Retired NBA shooting guard Craig Ehlo spent 15 years playing professional, but his career highlight was on the wrong side of a great moment for Hall of Fame Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan.
Jordan hit “The Shot” (one of many “Shots” in his distinguished career) over Ehlo to sink the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5 of the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Now, Ehlo is claiming he could have done a better job to prevent “His Airness” from connecting for one of his legendary moments.
Per Ehlo to Zach Braziller in the New York Post:
“I was kind of standing lazily, not in a great defensive position, because I thought I had somebody in front of him that was going to deny him the basketball,” Ehlo said.
“As soon as I got to the wing, he was already dribbling back to the free-throw line,” Ehlo said. “So I wasn’t defensive sliding with him and so I was kind of running to catch up sideline to sideline.
“I get my hand up, and I think that’s why everyone thinks it was great defense. I did contest it. … As soon as I went by, he let go and had a clean look at it, and the rest is history.”
Michael Jordan and the Bulls went on to defeat the New York Knicks in the second round but lose to the eventual-champion Detroit Pistons in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Most of Ehlo's career was forgotten and his legacy has, unfortunately for him, been attached to a defining moment early into Jordan's career of a buzzer-beating, series-winning bucket.
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