Michael Jordan Named His 3 Favourite NBA Arenas

The man who put the Chicago Bulls on the NBA map, Michael Jordan dragged the franchise from despair and virtual mediocrity, into a title-winning force by the 1990s. Jordan would help lead the likes of Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman to a remarkable six titles in the decade, but only one of those championships was won at the Bulls’ United Center.

The 1996/1997 season would see Chicago clinch their fifth NBA title, with Jordan making the big play by making the pass to Steve Kerr to knock down the game-winning shot in Game 6 of the Finals against the Utah Jazz. A year later, the shooting guard could have capped off his final game as a Bull at the United Center in perfect fashion by closing out the Finals against the Jazz, but John Stockton and Karl Malone had other ideas and forced the series into a Game 6 back in Utah.

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Given he spent the majority of his basketball career with the Bulls and the great success that he enjoyed there, it might have been assumed that Jordan would consider the team’s United Center as his favourite arena to play in, but it appears that wasn’t the case.

Instead, in an interview with Slam, Jordan named the three arenas that he considered his favourites to play at, including one that he deemed his absolute number one spot, while there was no place at all for either of the two Chicago homes he played at – the United Center and the Chicago Stadium.

New York Knicks

Madison Square Garden

Dubbed the ‘world’s most famous arena’, Madison Square Garden has been home to many iconic sporting events over the years. As well as hosting the legendary first fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, MSG is widely recognised as the ‘Mecca’ of boxing. But aside from its close relationship with combat sports, the Garden has also been the long-term home of the New York Knicks, and witnessed the franchise’s NBA title success in 1970.

Its rich history and passionate Knicks fanbase is what led to Jordan naming MSG as his favourite arena to play at.

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Jordan then expanded on why the MSG was his favourite arena to play at, specifically highlighting the role of the Knicks crowd and how they were more than happy to pay respect and appreciation to a rival player.

Unsurprisingly, Jordan usually played very well at the Garden, and his average of 31.8 points per game there far exceeded his career average. The MSG was also the home of Jordan’s famous ‘double-nickel’ game in March 1995, when he scored 55 points wearing the no.45 jersey.

Boston Celtics

Boston Garden

When asked to name his other favourite arenas, Jordan said that he loved Boston, but specifically name-checked the Celtics’ Boston Garden arena, which preceded their current home of the TD Garden. Jordan, of course, came up against the legendary Celtics team of the 1980s, which featured multiple NBA Hall of Famers in the likes of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, among others.

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His most memorable game at the venue came in his 63-point showing in the first round of the 1986 playoffs, where the Bulls and the Celtics played out to double over-time before Bird and co came out on top 135-131. While the game ended in defeat, Jordan had left the biggest impact, and shown the basketball world that he was more than ready to play at the highest level against the best players in the world.

Los Angeles Lakers

Great Western Forum

While the Staples Center – now known as the Crypto.com Arena – has been the home of the Los Angeles Lakers for a long time since it first opened in 1999, that is not the place which Jordan named as one of his favourites to play at. Instead, with the interview having taken place in November 1997, and thus two years prior to the opening of Staples Center, Jordan went with the Great Western Forum as his third pick.

For Jordan, the standout moment at the arena no doubt came during the 1991 NBA Finals, in which the Bulls defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in five games, with the shooting guard winning Finals MVP. His Game 4 performance in that series saw him hit the game-tying shot with just 3.4 seconds remaining on the clock to force overtime, before the Bulls prevailed 97-82 to claim a 3-1 lead. Jordan did eventually play at the Staples Center too, with his final game against the Lakers coming on March 28 2003, with the Kobe Bryant-led team coming out on top.