A little more than 25 years ago, Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls defeated the Utah Jazz in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. With Jordan battling an illness of some sort the entire game, he scored 38 points and willed the underdog Bulls to a victory over the Jazz, putting the Bulls up 3 - 2 in the series. Forever dubbed "the flu game," the iconic shot was of Michael Jordan leaning into Scottie Pippen late in the game and being helped off the basketball court, barely able to stand on his own.
For me and so many others who watched "the flu game," it was perhaps the most memorable testament of Michael Jordan's indomitable will to win and a hyper competitiveness that was unlike anything any of us had ever seen in sports.
Last Saturday, New Year's Eve, Michael Jordan would have been proud of Joe as he battled a terrible cough and shortness of breath through five games in a 3-on-3 tournament at Legacy Courts in Franklin. He was the third player on what turned out to be a three man team, so if he had not played, his team - the Bucket Squad - would have had to forfeit.
We're not bad parents, mind you. Joe had been to the pediatrician, who told us he was congested and the occasional shortness of breath was nothing out of the ordinary. She told us the cough was something he had to fight through. Well, that's exactly what he did.
I watched games 2 - 4, then JP and I left and Jude watched the final game. That's where the magic happened, as it turns out.
I watched in admiration, maybe even a little bit of awe, early in game 2 as Joe leaned over with his hand on his knees during a break in the action. I overheard a parent of a boy on the other team remark that one of the boys on our team - Joe - already was tired. I was tempted to turn around and tell them he was my son and that he was under the weather but I didn't want to give them an edge.
After losing game 1 in overtime, 26 - 24, I watched Joe play his ass off the next two games. He passed the ball well, as he he normally does and he hit a few important shots. What impressed me most, though, was his defense and rebounding.
Defense and rebounding are are all desire and effort. At one point in game 3 - a close loss to the Ballers - Joe boxed another, taller boy out so thoroughly that the boy retaliated by shoving Joe and was hit with a technical foul. I can't remember if Joe hit the ensuing free throw or not but to me, it didn't matter. What mattered was that Joe was battling for position and hitting the boards to rebound, just like I've taught him and just like we try to teach all of his teammates.
On another play in the same game, Joe guarded his man as he drove the lane, then switched off for a double team when his man passed the ball to a mother player under the basket. Joe swatted the ball out of the player's hand then, in the ensuing scrum, Joe saved the ball by one-hand passing it to his teammate, Pike, before falling to the floor out of bounds.
On that play alone, Joe was like a whirling dervish, as he seemingly was everywhere all at once. Perhaps more than anything he did the entire day, that play showed his heart and his desire to compete, and to win. That's Joe.
In game 5 - the finals - Joe's team played the Ballers again. Early on, they trailed by 10 points and it looked like they were headed for another loss. However, they rallied, only to find themselves down buy five points with less than thirty seconds remaining. First, Joe hit Nash with a nifty bounce pass for a back door layup to cut the lead to three points.
Then, after Joe's team got the ball back, he and Pike worked the two man game to perfection and Pike launched a 3-pointer with less than 10 seconds left in the game. Nothing but net. Game tied. Sudden death overtime.
The Ballers got the ball first and scored. Then, Nash drove to the basket and scored, too. A layup. On to free throws to decide the championship.
The Ballers' player hit his free throw. Pike stepped up and, although he is not a good free shooter, knocked his free throw down.
Next up, Joe. Ice water in his veins and a kid who lives for this kind of moment. Joe hit his free throw, decisively. The Ballers' player missed his and the game was over. A tourney title for the Bucket Squad.
Perhaps no game better encapsulates who Joe is as a boy and an athlete. Not the strongest. Not the fastest. Not the most athletic. Very smart. Very unselfish. Almost always makes the right play. And no 1 year old I know has a bigger heart and a desire to win in that heart that burns as brightly as it does in Joe.
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