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Michael Jordan's "Flu Game" in the 1997 NBA Finals is one of the more memorable single-game performances in NBA Finals history. However, a Pizza Hut manager from Utah once debunked the claims of Jordan's food poisoning-driven performance.
The 1997 NBA Finals saw the start of the rivalry between the Utah Jazz and the Chicago Bulls. The entire journey was captured in Netflix's "The Last Dance" documentary. One game that stood out in the series was Game 5, which was dubbed the "Flu Game" owing to MJ's sickly constitution during the performance.
However, it was revealed in the documentary that MJ's symptoms had nothing to do with the flu but rather to do with food poisoning. Needless to say, it was a bit of an underwhelming revelation, but a Pizza Hut manager in Utah had reason to debunk this claim.
The night that Jordan allegedly got food poisoning, he ate pizza from a Pizza Hut. While MJ has said his side of the story, the manager who made the pizza had his own input. When recalling the details of MJ's orders from that night, he said:
"I remember the first delivery driver saying that he just delivered to Jordan. When the 2nd delivery order came in, I knew for sure it was for Jordan. I was the general manager at that time. We all wanted to deliver it, but i gave the opportunity to my ex-wife."
"The next night, my wife and I was watching the game, I was feeling pissed that the pizza I made, and my wife delivered, was being blamed for making him sick. It's bugged me for 20+ years."
Michael Jordan's performance in 1997 NBA Finals
Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls were dominant heading into the 1997 NBA Finals. After taking the first two games at home, the Bulls seemed to be in control of the series. However, Utah followed up with a solid defense on their homecourt.
Also Read: Michael Jordan's top 3 playoff performances in the Chicago Bulls' 1997 title-winning campaign
The 2-2 stalemate after four games gave way to Jordan's "Flu Game" performance in Game 5, which resulted in a 90-88 win for Chicago as Jordan dropped 38 points.
Chicago capped off the series at home with 90-86 win. Jordan won his fifth NBA title and fifth Finals MVP award, averaging 32.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game for the series.
