On This Day: Michael Jordan Returns, 1995

After the hall of fame speech and the adultery allegations and the stories that trickled out later, 2012 Michael Jordan the person is pretty well accepted as being a dick. Just type in “Michael Jordan is a” into Google and see what results Google thinks you’re looking for.

But Michael Jordan the player? His legacy is untainted. Basketball fans get childishly offended if you even mention a current player in the same sentence as Michael. Look at what happened when Scottie Pippen had the audacity to mention that freak athlete Lebron James maybe, might, in an alternate universe, kinda, sorta end up as good as Michael Jordan. Nerds took it as sacrilege.

Because it kind of was. As good as Lebron, or Kobe, or Kyrie Irving, or Kevin Durant will be, they will never ever do the kinds of things Michael did. Like on this day in 1995 in his fifth game back from his first retirement where he dropped 55 against the league’s best defense and one of their best defensive guards in John Starks. Michael Jordan had a game like this after sitting out for two straight years whiffing at baseballs. And the absolute dirtiest part, it’s probably not even one of his top 5 most memorable games.