Kobe Bryant got food poisoning in Sacramento during the infamous 2002 series against the Kings. Grover already told the story in 2013, and there are plenty of other tales of NBA players being suspicious of food served to them in hotels. The pizza revelation isn’t exactly coming out of nowhere. It’s the most human Jordan has ever seemed, and the most confusing decision to reframe a heroic piece of NBA Finals lore since Paul Pierce confirmed that he wasn’t hauled off in a wheelchair because he was injured, but rather because he had pooped his pants. Of course, bad cases of food poisoning are just as devastating as bad cases of the flu-yet a key element of Jordan’s legacy now involves him scarfing down a low-quality pizza possibly made with rancid ingredients. The Last Dance repeatedly portrays Jordan as a superhero, but the new backstory to the Flu Game makes him seem decidedly normal: gluttonous enough to house an entire pizza, and selfish enough to refuse to share his one (poisoned) pizza with his friends. It’s a strange and unflattering depiction of events. ‘The Last Dance’ Ends With a “Maddening” Question-and an Answer Michael Jordan Dominated His Era, but He Wouldn’t Rule This One MJ ate the whole damn pie by himself, spent the next 20 hours throwing up into buckets, then went to an arena and threw some shots into buckets. But Jordan apparently couldn’t be talked out of it. He said he grew suspicious after seeing the surplus of delivery men, and tried to warn Jordan against eating the pizza. (Alas, they were in Utah-I’m guessing there’s some state law about restaurants staying open past 8 p.m.) Grover eventually tracked down one open pizzeria, but was surprised when five delivery guys showed up with the pie. At about 10 p.m., Jordan got hungry, and virtually every local restaurant was already closed. On the night before Game 5, the Bulls were staying in Park City, Utah, a resort town about 40 minutes east of Salt Lake City. Jordan explained the story in Episode 9 of The Last Dance, with corroboration from his personal trainer Tim Grover and his longtime friend George Koehler. That was the Food Poisoning Game, which is a lot less catchy. Twenty-three years after one of the most iconic performances of his career, Michael Jordan has revealed that he wasn’t battling illness during his 38-point showing in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals.
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