On Wednesday, October 6, 1993, Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan announced his retirement from professional basketball at the Beto Center in Deerfield, Illinois. (AP Photo/Mark Elias)
CHICAGO — One of the most amazing moments in Chicago sports history happened 30 years ago Friday.
But Michael Jordan’s drama and eventual announcement actually unfolded over a 15-hour period that included a Major League Baseball playoff game in the city.
On October 6, 1993, at the Beto Center in Deerfield, facing a mountain of cameras and reporters, Jordan announced his retirement, ending his nine-season basketball career.
He was 3 1/2 months away from winning his third NBA championship and third NBA Finals MVP with the Bulls while playing the best basketball of any player in the world. That’s why Jordan’s decision shocked fans in Chicago and around the world as arguably the most famous athlete in the world walked away from it.
“I’ve always stressed that when I lose the motivation and the feeling of providing something like a basketball player, it’s time to leave,” Jordan said of his statement. “When my skills started to decline, I never wanted to leave because then I would feel a foot behind me, pushing me out the door.
“My skills are still good. My career is not in trouble. “This is the best time for me to leave. “
For Michael Jordan, who was 30 years old at the time, this was indeed a very busy time in his life. He competed for Team USA at the Summer Olympics in Barcelona in June 1992, fresh off a championship win, and then followed it up with another winning season and a championship in 1993.
I only missed a total of six games during that time.
In July, Michael’s father James was murdered in North Carolina, which was a major blow to Jordan. All of that factored into his shocking decision to leave, which actually came during another major event in Chicago sports.
The night before on October 5, 1993, Jordan threw out the first pitch for the White Sox in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series against the Blue Jays at what was then Comiskey Park. It was the team’s first playoff game in a decade and the first played at the stadium.
During the game, the Denver Post reported that Jordan was planning to announce his retirement. Before social media, word spread slowly, so few in the stands knew what was going on.
Things moved even faster during the first half of the seventh quarter when CBS Sports’ Pat O’Brien and Jim Gray appeared on the game broadcast to announce that a press conference would be held the next day to announce Jordan’s retirement.
On the field, the White Sox lost 7-3 to the defending World Series champion Blue Jays, as spectators reached into their cars and turned on the radio to discover the shocking news.
About 12 hours later, Jordan held a news conference in Deerfield to make the official announcement, one of the biggest news stories in Chicago sports history that happened 30 years ago Friday.
Of course, that didn’t last long as he returned in March 1995 and helped the Bulls win three consecutive championships in 1996, 1997 and 1998. Some may have gotten a hint at the press conference on October 6, 1993.
“In five years, if the urgency is there again, if the Bulls are willing to take me and David Stern lets me back in the league, I might come back,” Jordan said, though the wait wasn’t that long.