When the NCAA tourney got canceled in March we entered a whole new world, which included a sports void the likes of which we have never seen before. The fine folks at ESPN came to the rescue in mid-April with “The Last Dance”, a 10-part miniseries about the 1998 Chicago Bulls and their quest to win a 6th NBA title in an 8-year span before Coach Phil Jackson and most of his star players all went their separate ways. While it has been comforting to spend the past several Sunday nights with behind-the-scenes stories from Steve Kerr/Scottie Pippen/Dennis Rodman, the star of the show as always is Michael Jordan. Even though the documentary concluded on May 17th, HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel has dug through his archives and discovered oodles of unpublished interviews about Jordan’s career, from his early days as the leading scorer for team USA at the 1983 Pan Am Games to a 55-PT playoff performance during Chicago’s final title run in 1998. We continue our trip down memory lane by chatting with Tom Chambers about facing Jordan in the 1993 NBA Finals.
What are your memories of the 1979 NCAA tourney (you had 26 PTS/12 REB for Utah in a 4-PT OT loss to Pepperdine)? I am not sure: that was a long time ago! I do know that we played well that year and were ranked pretty high.
In the 1981 NCAA tourney you scored 11 PTS in a 5-PT loss to eventual national runner-up North Carolina in Salt Lake City: was the dynamic duo of Sam Perkins/James Worthy (who each had a double-double) just unstoppable? That game was heartbreaking for us because we were expected to go to the Final 4 that year but ended up losing on our home court.
In the summer of 1981 you were drafted 8th overall by San Diego (1 spot ahead of Rolando Blackman) and ended up leading the team in scoring as a rookie with 17.2 PPG: how were you able to make such a smooth transition from college to the NBA? I had a great coach in Paul Silas who helped me with the mental aspect of the game. We did not have a whole bunch of scorers on that team so I was able to get a lot of playing time. We also liked to run so I got a lot of easy baskets on dunks/layups. It might sound odd but it almost seemed to me that it was easier to score points in the NBA.
Take me through the 1984 Western Conference 1st round as a player with Seattle:
In Game 2 Gus Williams banked in a 3-PT shot at the buzzer for a 3-PT win at Dallas: where does that rank among the most clutch shots you have ever seen? It was big: Gus was not our 1st option to take long-range shots! That was a huge series for us.
You scored 9 PTS but Steve Hawes’ lob pass to you was knocked away at the buzzer in a 1-PT OT loss in Game 5: how weird was it to play a decisive NBA playoff game at SMU’s Moody Coliseum (since Reunion Arena was booked due to a World Championship Tennis event)? It was different. There was 1 year when we hosted a couple of playoff games at the Hec Edmundson Pavilion on the University of Washington campus: the Kingdome was booked because nobody expected us to make it that far!
You were a late replacement for an injured Ralph Sampson in the 1987 All-Star Game in Seattle and ended up scoring a game-high 34 PTS in a 5-PT OT win by the West: what did it mean to you to be named MVP in front of your home crowd? It was a spectacular day for me: a real Cinderella story. We had a great team in Seattle: Xavier McDaniel, Dale Ellis and myself each scored 20+ PPG that season. It was unfortunate when Ralph went down but West coach Pat Riley put me into the starting lineup, which was pretty cool. It was a great game: we were trailing in the 4th quarter but then Magic Johnson took over and Blackman hit some FTs to get us into OT. It was definitely a breakout game for me.
In January of 1989 you made a famous highlight-reel dunk over Mark Jackson: what did your teammates say to you about it in the locker room afterward? They had seen me dunk a lot before but that 1 was actually a basket that we needed in a tight game. We always had hotly-contested games with the Knicks…and even a few fights. It was a funny deal for Mark to step in front of me because he was not really a shot-blocker! The guys were pretty excited when it happened and went crazy once we got into the locker room.
On March 24, 1990 you scored a career-high 60 PTS (22-32 FG/16-18 FT) for Phoenix in a home win over Seattle: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? I was in a zone but the key was that I had extra motivation going up against my former team while on our home court against guys who they felt could replace me. Seattle coach Bernie Bickerstaff told me that he thought I was not supposed to play due to a hamstring injury but I was okay and everything seemed to fall through the hoop.
Take me through the 1993 playoffs:
Regular season MVP Charles Barkley made the series-winning 18-foot jumper over David Robinson with 1.9 seconds left to beat San Antonio on the road in Game 6 of the Western Conference Semifinals, then had 44 PTS/24 REB to help beat Seattle in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals: did Barkley just put the entire team on his back during that playoff run? Charles was definitely our go-to guy…which is why he had the ball for most of the shot clock! As far as getting rebounds and making big plays Charles was the man. We ran a lot more on offense before Charles arrived, but even though we slowed down after he arrived we got better.
In Game 3 of the Finals you scored 12 PTS in an 8-PT 3-OT win over Chicago: did you think that win would give you the momentum you needed to upset the 2-time defending champs (despite Michael Jordan averaging a Finals-record 41 PPG during the series)? We struggled against all of our opponents throughout that playoff run after falling behind early so that was a huge win for us. We had to play great basketball to get that win on their floor. That game had the most on-court intensity that I have ever seen.
In Game 6 you scored 12 PTS in a 1-PT home loss to Chicago after John Paxson made the series-winning 3-PT shot with 3.9 seconds left: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? That is #1 for sure. We thought we were going to win that game and then go on to Game 7. We did not want Michael to beat us…but you cannot leave a guy like Paxson open because making shots is what he does.
Your 20,049 career PTS is still top-50 in NBA history: how satisfied are you with your career, and what do you hope to do in the future? I loved my career and was blessed to be on good teams with good players. I was fortunate to play with selfless guys who would get me the ball in a position where I could try to score. My teammates were great both on and off the court. My future is here: I am doing TV with the Suns and enjoy that a great deal, as well as getting to spend time with my family.