Sunday’s night’s episodes of “The Last Dance” were awesome, especially the part that showed Michael Jordan wearing the original Jordan 1’s in his final game at Madison Square Garden as a member of the Chicago Bulls.
All this talk about Jordan’s Bulls have led to some incredible stories, including Jordan gambling with a legendary security guard before games.
But here’s another great story that is kind of about Jordan, but more about a comedian whose dad pulled off an amazing scam back in the 1990s and got him and his son into the biggest events at Madison Square Garden, including Jordan’s 55-point game in his first time back at MSG after his brief baseball career came to an end.
Comedian Gary Vider shared his story on Monday, saying his dad would tell MSG that his son was a reporter for Sports Illustrated for Kids (he wasn’t) and that he was a photographer (he wasn’t). They then got credentialed for all the big events and got all the access that reporters got, including interviews with Jordan and the Bulls. These interviews didn’t go anywhere because Vider wasn’t a reporter but he got to talk to Michale Jordan as a young kid, which must have been awesome.
At one point they even met the real Sports Illustrated for Kids reporter, who was an adult, but they didn’t that reporter who they were or how they got into MSG.
Check out these photos he posted:
He said:
From 1993-1997 My father and I ran a scam saying I was a reporter for Sports Illustrated for Kids and he was a photographer.
My dad would smooth talk our way into games at Madison Square Garden and Nassau Coliseum without a ticket and get us access into the locker rooms.
When we would get in the locker room I would (fake) interview the players, take pictures, and get autographs.
One of the closest calls we ever had was Michael Jordan’s first game back at MSG after he took a year and half off to play baseball.
We’d been to the Garden countless times before but this time an actual reporter and photographer for Sports Illustrated for Kids showed up. My dad made it a point for us to say hi to them, never telling them who we were. I remember thinking as a 10 year old this it we are going to jail.
After watching MJ score 55 points my dad and I rushed to the locker room. Security was limiting how many people could get through, even press. We wound up getting in and the real Sports Illustrated for Kids didn’t.This pic is from my “interview” with Michael Jordan.
I mean, what a brilliant move by his dad. A shady move, sure, putting your kid as risk of getting in some trouble, but still pretty brilliant/risky.
It’s something that could never happen today but back then, anything was possible, apparently.