Ehlo replayed that possession in his mind, thinking about what he could’ve — or should’ve — done differently, now able to admit a few fundamental mistakes. One thing Ehlo doesn’t remember: Ron Harper’s version, which he relayed in Episode 3 of “The Last Dance” — a hit ESPN documentary that chronicles the Chicago Bulls’ quest for a sixth NBA championship in 1998.
Tag: Craig Ehlo
“I never said I was a Jordan stopper …
“I never said I was a Jordan stopper like Gerald Wilkins or anything,” Ehlo said during an extensive call with cleveland.com this week. “But back then Harp and me were on the court at the same time and he was our big offensive threat. So, when I came in it was a no-brainer that I would guard Jordan so Harp could rest on defense and play on offense.
“Harp had never really talked about …
“Harp had never really talked about defense or guarding people. He wasn’t a bad defender, I will give him that much, but I think those years with the Bulls where he got those championships, he was definitely third or fourth fiddle, so all of a sudden he becomes this lockdown defender, apparently. I don’t really remember him during our time wanting to play defense that much. He kind of shocked me with those comments, saying he wanted to guard Michael.”
Ron Harper had an epic reaction after hearing Cavs teammate Craig Ehlo would guard Michael Jordan
Still bitter.
One of the signature moments of Michael Jordan’s legendary career came in the form of his iconic buzzer-beater against the Cleveland Cavaliers during Game 5 of the 1989 Eastern Conference playoffs.
Jordan went into that final possession of the game with 42 points, and in Sunday’s third episode of The Last Dance, the Hall of Famer admitted that Ron Harper had done a solid job defending him in the game. So, when the Cavs elected to have Craig Ehlo match up on Jordan, MJ knew that it was game over.
It turned out that Harper thought the same thing at the time. (Warning: NSFW language)
Ron Harper was savage for this 😂 pic.twitter.com/6nUz4Qi9tx
— Jonathan Peterlin (@JPeterlin) April 27, 2020
A still-bitter Harper said during Sunday’s episode:
“We up by one. I said, ‘Coach, I got MJ. I got MJ.’ So the coach goes, ‘I’m gonna put Ehlo on MJ.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, OK. Whatever. (Expletive) this bull-(expletive).'”
We all know what happened next:
Jordan burned Ehlo, received the inbounds pass, got space on Ehlo (AGAIN) to hit the series-clinching shot at the buzzer and finish with 44 points.
Sunday was not a great night to be Craig Ehlo.
"all you f***ers go to hell" pic.twitter.com/HgYhzOa2Vm
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) April 27, 2020
[jwplayer PJni4TKd-q2aasYxh]
Steve Kerr, winner of a bazillion rings …
Steve Kerr, winner of a bazillion rings as Jordan’s teammate in Chicago, as a role player with the Spurs, and then, of course, as the Warriors coach, knew MJ long before he punched him at practice: “I think guarding him was the first time I actually met him,” Kerr said. “Craig Ehlo was injured (for the Cavs), so I started at the 2 in that game. I guarded Michael and he guarded me. Talk about the all-time mismatch physically. I was a buck-eighty. I remember I made the first shot of the game with him on me, felt really good about that, and then six minutes into the game he hadn’t scored. I was thinking, sitting there during a timeout, ‘Michael hasn’t even scored yet. I’m doing pretty well.’ I thought about it and I realized he hadn’t even taken a shot yet. He’s been passing to all his teammates. ‘Why hasn’t he shot yet?’ And then over the next four minutes he just torched me. Made like six straight shots and then Lenny Wilkens took me out. By the end of the game he had like 48, I finished with two. Just that first bucket of the game. That was my welcome to the ‘Michael Jordan World’ moment.”