In cooperation with FIVE Magazine
Imagine you wake up in the middle of the night. Shaking. Sweating. Nauseas. You feel partially paralyzed. So you call the medical staff who tells you that you’re either suffering from food poisoning or an intestinal stomach virus. They also tell you that you won’t be able to follow your profession. That game 5 of the NBA Finals is likely happening without you. What do you do?
(Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
Imagine you try. On gameday you make your way to the arena. You find yourself a dark room next door your team’s locker room. You lay down, picture yourself shooting, dribbling, passing, dunking. Are you ready? Not quite. Nevertheless you put on your uniform and tell coach Phil Jackson that you’ll give it a shot. The game starts. Dragging yourself from one end of the court to the other, you can hardly run. There’s nothing you can do. Heck, dehydrated, you feel like you might pass out any second. And the Utah Jazz make the best of it. They come out flying. They hit jumpers, layups, they leave you and your team in despair. After 12 minutes your Bulls are down 13 points, during the second quarter the deficit even jumps to 16. You feel weak. Helpless. What do you do?
Imagine giving up is not an option. You want this. You know that another loss – the third in a row in a best-of-seven series – could be too much to come back from. You can’t let that happen. Then something else happens. You’ve always had that desire but now it’s reaching its peak. All of a sudden shots begin to fall. You start dominating. While on the court, dehydration, nausea suddenly feel like some distant memory. You still don’t feel great, but mind starts winning its battle over body. Within one quarter you put up 17 points. Yet, at half time, your Bulls are still down 4 points. What do you do?
Imagine fatigue returns. After one quarter of heroics your body seems to take control over your mind again. It’s tough. All you want to do right now, is lay down. You need rest. Screw that, what you need more than rest is this win. Right now, though, there is nothing you can do. Helplessness has returned. The Jazz have returned. They land punch after punch, pull away again, until they’ve got another 8-point lead early in the forth quarter. What do you do?
Imagine there is another comeback. Shots fall again, your teammates give you all the help you can ask for. Point by point the deficit is erased. With a soft jumper you even give your team a slight two-point advantage. The turning point? Not yet. With a little more than three minutes to go, a triple by John Stockton gives Utah another three-point lead. It’s tough. What do you do?
Imagine this time your Bulls prevail. There is no more Utah run. The game stays close. With 46.5 seconds to go, you hit a free throw to level the score. Number two hits the rim, but there is Toni Kukoc. He tips the offensive board right back to you. What do you do?
Imagine there are several options. You chose Scottie Pippen who is posting up Jeff Hornacek. As soon as he gets the ball the Jazz start double teaming though. So he passes right back to you. What do you do?
Imagine there are 26 seconds left. The score is still leveled. Behind the three-point line you lift off. John Stockton tries to prevent the inevitable. But you don’t care. Your triple hits nothing but net. Three point lead! Having just scored your points 36, 37 and 38 – 13,14 and 15 of quarter number four – you watch Greg Ostertag dunk the ball, Luc Longley doing the exact same thing at the other end and Jeff Hornacek missing a possibly game-tying three pointer. The Bulls did it. You did it. Although, you being sick to your stomach, you guys have just won game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals. You’ve scored 38 points, made 13 of your 27 shots, 10 of your 12 free throws. You’ve grabbed 7 rebounds, dished out 5 assists, topped everything with 3 steals and a block. You’ve just had one of the most memorable performances in NBA-Finals history. Scottie Pippen lays his arm around you and leads you off the court. You’re exhausted. What do you do?
Normal people like us might just wake up. Michael Jordan left the Delta Center and went on to win his fifth NBA championship two days later.