'Michael Jordan: "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed"'
In a historic 1997 Nike commercial, the Chicago Bulls legend chose to talk about his mistakes instead of his titles.
MIn a historic Nike commercial from 1997, the Chicago Bulls legend chose to talk about his mistakes instead of his titles. A year later, he would close out his time in Chicago with the shot that gave him his sixth championship.
Michael Jordan had already won five NBA rings when he decided to talk about his defeats . In 1997, the Chicago Bulls legend starred in Nike’s “Failure” commercial, in which he revisited some of the mistakes that marked his career before becoming one of the most successful players in history.
Jordan also had to wait to win his first title
The Bulls' path to the championships was not immediate either. Chicago fell to the Detroit Pistons in the playoffs for three consecutive seasons, between 1988 and 1990. In 1991, Jordan and the Bulls finally overcame that barrier and won their first NBA championship.
By the time he starred in the commercial, Jordan had already won five titles and five regular-season MVP awards . Nike’s campaign, however, chose to show the other side of his career: the shots that didn’t go in, the games he lost, and the times when he couldn’t decide a game in his team’s favor.
One year later came the shot that ended his time in Chicago
The phrase “Failure” took on a special meaning one year later. In the 1998 Finals, the Bulls once again faced the Utah Jazz, the same opponent they had defeated in the 1997 championship series.
On June 14, 1998, in Game 6 of the Finals, Chicago was trailing 86-85 when Jordan recovered the ball after stealing it from Karl Malone. On the next possession, he got past Bryon Russell and made a mid-range shot with 5.2 seconds remaining to put the Bulls ahead 87-86. Utah did not score again, and Chicago won its sixth championship.
That shot was the last one Jordan made as a Bulls player. After the game he retired again, although he would return to the NBA in 2001 to play for the Washington Wizards.
Jordan ended that period with six championships, six Finals MVP awards, and five regular-season MVPs . The commercial he had devoted to his mistakes a year earlier thus became linked to the last great shot of his career in Chicago: a career in which failures were as much a part of the numbers as the titles.
