Michael Jordan's Universe - Online Youtube Streaming Collection

The 1992 season began with the Chicago as the favorites to win the NBA crown. As the Lakers and the Pistons before them, Michael Jordan & co were set to prove that they deserved a place among the elite teams in NBA history. And their task seemed to be made easier, as Magic Johnson, the superstar of the Lakers, whom the Bulls faced in the 1991 Finals, was forced to retire because he was found to be HIV positive. The Celtics and the Pistons seemed as the teams to beat, but the Bulls had the advantage of confidence and youth, as opposed to the aging and injury plagued Isiah Thomas and Larry Bird. And they also had Michael Jordan. Finally cementing his status as the NBA best player by winning a championship and a new MVP trophy, Jordan wanted the 1992 season to be a season to remember. However, despite high scoring games from Jordan the Bulls would lose the first 2 of 3. Since that moment on, they started to roll, going on a 14 game winning streak, and were quickly to establish the best record in the NBA, as talks of a 70 win season grew louder and louder.
	Michael Jordan's scoring outbursts were fewer than in the previous years, partly because of the development of solid teammates like Pippen, Grant, BJ Armstrong and the ever-important Bills Cartwright and John Paxson. He had only one 50 point game in the regular season (against the Denver Nuggets), and 9 40+ point games, bringing his average to just about 30.1. He would also miss 2 games that season, one due to a knee injury and one due to suspension. Michael Jordan was again awarded the regular season MVP award, the 3rd of his career, won his 6th straight scoring title, and the Bulls finished with the best record in the league of 67-15, also best record up until then in franchise history. All this success made the Bulls very optimistic when the playoffs went underway.
The opponent in the first round was the Miami Heat. A new club, it had some great young prospects at guard position in Steve Smith and especially Glenn Rice, so as usual Michael Jordan too the challenge personally. He would score 46 (almost goof for a triple double), 33 and finally 56 points on the road in Game 3 in Miami. The first 2 games at the Chicago Stadium were blowouts, only the last one was more competitive, yet everyone got a good treat as Air Jordan was at his best with some spectacular dunks and plays. The second round brought in the New York Knicks. The Knicks had been eliminated by the Bulls without any problems in the previous year, and as they kept the same roster built around Patrick Ewing, the Bulls assumed the result would be the same. But one thing the Knicks finally added to the puzzle was a championship coach in the person of Pat Riley. If the Bulls were glad the Knicks eliminated the Pistons in the first round, they would find out that the Pistons physical play would be elevated to a new dimension by New York. The entire series would prove to be a struggle for control. The Knicks would take game 1 behind a stifling defense, clogging the lane and manhandling the Bulls frontcourt. Jordan would get the Bulls back into the series, winning games 2 and 3, before losing game 4 at Madison Square Garden. Back the Chicago Stadium, the Bulls won game 5 behind Michael Jordan's 37 point effort. However, facing elimination, the Knicks dug deep and found a way to win game 6, withstanding what appeared to be a severe ankle sprain by center Patrick Ewing, only to see him return and decisively contribute to the 100-84 victory in the 4th quarter. However, game 7 was Michael Jordan's turn to deliver. He started quickly out of the gates, scoring a massive 35 points in the first half, and inspiring the Bulls players by standing up to the Knicks physical assault. Jordan finished the game with 42 points and propelled the Bulls to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they would meet the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Eastern Finals would present the Bulls a different adversary than the Knicks, which relied on execution and experience more than muscle to achieve their goal. The Cavs had veterans like Mark Price, Larry Nance, Brad Daugherty and Greg Ehlo, all willing to take revenge for the torment that Michael Jordan and the Bulls were putting them through since the famous buzzer beater in 1989. This was an odd series, both teams winning once on the opponent's floor and neither game being close. However, the Bulls led all the way, and after winning game 5, they falt they found the answer to slowing down the Cavaliers, and were determined to close things out. Jordan was unspectacular for the first 3 quarters, but came up with some big shots down the stretch to give the Bulls a 99-94 victory on the road and move into the much expected NBA Finals. The Bulls would meet the Portland Trail Blazers in the final act, a series which was highly anticipated by everyone, because it opposed the 2 most spectacular teams and the games best two guards. The Blazers were beaten by Detroit 2 years earlier in the 1990 Finals, but now they felt they had the team to win it all, behind Drexler, Terry Porter, rebounding expert Buck Williams, Jerome Kersey, Kevin Duckworth, Cliff Robinson or Danny Ainge. The media obviously focused on the Jordan -Drexler matchup, and several analysts felt Jordan was the superior of the two, except for one area: the 3 point shot. Taking notice of the criticism related to his reluctance to shoot from long range, Michael Jordan decided to put that story to rest, draining 6 three pointers in the first half of Game 1. He would score 35 points in the half, and NBA finals record, effectively winning the game and showing everybody who was the boss. Game 2 seemed to go Chicago's way, especially when Clyde Drexler was called for his 6th foul midway through the 4th quarter. The Bulls were leading, and seemed that nothing would take away their victory. However, Portland found the resources to strike and make a huge run, forcing overtime and eventually winning in Chicago 115-104. Jordan had 39 points in both games in Chicago. Realizing they need to keep their poise all game long, the Bulls did just that in an impressive victory in game 3 in Portland, 94-84. Even if the score would not show a big difference and Michael only scored 26, the dominance that the Bulls displayed suggested game 2 was just an accident. But then came another accident in game 4, when the Bulls again were unable to keep the lead and the Blazers were able to level the series at 2 after a 93-88 victory. Seemingly angered by the idea that they keep giving games away, Jordan exploded for 46 points in game 5 to seal an 119-106 advantage for the Bulls and return confident to the Chicago Stadium leading 3-2 for Game 6. However, what did not happen all series long, when most of the time the Bulls were in control except for the late runs when the Blazers won their 2 games, it unexpectedly happened through the first 3 quarters of game 3. Portland looked like a team on a mission, grabbing the lead and halting every Bulls’ run attempt, while Chicago looked tired and out of rhythm. Phil Jackson took a chance and decided to rest Michael Jordan at the beginning of the 4th quarter, with his team down 79-64. Michael's place was taken by seldom used 3 point specialist Bobby Hansen, which immediately made an impact with scoring a 3 and stealing the ball from Clyde Drexler. At that moment it was Scottie Pippen's time to take center stage and seek vindication for his share of criticism he received throughout the playoffs. He scored on a variety of moves, bringing the Bulls back within 5 points, at the moment of Jordan's return. With the momentum swung and the two Bulls superstars were rejuvenated, Portland could do nothing to keep their lead, as Jordan and Pippen scored all of the Bulls points late in the 4th quarter, giving the Bulls a 97-93 win en route to their second consecutive NBA championship. As it was proven the repeat was far more difficult than anyone would have anticipated, their strong regular season was not enough to smoothen their way through the playoffs. But the Bulls found a way to dig deep and when they truly needed to win, found a way to do it and eventually remain on top of the NBA. For Michael Jordan the season was far from over. He would return to Portland just 2 weeks later to lead the American team through the Olympic qualifying tournament of the Americas, and then participate with the same Dream Team at the Olympic Games in Barcelona. There in Spain, after a massive survey among the world's sportscasters and journalists, it was apparent that Jordan had started to cement his legacy as the greatest player in the history of basketball.