"You felt like you were in a special club watching Michael Jordan" - Adam Silver recalls the surreal ambiance watching Jordan play live at the old Chicago Stadium

NBA commissioner Adam Silver appeared on the Dan Patrick Show to provide insight about how it felt to watch Michael Jordan's early years. Silver fondly remembers going to the old Chicago Stadium to soak in the vibes of Jordan’s initial years in the NBA. Silver stated:

“I remember early days there, the Bulls, you thought you were experiencing something pre-internet everything else that no one else sort of understood. You felt like you were in a special club watching Michael Jordan.”

Michael Jordan was already a rookie playing for the Chicago Bulls in the 1984-85 season when Adam Silver arrived at the University of Chicago Law School. Like many living in Windy City during those days, there was no escaping the allure of the skinny kid from North Carolina who captivated the league.

The Chicago Bulls missed the previous three postseasons before Jordan’s rookie campaign. Jordan was still adjusting to the NBA and was backed up by less than stellar teammates at the time.

Despite the disadvantage in manpower, Jordan dragged the Bulls to a 38-44 record and the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference.

Over the next two seasons, the Bulls reached the postseason as the eighth seed in an Eastern Conference dominated by Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics. Despite the struggles, Jordan relentlessly pursued greatness.

As Adam Silver explained, there was already something special brewing with the Bulls, particularly when Jordan played in front of a rabid Chicago Stadium crowd.

An injury-shortened sophomore season made some fans outside Chicago forget about Jordan. That would drastically change after the 1986 playoffs when he lit up the dynastic Celtics in the first round of the playoffs.

Jordan’s exploits set the NBA ablaze and made Chicago Stadium tickets a must-have commodity when Jordan established his superstardom.

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Michael Jordan would put the Chicago Bulls on the basketball map

"His Airness" made the Chicago Bulls a household name in the 90s. [Photo: Bleacher Report]

After Michael Jordan’s sixth and final championship with the Bulls in the 1997-98 season, his team was third all-time for most championships by a franchise.

Only the most storied NBA franchises, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics, with 17 apiece, are ahead of the Bulls. Of the top ten franchises with championships, only the Bulls have a perfect 6-0 record in the NBA Finals.

Had Jordan not dallied with baseball, Chicago arguably could have separated themselves from the Philadelphia/Golden State Warriors, who have also won six.

More than 20 years after he last suited up for the Windy City team, Chicago will always be synonymous with Michael Jordan when it comes to basketball.

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