Sunday's finale of “The Last Dance” featured what was arguably the greatest shot in Michael Jordan's entire career. As you know, we're talking about that shot he made in the dying seconds of Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz.
That game-winner, however, did not come without controversy. There are some who believe that Jordan should have been called for an offensive foul for pushing off Jazz defender Byron Russell before Jordan took that jumper. Veteran referee Danny Crawford, who was one of the game officials during that game, once addressed the non-call. Crawford stands by his decision to not call the foul on the Chicago Bulls legend to this very day.
I spoke to referee Danny Crawford a few years about if MJ pushed off in ‘98 & he said you can’t blow a whistle on “what you thought you saw” in real time. “It wasn’t an egregious play where you thought, ‘Oh, no. You can’t do that.’ It was a tough play that could go either way.”
— Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) May 18, 2020
There's no denying that Michael Jordan pushed off Russell, but the question is whether or not that should have been a foul. So many factors come into play, and at the end of the day, it all boils down to the referee's split-second decision. In the end, Crawford and the rest of the officiating team that fateful evening opted not to blow the whistle and allowed play to carry on. This resulted in what was one of the most memorable shots in NBA Finals history.
In truth, this issue died down pretty quickly during that time. Sure, there are some folks — mostly Jazz fans — that to this very day will say that Jordan should have been whistled for an offensive foul. That's all water under the bridge now, and Crawford's statement here just reaffirms how they would not have done it another way even they were given a second shot at calling the play.
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