It was Game 1 of the 1992 NBA Finals and the Chicago Bulls were taking on the Portland Trail Blazers. The series was being pitted as a rivalry between Clyde Drexler and Michael Jordan, with some reporters daring to suggest that perhaps Drexler had caught up to Jordan in the best-player-alive debate.

Fueled by this, Michael Jordan went and dropped 39 points in the game, including six 3-pointers in the first half. Jordan wasn’t even a 3-point shooter, but it didn’t matter. He was hot, and he was letting them fly. It all culminated with Jordan hitting that triumphant sixth 3 of the half and, as the crowd lost its mind and his teammates cackled on the bench, Jordan turned and shrugged. Even he didn’t know what was going on.

It’s one of the most iconic images in NBA Finals history. Michael Jordan, the greatest player ever, hitting so many 3-pointers that he not only amazed the crowd, his opponents, his teammates, and the millions watching on TV, but he actually amazed himself. 

Another subplot of the game was the history between Jordan and the Portland Trail Blazers; the Blazers famously decided not to take him with the second-overall pick in the 1984 draft, electing to take Sam Bowie instead. During the telecast, NBC took every chance to remind fans watching at home that Portland had made such a dumb decision. They even put up the draft results with the headline: “HINDSIGHT IS 20/20.”

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Years later, it feels mean to watch NBC repeatedly flash back to the Trail Blazers decision to draft Sam Bowie over Jordan. Jordan is, at that very moment, destroying the Blazers on live television, and here they are showing the footage again and again of the 1984 draft. At a certain point it is cruel and unusual — you want to look away.

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Jordan, fired up with the Drexler comparisons and eager to end the debate, came out firing the first half. He made 7 of his first 12 shots, including 3-5 from 3. What’s amazing now is how, even after he dropped shot after shot, the Blazers still didn’t think to pick him up on the perimeter.

Look at the above clip; my favorite part is where he waves for the ball when he realizes no defender is within 12 feet of him. It’s not an angry wave or a demand, either, but rather an “Um, guys? They’re leaving me open?” His teammate finds him, then boom.

By the time Jordan had hit five 3-pointers, the arena was ready to explode. Then, on a play that he trailed behind, he got the ball and hit the sixth.

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The arena practically exploded. His teammates, on the bench, could only wave towels and laugh.

And then, the shrug. It was a perfect moment, a man so on fire he couldn’t even mean mug for the camera, couldn’t stare down Drexler, the foe he came to vanquish. He’d moved beyond showing the world he was the greatest player alive, that was already done. No, at this point, Jordan was just enjoying the show himself.

He couldn’t explain what was going on more than anyone else could. So what could he do? He shook his head. He had no idea how he did it either. He shrugged.

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What more was there to say? He was the greatest player alive, at the absolute peak of his powers, and in that moment, he got to enjoy it. He knew the world was screaming at him, “HOW?!” and he had no answers.

He was more than the game at that moment, more than any of us thought possible. How could he explain that?