Twenty-five years ago today, Michael Jordan hit "The Shot," a play that remains one of the signature highlights of his career. Craig Ehlo, the man who makes up the other half of that iconic moment, talked to us last year about what it was like to guard Michael Jordan. Here's how he remembers the shot that reduced him to a crumpled mess:
I remember, Larry got in front of him at the top of the key and I was behind him. That made me relax a little bit, because we had the double team. [Jordan] got the ball and went right, and Larry, who's 6-11, went with him. And then Michael cut right back to his left and that crossed Larry up, and next thing you know I'm by myself with him right at the wing. The double team didn't work at all. I chased him out to the wing, and when I chased him out he was coming right back to the rim. I always had a good defensive stance, but he was so quick that I had to run with him, and when I did I crossed my feet. So when he stopped to pull up for the jumper, I was still running. I kept with him but because I was running, I sort of went by him—but I still had my hand in his face.
The way that game was going, I thought that shot was going in right away. I saw the flight of the ball, and I knew it was going in. But I was still praying that it would hit the rim and bounce out or something. It did bounce once but then it dropped in, and our season was over with. That's why I fell to the ground—because I just didn't want it to end in that situation. I always tell people, I grew up watching ABC's Wide World of Sports and they had that "agony of defeat" line, you know? And I felt like that guy. It was just agony that we got beat. And then of course I had to watch him jump up and down. And seeing Doug Collins run around only made it worse.
Scroll down to read the rest of our interview with Ehlo.