That was stunning, definitely a moment where Kobe made his name.
But the game isn’t over yet, in the last 8 seconds, the Bulls have a chance for a buzzer-beater.
If Jordan makes a buzzer-beater, Kobe’s shot will lose much of its luster.
Of course, no matter what, that was a brilliant hit.
However, the Bulls aren’t planning to let the game go into overtime.
Jackson used one timeout he had left, which proved to be effective at this moment.
He set up a clever screen play, letting Jordan get the ball at the wing.
As soon as Jordan got the ball, he immediately turned and drove to the baseline.
Before Gan Guoyang could come up to defend, with a quick stop he hit a fadeaway jump shot!
An extreme fadeaway, with a smooth and beautiful posture, completed in five seconds.
The ball traced a beautiful arc, and "swish" went through the net!
The Rose Garden, ablaze with excitement a minute ago, fell into silence.
After scoring, Jordan raised his right hand high, as if declaring who the real king of the NBA is now.
There’s just over 3 seconds left for the Trail Blazers, and they have no timeouts left, only able to inbound from the backcourt.
It’s an almost completely desperate situation, the Trail Blazers can barely even pass the ball.
Gan Guoyang inbounded from the baseline, finally throwing the ball to Kobe who ran to near mid-court.
Pippen went to tangle with Kobe, and Kobe didn’t have the opportunity to shoot anymore; there was no time left.
Then, Kobe passed the ball back to Gan Guoyang who had just entered, and Gan wasn’t even outside his own free-throw line yet.
An impossible distance, the Bulls players didn’t pay attention to him.
So, the instant Gan Guoyang caught the ball, he threw a long-range three-pointer directly at the basket.
No aiming, no form, purely based on feeling, purely based on luck.
The ball flew over two-thirds of the court’s distance, with countless pairs of eyes fixed on its trajectory.
The ball hit the backboard, bounced into the basket, and scored!
Everyone in the Rose Garden raised their hands, the noise surged like tidal waves.
Gan Guoyang felt momentary deafness, tinnitus sounded, but nothing was more wonderful than this.
"Damn, it actually went in, it’s like a dream." Gan Guoyang smiled, and simultaneously breathed a big sigh of relief.
Counting this three-pointer, he scored 42 points tonight, truly an incredibly tough and perilous game.
Kobe pounced like a child, hugging Gan Guoyang while laughing and jumping, others crowded around too, tonight was destined to be a wild celebration.
Gan Guoyang remained as calm as ever, he patted Kobe’s head, saying, "Good pass, good pass."
[January 4, 1997, I was in Hawaii preparing for the second concert of back-to-back performances, entirely unfocused during rehearsals, because my attention was all on the Trail Blazers versus Bulls game, with my assistant having the radio live stream on nearby.
I cared about the result; I promised Ah Gan, if he won, I’d get married; if he lost, then I’d let it go. Oh my, thinking back now, it’s truly crazy, but Ah Gan always relates to crazy things.
His game is a memory for a generation, and it’s one of my many memory points.
Playing against the Bulls was very intense, as the Bulls kept leading, until Kobe stole and tied the score.
My heart was about to jump out, but then Jordan hit a crucial goal to surpass, leaving only three seconds for the Trail Blazers.
At that moment, I thought, another Michael was blocking my marriage, and the concert was about to start, I was preparing to turn off the radio, there was no chance for the Trail Blazers.
But suddenly, the radio shouted, Ah Gan made a sixty-foot three-pointer, Ah Gan made a sixty-foot three-pointer, the Trail Blazers won, the Trail Blazers won!
Oh my, I couldn’t believe my ears, I asked everyone around if it was true, they didn’t know either, they also thought they misheard.
Then the announcer confirmed this result, Ah Gan really hit it, the Trail Blazers won, I yelled like a madman "I’m going to get married, I’m going to get married!"
Everyone thought I was crazy, indeed I was, Ah Gan is too crazy, life is too crazy.
As well known, my marriage wasn’t smooth, it ended badly, but I love Ah Gan, I thank him for this victory, it is an indispensable part of my life.
Everyone went mad for him.]
—In 2003, Michael Jackson talked in an interview about the relationship between his marriage and a 1997 game, excerpted.