ESPN is airing a 10-part documentary on Michael Jordan’s 1997-98 Chicago Bulls called “The Last Dance.” You already know that, unless you miraculously avoided contact with ESPN’s mega-marketing campaign and didn’t check Twitter between nine and eleven Eastern Time on Sunday. That’s when the first two episodes of the series premiered. An average of 6.1 million viewers were tuned in over the two hours, making it the highest rated documentary airing in ESPN history.
Syracuse fans got a targeted shot of nostalgia when an entire 18 seconds of B-roll was dedicated to Jordan practicing in the Carrier Dome. The 1983 NCAA Tournament’s East Regional was held in Syracuse. Watch:
Of course, we’re never satisfied. So I searched the annals of YouTube to find more MJ vs. Syracuse content. Well, thank you to –ë–æ—Ä–∏—Å –ö—É–∑–Ω–µ—Ü–æ–≤! Because that’s the name of the YouTube account that posted SU against UNC on January 8th, 1983. The Orange were 11-0 at the time. Michael Jordan was a sophomore.
If you don’t want any spoilers, go ahead and click the link now:
If you prefer to look ahead at what happened, here’s a download of the box score (PDF).
Jordan’s Tar Heels faced the Orange in the 1983-84 season as well. Somehow, the game ended with the exact same 87-64 score in favor of North Carolina. MJ finished with 19 points.
Takeaways? The greatest scorer of all time couldn’t crack 20 on Jim Boeheim and Syracuse. Case closed.
