My Dive into MJ’s 1985 Season
Okay, so the other day I got thinking about Michael Jordan, but not the later championship years everyone always talks about. I wanted to go back, way back, to the beginning. Specifically, 1985. His rookie season technically started in ’84, but ’85 was when things really got cooking, Rookie of the Year and all that jazz. So, I decided to do a little digging, my own personal look back at that time.
First thing I did was try to find some actual game footage from ’85. Not highlights, but longer stretches of play. Easier said than done, let me tell you. It’s not like today where everything’s neatly archived online. I spent a good chunk of time searching through different video sites, forums, places where old recordings might pop up. Found a lot of dead ends.
Eventually, I stumbled upon some grainy clips. Not great quality, kinda fuzzy, but it was him, playing back then. I just sat and watched for a while. What I really focused on was:
- His energy level – man, he was everywhere.
- The way he moved – super athletic, obviously, but raw compared to later years.
- How the game looked back then – different pace, different style.
Watching that old stuff was eye-opening. You could totally see the star power already, even through the bad video quality. He just attacked the rim constantly. Fearless.
Then I started looking into the specifics of that season. I knew he won Rookie of the Year, but I wanted to refresh my memory on the details. Went looking for stats, key games, stuff like that. Read some old articles I managed to dig up online. It was cool seeing the reactions from back then, how people were just blown away by this rookie.
I also remembered the whole shoe thing starting around then. The Air Jordan 1. That was a big deal in ’85. Tried to find some old commercials or ads for it. It’s funny thinking back to the controversy, the whole “banned” narrative. Whether totally true or just great marketing, it definitely added to the legend right from the start.
So, after spending some time going down this 1985 rabbit hole, watching the old clips, reading the old reports, thinking about the shoes… what did I get out of it? Well, it really cemented how insane his impact was from day one. It wasn’t a slow build. He exploded onto the scene. Seeing that early, raw version of MJ was pretty cool. Made me appreciate his whole career arc even more. Just a fun little project, looking back like that.