Michael Jordan knew he had to get his mojo back first before making his return to the NBA in 1995. True to form, the Chicago Bulls star rejoined the team’s practice sessions and worked tirelessly.
After scrimmages, Jordan stayed in the gym to do some shooting drills and 1-on-1 games with Pete Myers, the backup shooting guard known to many as the guy who replaced MJ in 1993. To this day, the Alabama native still vividly recalls his duels with “His Airness.” As any other player would, Myers takes pride in helping the GOAT get his rhythm back.
“I made him work for everything, pushed him every day,” Myers told Bleacher Report in 2015 of his 1-on-1 games with Jordan.
Jordan torched Pete
Myers started in 91 of the 92 games of his debut season with the Bulls as Jordan’s replacement. During the regular season, he averaged a career-best eight points per game and logged seven a night in the playoffs. In all fairness, Pete did quite alright for a player who had been a backup his entire career.
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However, whatever confidence Myers had in his game at the time, there was still no chance that he would get the better of Jordan in a 1-on-1 game. And unsurprisingly, he was well aware of it.
“C’mon, I didn’t have a chance,” Myers admitted. “Mike could run off 12 straight buckets.”
“He still knew personnel, he knew how coaches were going to try to guard him—he knew all that,” he added. “He was just trying to get himself ready for the battle, just fine-tuning himself to get ready. He had reworked his body and gotten his upper body much stronger because he was trying to hit for power, so his timing was a little off.”
Pete understood what MJ had to deal with
Bulls head coach Phil Jackson was confident about Myers’ aptitude. But of course, he never expected the journeyman to do what Jordan does for the Bulls. About a week into his job as MJ’s replacement, Myers already understood how difficult it was to fill the shoes of the best player in the league.
“Now I understand what Michael went through,” Myers reflected. “But he went through that every day for 10 years. I only got it for a week.”
After several intense practices, Jordan was finally able to return in 1995. As for Myers, he went on to play for the Bulls until the end of the 1994-95 season. He then left Chicago for the Miami Heat in the summer, realizing there was no substitute for the GOAT.
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