As millions watch the 10-part Michael Jordan documentary “The Last Dance” on ESPN, we thought it would be fun to look back to Oct. 15, 1984, when Jordan, then a 21-year-old rookie and the third pick in that year’s NBA draft, played in a pre-season game at the Glens Falls Civic Center.
Jordan hit the game-winning shot late in the fourth quarter as the Chicago Bulls edged the New York Knicks, 91-90, in front of a standing-room-only crowd of 6,386 fans that included Albany Patroons Coach Phil Jackson, who would later team with Jordan to win six NBA championships.
Jeff Casey was a water boy for the Bulls that night. His father Dave Casey was the Hall of Fame athletic trainer for the Adirondack Red Wings, and Jeff was a wide-eyed 9-year-old who was crazy about basketball like his dad.
Jeff Casey
“Michael Jordan was the rookie coming into the league,” Jeff told Glens Falls Living, “but I had no idea he would turn into what he did. The other guys on the team treated him like a rookie.
“I just remember it being very loud,” Jeff said. “It reminded me of the old Red Wings games. It was a huge crowd, and I think a lot of it was because the Knicks came up.”
The Knicks were led by future Hall of Famer Bernard King, a legitimate star at the time.
“I think Jordan outplayed King that night,” Jeff said. “It was a normal pre-season NBA game. The players were interacting with the fans behind the bench. All of the guys were very personable. They were asking me, ‘How’d you get this gig? Who do you know?’ They knew they were talking to a nine-year-old kid, and they made it fun.”
After the game, Dave Casey asked Chicago’s athletic trainer if he had anything that the players could sign as a keepsake for Jeff.
“He said he didn’t with him, but told us when he got back to Chicago, he would have the players sign something and send it to me, and he did,” Jeff said. The vintage Bulls pennant is now framed.
A close up of Jeff Casey’s autographed pennant, with Michael Jordan’s signature in red at the top.
MJ finished with 21 points on 10-for-18 shooting. He tied the game in the final three minutes with a layup, and then hit a clutch jumper to give the Bulls the lead they would never relinquish.
In a recent Times Union story, reporter Mark Singlelais said Jordan told reporters after the game, “I don’t have to become a superstar. I want our team to become a winning basketball team.”
It seems he accomplished that goal, starting with a pre-season game in downtown Glens Falls!
