‘It’s Gotta Be The Shoes’ – Air Jordan 4
Air Jordan 4 (1988 – 89)
Do the right thing…and buy yourself a Pair of Air Jordan 4’s!
The release of the Air Jordan 4’s in 1989 featured some heavy promotion from Spike Lee, who reportedly liked the shoes so much that he plugged them in his movie Do the Right Thing as well as endorsing them (albeit as his alter ego Mars Blackmon) in the popular Can/Can’t do Nike commercials
Triple Double Threat
Meanwhile the young and upstart Bulls went through a major reshuffle in the 1988-89 season, with Jordan’s on court body guard and rebounding menace Charles Oakley traded to the New York Knicks in exchange for veteran Bill Cartwright. Young sophomores Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant were given more responsibilities in the starting line up and the Bulls were without a conventional point guard, as most of their guards were specialist outside shooters such as Craig Hodges and John Paxson who weren’t adept to primary play making and ball handling roles. Consequently MJ was thrust into the No 1 play making position whilst at the same time having to help fill in the rebounding void that was left by Oakley. As a result, MJ become 3-dimensional, recording 15 triple doubles that season, including a phenomenal streak late in the season where he had 10 triple doubles in 11 games. During that stretch he averaged 33.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 11.4 assists.
MJ’s final season stats were staggering: 32.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 8.0 assists. In addition he was amongst the NBA’s leading thieves at 234 steals and shot an incredible 53.8% from the field and 85.0% from the line. For his efforts he was selected on both the All-NBA’s First team and All Defensive First Team.
‘The Shot’ – Reversing the fortunes of two Franchises.
The 1988-89 season marked the rise of a potential Dynasty – back then many thought that team was the Cleveland Cavaliers. The nucleus of young guns Brad Daugherty, Mark Price, Ron Harper and ‘Hot Rod’ Williams along with the aid of ex-Dunk champion Larry Nance and the NBA’s all time winningest coach Lenny Wilkens propelled the Cavs to an impressive 57-25 record, tying the LA Lakers with the second best record in the NBA that season behind the soon to be champion ‘Bad Boy’ Detroit Pistons. The Cavs drew praise from a lot of plaudits, including the NBA’s regular season MVP Magic Johnson who predicted that the Cavs would become the ‘Team of the 90’s’.
The first round of the 1989 Playoffs matched the Dynasty in waiting Cavs against Jordan’s erratic Bulls, who had regressed from the season before. The Cavs totally dominated the Bulls during that regular season, winning all 6 of their meetings including their final season game at Chicago stadium before their playoff matchup, where the Cavs rested their dynamic all star trio of Daugherty, Price and Nance and still won. Many sportswriters and commentators predicted a first round sweep for the Cavs….
How wrong were the predictions! If you’re going to bet, never bet against No 23, especially if he’s wearing Air Jordan 4’s!
Not only did Chicago bring the first round playoff series to a decisive fifth game at Cleveland, but Michael Jordan, (perhaps the greatest clutch player of them all) effectively eliminated the Cavs from the playoffs with his mid air hanging jump shot over Craig Ehlo that gave the Bulls a dramatic 1 point win. With ‘The Shot’, Jordan reversed the fortune of the two Franchises. From that point onwards, it was Jordan’s Bulls – Not the Cavs – that would go on to become the undisputed team of the 90’s by winning 6 NBA titles and cementing their place amongst one of the NBA’s greatest Dynasties!
The Cavs tragically became one of the most unluckiest teams to have played in Jordan’s era, as they became the victim of Jordan’s greatest on court exploits and were eliminated a further 3 occasions from the playoffs by the Bulls, including the 1993 playoffs, where Jordan’s ‘Shot 2’ once again eliminated the Cavs from the playoffs and brought about the demise of their once ‘Dynasty’ touted roster.
How ironic that the Air Jordan IV ‘Can/Can’t Do commercials coincided with these two team’s reversal of fortunes.
- For MJ – Can make the Shot. Can win titles. Can make the Bulls the team of the 90’s
- For Cleveland – Can’t beat the Bulls. Can’t win titles, Can’t become the team of the 90’s.
But with Lebron & Shaq now at the helm, Can the Cavaliers finally win a title? Only time will tell…