It was the winter of 1995, major league baseball was on strike and Michael Jordan — at that time still a member of the Chicago White Sox organization — refused to be a scab and cross the picket lines.
“Mike was thinking about coming back (to the NBA), he was getting that itch again, it was a lockout in baseball, and he just wanted to play some basketball,” NBA legend Tim Hardaway told NBC Sports.
The Last Dance documentary covered how Jordan was secretly taking part in Bulls’ practices at that time. What it didn’t cover was the time Jordan flew out to California to see his friend, Rod Higgins (a Warriors assistant coach), and absolutely dominated a Warriors practice.
“It was kind of embarrassing for a guy to take that many months off then to come into our practice and dominate the way he did,” Hardaway said. “But of course, he’s MJ.”
Warriors players tell the story on The Sports Uncovered podcast, which launched today by NBC and takes a unique look at some of the most significant moments in sports. Like Jordan saying, “I’m back.” You can listen to the podcast below or download it at Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your pods.
Jordan was always looking for a test, and the Warriors at the time provided one: Hardaway was one of the game’s great scorers (but was still coming off a torn ACL) and trash talkers, and Golden State had the game’s “it” up-and-coming player in Latrell Sprewell.
Hardaway takes the story from there.
“[Jordan] and [then Warriors assistant coach] Rod Higgins are really good friends, he just came to visit Rod and said, ‘Hey, Rod, you think [Don Nelson] would let me just come to practice and with y’all?’ And Rod asked him and coach was like, ‘s ***, why not, of course.’
“He just wanted to see where he was at, where his skills was at — and of course they was still there. The same skills, without much rust, that he left with. He was practicing with us, and I came up and was egging him on, ‘Let’s see what you got, s***, let’s see it.’ He said, ‘Alright, now, I’m still MJ.’ And I was like, ‘You had guys throwing balls at you, you been out two years, I heard you been shooting around but this here, this is the real deal now, you got to come and lace your s*** up.”
“It was him, Rony Seikaly, Chris Mullin, some other point guard, against me, Sprewell, some other guys, and man, we was playing for like two hours, and I wanted to go some more because he was bustin’ our a**. He wouldn’t let Sprewell dribble the ball at all — he kinda knew exactly what Sprewell could do, what he couldn’t do, his weaknesses and his strengths.
“It was like he never missed a beat, man. He was out there shooting fadeaways, dunking, playing defense, getting through screens, denying, jumping through passing lanes. It was a little rust, of course, but once he got going each game he got stronger and stronger, his timing got better, you could just tell. He was kinda tired at the end, but it was something to see.”
Hardaway, always the competitor, didn’t want to stop.
“I was kinda upset because I think his team took it more seriously than our team,” Hardaway said. “But he came in and put on a show in practice…
“He said ‘I can play all night, but you all have a game tomorrow and I don’t want to wear you out.’ I was not playing that much anyway so I wanted to get as much run as I can.”
Find out more about that legendary practice, and Jordan’s return, on The Sports Uncovered podcast.

 
The last NBA player with this kind of stat line? Wilt Chamberlain in 1968, when Planet of the Apes was a new movie just hitting theaters.
Nikola Jokic scored 40 points with 27 rebounds, 10 assists, and two steals Sunday night in a triple-double against the Hornets.
Nikola Jokic put up historic numbers in the Nuggets win tonight.
40 PTS
27 REB
10 AST
2 STL
He’s the first player to record 40+ PTS, 25+ REB, and 10+ AST in a game since Wilt Chamberlain in 1968. pic.twitter.com/JfKjl9Ngi6
— NBA (@NBA) December 19, 2022

Jokic got to that triple-double partly because coach Michael Malone had to lean on him in the fourth quarter when the Nuggets bench struggled to hold on to a lead. Jokic scored 13 points in the third by hitting a couple of 3-pointers and getting to the line six times.
Denver hung on for the 119-115 win. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 20 for the Nuggets, while LaMelo Ball paced the Hornets with 31.
Jokic, the reigning back-to-back MVP, is again putting up numbers that inject him into that conversation: 24.6 points, 10.3 rebounds and nine assists a game. A three-peat may be a tough sell with some voters — especially in a season with a deep list of players having strong campaigns, such as Jayson Tatum and Giannis Antetokounmpo — but Jokic has to be in the conversation.
And a historic 40-point triple-double is the kind of performance that sticks in voters’ minds.
MIAMI (AP) — Former Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks star Amar’e Stoudemire is facing a misdemeanor battery charge after he allegedly hit one of his teenage daughters in the face.
Miami-Dade County court records show that Stoudemire, 40, was arrested early Sunday and later released on $1,500 bond with a no-contact order issued.
Miami Police officials did not immediately respond to a phone message from The Associated Press.
But The Miami Herald, citing a police report, said Stoudemire struck one of his two teenage daughters during an argument at his Miami home Saturday night. The newspaper says he has two daughters, ages 17 and 14, but the report doesn’t specify which one he allegedly struck.
According to the paper, the 6-foot-10 (2.1 meters), 255-pound (115 kilogram) Stoudemire confronted the girl and accused her of being disrespectful to his mother during a phone call. When she denied it, he told her “You’re talking back again,” and punched her in the jaw, leaving her bleeding, the report says.
The girl contacted her mother, Stoudemire’s ex-wife, who came to home and picked up the two girls, their two brothers and then contacted police.
The report says that when officers went to Stoudemire’s home, he told them the teen had called her mother “because she was sad” and she “was sad because she received a whooping from him for being disrespectful and a liar.” He then invoked his right to remain silent.
No attorney for Stoudemire is listed in court records. His Instagram page shows he had received his master’s degree earlier Saturday from the University of Miami.
Stoudemire played 15 seasons in the NBA, winning the Rookie of the Year award after the 2002-03 season after being drafted by the Suns. After eight seasons with Phoenix, he was traded to New York, where he played five years. He finished his NBA career with one season each with the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat, before playing in Israel. He retired in 2017.
During his NBA career, Stoudemire made six All-Star teams and five All-NBA teams averaging 18.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.
When Anthony Davis is on the court this season, the Lakers outscore their opponents by 2 points per 100 possessions. When he sits, they get outscored by 5.2 per 100.
Which is about to be a serious issue as Davis is out indefinitely — some reports say at least a month — with a foot injury. Shams Charania of The Athletic was first with the news.
Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis is expected to miss at least one month after suffering a right foot injury, multiple sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 18, 2022

Adrian Wojnarowski and Dave McMenamin of ESPN added these details.
Davis underwent an MRI on Saturday after leaving Friday night’s victory over the Denver Nuggets and was still undergoing more evaluation Sunday with a specialist, sources said.
This is still vague about the injury meaning we don’t know how long Davis will be out. However, it’s not good news in Los Angeles.
Davis appeared to injure his foot in the first quarter against Denver, when he drove to the rim on Nikola Jokic.
Anthony Davis scored 10 PTS in 17 MINS before leaving the game with a right foot injury. pic.twitter.com/cIa4ivrFYw
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) December 17, 2022

Davis has been one of the most snakebit players with injuries in recent years, missing more than half the Lakers games over the past two seasons.
When healthy he has been a force this season, averaging 24.7 points on 59.3% shooting plus 12.1 rebounds a night. He has embraced playing center again and thrived in the role. He has played at an All-NBA level and shown up on some extended MVP lists.
Davis’ injury leaves the 12-16 Lakers with questions heading into the trade deadline. Should Los Angeles be aggressive in getting another center, maybe the Bulls’ Nikola Vucevic or the Pacers’ Myles Turner? Vucevic would require at least Patrick Beverley, Kendrick Nunn and a first-round pick to get a deal done. Or, is that the kind of half-measure the Lakers should avoid and instead wait until next offseason to make a much more bold move? (In an ideal world for Los Angeles, the Bulls would make DeMar DeRozan available in a big trade that would send Russell Westbrook and picks to Chicago, but the Bulls do not appear to be thinking of breaking up their core like that right now.)
The Lakers face the Washington Wizards on Sunday night, without Davis. The first in a string of games without him.
CLEVELAND — Jarrett Allen‘s dunk with 2:01 remaining in overtime gave Cleveland a 100-99 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night, keeping the Cavaliers unbeaten in five OT games this season.
Allen outjumped two defenders to grab a lob from Darius Garland, then slammed home the ball over Christian Wood for the final points in the five-minute session. Kemba Walker had opened OT with a 3-pointer to give Dallas a 99-96 lead.
OT DIMES FROM DG TO JA!
📺 #CavsMavs on @BallySportsCLE pic.twitter.com/W140wJ9adR
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) December 18, 2022

“It was a character win because we just didn’t have it tonight,” Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “But that wasn’t an excuse for the guys. They went out and picked it up defensively, which you’ve got to do when your shots aren’t falling.”
The Mavericks had three opportunities to take the lead in the last minute, including Wood’s 30-footer as time expired. Frank Ntilikina was stripped by Donovan Mitchell and Walker’s jumper landed between the backboard and the rim on the other two.
Mitchell scored 25 points and Darius Garland had 18 points, seven rebounds and 12 assists for Cleveland, which has the best home record in the NBA at 14-2. Allen added eight points and 15 rebounds, and Evan Mobley had 17 points and eight rebounds.
“Nights like this, it’s all mental, so you’ve got to fight real deep and find that energy,” said Mobley, who scored 10 points in the fourth quarter. “But we got the stops we needed at the end.”
Four-time All-Star guard Walker, who signed with Dallas on Nov. 29, had 32 points and seven assists over 42 minutes in his third game. Wood had 26 points and 14 rebounds, and Hardaway scored 13 points.
Dallas forced OT on Walker’s driving layup with 3.5 seconds left in the fourth, tying the score at 96-all. After Mitchell was called for an offensive foul with 0.7 ticks left, Tim Hardaway Jr. missed a half-court shot at the buzzer.
Dallas was without its starting backcourt of Luka Doncic (right quadriceps strain) and Spencer Dinwiddie (right knee maintenance), and center Dwight Powell (left thigh bruise). Doncic is the second-leading scorer in the NBA at 33.0 points per game.
“You have to have a next-man up mentality — and we had a lot of next men up tonight,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “This is the hardest part of our schedule, but we’re professionals and we’re here.”
The Cavaliers are 2-0 on their longest homestand of the season, a six-gamer that runs through Dec. 26. Cleveland is allowing a league-low 104.8 points per game.
Both teams were on the second half of a back-to-back set. The Cavaliers beat Indiana 118-112 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, while the Mavericks did not check into their downtown Cleveland hotel until 3:37 a.m.

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