Michael Jordan is at the centre of several amusing NBA conspiracies, from the real cause of his sickness in the NBA Finals "Flu Game" to his shock first retirement. One of the lesser-known tales early in the Chicago Bulls legend's career involved a missing kit.
On Feb. 14, 1990, Jordan's game jersey disappeared before a contest in Orlando against the Magic. Ultimately, he needed to wear a nameless number 12 shirt (he usually wore 23) because team personnel could not track it down.
Chicago staff have since accused the Magic of stealing the jersey to frustrate MJ. The Bulls lost in overtime despite a furious Jordan scoring 49 points on a whopping 43 shot attempts.
"I know when MJ found out his jersey was missing he was very upset and did not want to wear a different jersey," equipment manager Rodney Powell told Magic. "Luckily the Bulls staff carried an [unmarked] backup jersey just in case something was to happen, like a ripped jersey or in this case a missing jersey."
Powell added: "We always assumed it was just some clubhouse worker. Back then the locker rooms were open to everyone. Celebrities were always in there pregame and postgame getting autographs from Jordan. I remember refs at times getting autographs from him pregame. It was another time."
The incident bothered Jordan, who told reporters at the time that "it's pretty irritating because you're accustomed to certain things and you don't like to have things misplaced." But he performed well in the game, his team-mates mainly at fault for the 135-129 loss. Scottie Pippen made just six of 21 shot attempts.
So what really happened to Jordan's 23 shirt? It remains a subject of speculation. Powell claimed that Magic officials discovered a shifted ceiling tile in the locker room, looked inside, and found the jersey. Presumably, someone stashed it there to pick up later.
The Bulls, however, never secured possession of the uniform, which could now fetch a king's ransom at auction because of its novelty. There is some speculation that a staff member in Chicago got the shirt back from Orlando but took it themselves.
"In the end it was proven that the jersey was taken by a member of the arena security personnel with the intent to keep," said Powell. "The security member tried to come through the ceiling after the gameday shootaround in the morning. They were successful in getting to the jersey and must have planned on leaving the jersey in the ceiling for awhile to come and retrieve at a later date."
Jordan never wore number 12 again following the loss in Orlando. That worked out fine for him, as he went on to win six NBA titles to become arguably the greatest player of all time. But even today, the missing jersey incident lives on as one of the strangest in Jordan's unique NBA career.
