Michael Jordan, Suzie Bates, and the legacy of No. 23

When push came to shove in the final moments of the semifinal, the New Zealander took it upon herself to do the job for the team
Suzie Bates
Suzie Bates (Photo | AP)
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DUBAI: June 14, 1998. Delta Center, Salt Lake City. Utah Jazz vs Chicago Bulls. National Basketball Association Finals, Game 6. Even though the Bulls were leading the seven-match series 3-2, and just needed one final push to clinch their second hat-trick of the championship in the 1990s, the games, bar one, were exceptionally close.

In the first game, the victory margin for either team was in single digits and it could not be finished within the designated time. The Bulls fell short there because Scottie Pippen missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer. By the time Game 6 came, Lake Michigan's worth of water had flown under the bridge since Pippen missed the shot.

The Jazz were at home, but trailing behind by one Game. A win here meant they would get another opportunity to go at the Bulls and potentially win the championship for the city of Utah. Something they had never done since their inception in 1974.

At this point, we have to talk about Michael Jeffrey Jordan. At 35, it was a miracle that he was still on the court and dominating like his College days, but with a reputation. His jump shot known as "The Shot" amongst the Basketball fans against Cleveland in the 1989 playoffs was already the stuff of legends. His 38-point game against the same opposition in 1997 at the same arena, when he battled through food poisoning to help the Bulls take a lead, was still fresh in the minds of fans.

Jordan was not some player hoping to make the most of his celebrity status in his final few moments in the game. He was closer to finally hanging his boots, but was already deemed as the Greatest of All Time. He demanded the ball. He wanted to make the play. He was the star and he was going to take the responsibility when it mattered the most.

However, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan had a game plan where Karl Malone, the forward, had such freedom to move that he could make a play himself for points or pass it to his unguarded teammates so that they could take a few points. In the final moments of Game 6, with just 20 seconds left in the game and Jazz leading by one point, all Malone had to do was make one play. And the Jazz were about to force Game 7 on Jordan's Bulls.

However, that never happened. Before Malone could make up his mind to either shoot himself or pass it, Jordan came from behind and pounced. The one blindspot Malone left unguarded and Jordan heeded to the invitation. The ball was with the Bulls with 10 seconds left in the game. More importantly, it was with Jordan.

The fate, the future, the legacies, and the championship, were in Jordan's hands. With six seconds left, he charged forward, only to take a step back and put a dagger through the Jazz, taking a lead by a point. Utah called a timeout, but the dagger was through. Stockton missed the three and the Bulls were champions again.

You don't get to wear shirt number 23 for nothing.

When MJ was doing the unthinkable in the States, at the other end of the globe, in New Zealand, Suzie Bates was falling in love with the game of basketball. She would have been 11 when Jordan cleaned up the Jazz to get another ring for himself.

"My brother used to love Michael Jordan,” Bates recalled ahead of the T20 World Cup final in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday. “He used to watch the Chicago Bulls playing all the time. My mum used to let Tom get off school early to watch the Bulls when they were winning. He was my favourite too," she added.

"When I first made the White Ferns I loved Basketball equally. At 18, I thought I am a baller at heart, so I can be number 23. I have never been 23 for any other team but that was the reason initially so Melie (Amelia Kerr) joked about it. I don't call myself MJ, she does. So there is that connection and I used to wear Air Jordan socks not to lose that baller side of me," Bates added.

The baller side of Bates never really went away. Nor did the attitude that MJ planted in her head. Never shy away from responsibilities, especially when your team needs it the most. So when everything was on the line in the semifinal against West Indies on Friday —  with 15 runs needed off the final over and a fielding penalty hanging over their heads — Bates wanted the ball from her captain Sophie Devine. There were many raised eyebrows.

It is not like Bates had not bowled at all in the past. She has been a handy off-spinner despite not bowling much in the recent past. When she did bowl the final over against England at Nelson earlier this year, the opposition needed eight runs and she gave away just four, taking two wickets to go with it.

Devine knew what she was asking from Bates against the West Indies. "I think, the last time she bowled against the West Indies in the 2016 World Cup she was the pace bowler," informed  Bates' former teammate and broadcaster Katey Martin on air.  History was repeating, but this time, Bates was going to bowl off-spin to the 19-year-old Zaida James.

One in the January of her life, while the other probably in November of her career. When James smashed the first ball nonchalantly through the covers for a boundary, it felt like Devine had probably missed it a bit. James looked like Malone from 1998 who knew all the plans and back-up plans by the back of her hand.

However, Bates, like Jordan, had something up her sleeves. The next ball, James looked for sweep, but got nowhere close to the ball. The result, a dot. Bates had to reload again. Just ahead of the third ball of the over, Martin warned the viewers: Bates is going to think like a batter when she bowls. Knowing James would want to access the off -side, Bates darted one in with precision only for James to miss it and see her leg-stump uprooted.

West Indies had lost their last hope. It was over. Bates was over the moon. She let out a roar before getting a bear hug from her teammate Lea Tahuhu, who could have potentially bowled that over if it wasn't for the fielding restrictions. The next three balls looked like a formality. Just like what it must have felt to the viewers in the last five seconds of game six when Jordan did the job for the Bulls.

Bates had taken New Zealand for the first time since 2010 and in the process, one of the all-time greats of the sport had given herself a chance to become a world champion.  

For someone who got the shirt number 23 because of her love of Michael Jordan, Bates doing what he did to get closer to the ultimate glory felt like a full circle moment. Maybe, it all will come together on Sunday as well because Bates is going to do everything in her power to make it happen. Afterall, that number carries the legacy no matter who wears it.

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