
But that was merely a footnote on this stirring night, the last time the basketball public was treated to one of the greatest athletes in history playing the game one last time.
Jordan finished his career with 32,292 points — the third-highest total in league history, behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone. His final career average of 30.12 goes down as the best in NBA history, just ahead of Wilt Chamberlain’s 30.07.
“I never, never took the game for granted. I was very true to the game, and the game was very true to me. It was just that simple,” Jordan said.
With the Sixers ahead by 21 points with 9 1/2 minutes remaining, the crowd began chanting “We want Mike.″ The chant grew louder as the period progressed with Jordan remaining seated, and fans ignored the game to stand and stare at the Wizards’ bench, wondering why Jordan wasn’t playing.
This being Philadelphia, they eventually booed.
Jordan finally pulled his warmups off and re-entered the game with 2:35 left for his brief final appearance.
“I played here. I told him I at least have to be able to come back (to Philadelphia),” Wizards coach Doug Collins said. “I told him to go back in for a minute. He said, ‘I’m stiff.’ I said, ‘Please. They want to see you.’ He said, ‘Larry Hughes is going to foul out soon, so put me in then.’”
Earlier in the game, Jordan showed his age.
There was a play in the first quarter when he looked like the Jordan of old, except for the result. Starting near the foul line, Jordan ducked his shoulder, lowered his head, stuck out his tongue and drove to his right, the ball rolling off his fingers ever so softly as it arched toward the net.
Rather than going in, though, the ball hit the front rim and missed — one of several of his shots that came up a few inches short.
One of the exceptions was Jordan’s final shot of the first half — a one-handed dunk that came after he received a nice pass under the basket from Bobby Simmons.
Jordan hit his first two shots of the third quarter but didn’t do much else positive in the period. On an alley-oop pass from Tyronn Lue, the ball hit him in the fingertips and bounced harmlessly away. A lazy crosscourt pass was picked off by Aaron McKie, leading to one of Philadelphia’s 31 fast-break points. Jordan’s final field-goal attempt was a missed layup with 8:13 remaining.
“I’m not embarrassed,” Jordan said, “but it’s just not … I’ve had better feelings in terms of playing a competitive game.”
Allen Iverson scored 35 points as the Sixers clinched home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. They open against New Orleans on Sunday night.
Many people in the sellout crowd wore Jordan replica jerseys, including one small boy in an oversized black Bulls jersey who wasn’t looking when Jordan, about to inbound the ball, tussled his hair as the boy walked along the sideline. When the child turned around, he was stunned.
The 76ers had a couple of pregame surprises for Jordan, presenting him with a golf cart driven onto the court by Moses Malone and Julius Erving, then having longtime Chicago Bulls public address announcer Ray Clay introduce Jordan with his familiar inflection of “From North Carolina …”
The standing ovation that Jordan received lasted about three minutes, with Jordan smiling, nodding and chewing gum throughout. The group Boyz II Men sang “It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye” between the first and second quarters as a montage of Jordan’s career highlights was shown on the scoreboard.
Jordan’s best moments — his shot over Craig Ehlo in Cleveland, his shoulder-shrug after hitting all those 3-pointers against Portland in the Finals, his switching-hands layup against the Lakers — will be what most people remember most about his career. His last two seasons in Washington will be somewhat of a footnote.
“We both feel the same way right now: We’re very, very disappointed,” Collins said before the game. “We had good players, we just didn’t fit. So I know there’s a part of him that was hoping we could make the playoffs to show that we did the right thing and made the right moves, but if we lose tonight, we’re basically the same team we were a year ago, record-wise.
“From Michael’s standpoint, he wanted desperately to be in the playoffs. But I just get a sense that after tonight is over, he’ll breathe a sigh of relief and say ‘You know what, it’s done now.’”
Notes: Veteran referee Tommy Nunez, 64, worked his final regular-season game. He has been an NBA official for 30 seasons. … Wizards F Charles Oakley vented his displeasure before the game, then sat out because of knee tendinitis — the 40th game in which he did not play. “If I knew this was the way it was going to happen, I never would have signed here. It’s just a bad time,” Oakley said.
