AP
Sometimes when you’re looking for other stuff, you stumble across an old article in which Michael Jordan is quoted giving thanks to a computer .
Forth Worth Star-Telegram (May 28, 1987)
. and then you gotta go figure out what the deal was there. So this is that.
I’m fascinated by the first chapter of Michael Jordan’s career. Before Jordan enjoyed the company of any star-level teammates, before his Chicago Bulls came even close to a championship, MJ’s statistical profile described a superstar performing basically alone. Jordan’s third season, 1986-87, represents the peak of this era. The year he turned 24, Jordan recorded the fifth-highest single-season usage rate in Basketball-Reference’s database, which goes back to 1978. And Jordan didn’t crank up his usage by hunting triple-doubles; Michael shot. His 3,041 points on 2,279 field goal attempts in ‘86-’87 are the single-season records for any NBA player not named Wilt Chamberlain, and that data goes all the w