History · NBA
Michael Jordan’s 1998 Finals Winner: The Steal Before the Shot
Jordan’s steal from Karl Malone supplied the possession before his winning shot in the 1998 Finals.
Michael Jordan’s final winning basket for Chicago followed a defensive play: he stole from Karl Malone before scoring with 5.2 seconds left.2 The steal supplied the possession that made the shot possible.
The Bulls beat Utah 87–86 on June 14, 1998, closing the Finals 4–2.1 The sequence joined two parts of Jordan’s career that are often discussed separately: his scoring and his defense.
Defense beside the scoring record
Jordan finished with nine All-Defensive First Team selections, according to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Its record also lists six NBA championships and six Finals MVP awards.3 The defensive recognition provides a useful context for the steal. The player entrusted with the closing basket could also recover the ball at the other end.
Chicago’s championship runs came in two groups. The Bulls won three consecutive titles beginning in 1991. Jordan then left basketball for minor league baseball, returned to the NBA in 1995 and helped Chicago win another three titles. His Hall of Fame biography records both runs and the interruption between them.
Chicago’s ending, rather than a career ending
The 1998 championship closed the second run. Jordan later returned with Washington in 2001, so the familiar description of a final shot refers to his Chicago championship finish rather than the last basket of his NBA career.
Remembering the steal alongside the shot places the finish within a complete possession change. Chicago needed the ball before it could take the lead, and Jordan supplied both actions.
Sources and notes
1. Archived event record, June 14, 1998. The surviving score/series record is available; no contemporary written recap is displayed.
2. Official retrospective, September 14, 2021. Used for the closing-sequence description; it is a later institutional account, not a newly obtained interview.
3. Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame biography, for defensive selections, championships and career chronology.
