- But I've always stressed to people that have known me
and the media that has followed me
that when I lose the sense of motivation
and sense of to prove something as a basketball player,
it's time for me to move away from the game of basketball.
- [Narrator] Michael Jordan's achievements
throughout his first nine seasons in the NBA
solidified his greatness beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Three NBA Championships, three Finals MVPs,
three regular season MVPs, a 3,000 point season
and one hell of a legend at the poker table.
But, then he stunned the world,
retiring from the NBA at age 30 to pursue a baseball career.
He ultimately decided to return to hoops
a year-and-a-half later.
But, what if he didn't?
Well, the late '90s and beyond would've looked
a hell of a lot different in both the NBA and MLB.
After a year in Birmingham playing for the White Sox
Double-A Minor League Affiliate under manager
Terry Francona, the two linked up again in the
Arizona Fall League for a couple months in Scottsdale.
But with a desire to not get caught up in the politics
of the ongoing baseball strike,
Jordan left the sport to return to basketball
toward the tail end of the '94-'95 NBA season.
Starting the next season, Jordan led the Bulls
to yet another three-peat, while bagging another couple
regular season MVPs and securing his status as the
greatest player in the history of basketball.
Jordan's initial baseball struggles were predictable
after going about 13 years between picking up a bat.
But he wasn't a lost cause and he flashed enough natural
ability that his development was on track
for a Big League future down the road.
Upon his return to the NBA, it didn't take long
to pick up where he left off.
In 1996, the Bulls became the first team to ever reach
70 wins and beat the Payton-Kemp Sonics in the Finals,
before depriving John Stockton and Karl Malone of titles
that would've cemented their legacy in '97 and '98.
So Jordan remained the best basketball player in the world
during each of his three full post-baseball seasons
before his middle retirement in 1999.
Meanwhile, Francona's post-Birmingham exploits
first took him to Detroit in 1996,
where he parlayed coaching 3rd base for the Tigers,
into becoming the Phillies manager in 1997.
After four losing seasons he was fired there,
eventually landing in Boston where
he helped break their 86-year World Series curse
in his first season as their skipper.
After leaving the Red Sox amid the chicken and beer
fiasco heard around the world,
Francona landed with the Indians,
where in 2016 he came within a whisker
of breaking the city of Cleveland's
lengthy 4-month championship drought.
But, if Jordan stuck with baseball,
turns out Francona could've just set up shop in Philly
for a decades long tenure of epic success.
One of the Phillies first key moves after
hiring Francona was packaging a trade to reunite
with Jordan in the City of Brotherly Love.
After ripping the hearts out of Philadelphians by coasting
to easy playoff wins over the Sixers in 1990 and '91,
feelings have changed after landing the superstar
dual-sport athlete on their baseball team.
Other baseball stars that have long-admired His Airness
were eager to sign up to play alongside MJ.
Ahead of his debut season in Philly in 1997,
they're now able to lure the big fish in free agency.
Albert Bell and Roger Clemens signed there instead of
heading to the White Sox or Blue Jays.
A couple years later they solidified the middle
of their infield by getting Derek Jeter and Roberto Alomar.
And so the Phillies quickly constructed a dynasty
leading into the turn of the century.
Which means the Yankees don't,
and the world is graced with not being overrun
by irrationally arrogant Yankee fans.
Ugh, the worst!
Over in the NBA, the league has escaped
Jordan's stranglehold and other teams can actually
feel like they have a chance to contend.
In 1995, a fun Hornets squad would have been primed
to make some noise in the playoffs.
And it seems likely the '96 season would be capped
with Shaq leading the Magic to their
second consecutive Eastern Conference Title,
ensuring his long-term presence in Orlando,
where he expects an annual path to the Finals.
And if those Sonics win that year's championship,
maybe that deters the Starbucks guy who'd eventually
own the team from ever selling.
In 1997, the door becomes wide open in the East
for Miami and New York, and though a mostly suspended
Knicks team blew a 3-1 lead to the Heat in the East Semis,
a Jordanless Association means that series
is in the Eastern Finals.
Unless that potential deep postseason run
two years earlier would've kept
Alonzo Mourning in Charlotte to form an annual threat with
Larry Johnson, Muggsy and Steph's dad.
So then, a Knicks title may mean their fans are spared
from the 10th circle of Hell that is James Dolan's reign.
If ’Zo still got flipped to South Beach, a Heat title
would've hastened Pat Riley's transition to a
front-office only role, altering their trajectory
that landed them Dwyane Wade a few years later.
And of course, the Western Conference Champs from Utah
could've ridden that Stockton-Malone pick & roll
all the way to the NBA mountaintop,
in the process making short shorts cool
into the 21st century.
And finally, in '98, with the Pacers
at the peak of their powers, maybe they break through
with Reggie Miller and especially Rick Smits
getting the long overdue respect their game has demanded.
One thing we can say with relative certainty,
Phil Jackson ain't choosing to hang around that
Jordanless squad for an extended period,
instead retreating to Montana and his true love:
peyote.
And of course, it's another opportunity for the Jazz
to bring a wild parade to the streets of Salt Lake City.
So the fates of a ton of Eastern Conference teams,
shackled by the presence of Jordan in the late '90s,
would've been drastically different.
And for this guy, a championship or two,
on top of reaching number two on the all time scoring list,
means his name is prominently entered into discussions
for greatest player of all time.
This domino effect is massive
and transcends multiple sports.
There would be different champions, career arcs,
and legacies all throughout the NBA and MLB.
But we'd also be deprived of three years of seeing
James Naismith's beautiful sport played
at the highest level imaginable.
Putting up with a Yankee dynasty?
Simply the cost of doing business.
- [Announcer] Jordan, open, Chicago with the lead.
(crowd cheering)
(button clicks)