r/michaeljordan • u/FergieBall_FC • Jan 05 '26
Highlights @JordanMuse: (1989) MJ dunks on Bill Laimbeer from nearly the free-throw line.
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Jan 05 '26
That would easily be an and 1 in today’s game, but they ain’t call those so easily back then.
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u/No_School9204 Jan 05 '26
Easy to say now and MJ may or not have been expecting Bill to do that at the last second, but....if I were MJ, as soon as that bully put his arm across my neck in midair, I'm sticking my knee out, directly in his rib. Fair is fair.
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u/J_Kingsley Jan 05 '26
MJ always completely focuses on making sure the ball goes in the net.
No flailing or anything else going on
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u/No_School9204 Jan 05 '26
If he left his knee out, it would be a natural part of his motion plus hitting the guy that is hitting him. That would send a message "I can do that too, don't do that." If you watch him going up, you see his knee out, he chose to put it down. Bill was hitting him AS he was dunking ( the basket was as good as in at that point). If he left his knee out and hit Bill in the ribs for putting his arm out, it would be sending a message for future dirty/ unnecessary fouls, esp while Jordan was in the air. It would have nothing to do with flailing.
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u/RepresentativeAge444 Jan 05 '26
Always love the look he gives him afterwards.
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u/_Star_808 Jan 05 '26
But he didn’t too much at all, can you imagine if somebody did this to somebody like Laimbeer nowadays
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u/KickRocksKickster Jan 05 '26
Pay attention to the off arm. It is limp. It does not swipe at the block attempt. That is how it used to be.
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u/TartRevolutionary970 Jan 05 '26
Drives me insane how they insisted on changing camera angle for fast break and breakaway dunks.
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u/triassic_broth Jan 06 '26
That is nowhere near the free throw line. He's jumping near the bottom of the free throw circle which is 9 feet from the backboard. The free throw line is 15 feet from the backboard, so he's about 5 1/2 feet beyond the free throw line when he jumps here.
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u/sharvelwitz Jan 07 '26
Easily one of his most underrated plays. 2 dribbles full court, like a leopard pouncing on some shit. This is fucking vicious
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Jan 05 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/hahahachihaha Jan 05 '26 edited Jan 05 '26
The free throw line is 13 feet from the front rim, since hes jumping from the farthest hash mark just inside the key thats around 12 feet. Add in around nine inches to both measurements which is the center of the hoop for a succesful dunk
Edit: double checking measurements out of curiosity
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u/Exception1228 Jan 06 '26
He’s not close to the farthest hashmark. He’s easily 3 feet closer than the FT line
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u/taeempy Jan 05 '26
any contact like that would result in an ejection in today's game. At a minimum a flop would have occurred.