An air of finality has surrounded Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls this season, a factor that helped Jordan win the Most Valuable Player award in a landslide.
Jordan won the fifth MVP award of his career Monday after receiving 92 first-place votes to 20 for Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz.Gary Payton of Seattle finished third with three first-place votes, and Shaquille O'Neal of the Los Angeles Lakers received one first-place vote from an international media panel.
"It's ironic in a way that the reason Malone won it last year - sort of the sentimental career achievement thing - is the reason Jordan won it this year, even though Jordan had the better statistical season last year and Malone had a better statistical season this year," John Jackson of the Chicago Sun-Times said.
Jackson was one of three Chicago-area writers who voted for Malone last season, drawing the wrath of Bulls fans who inundated their voice mails with angry messages.
"I've got to admit, there's a smidgen of guilt because of what I did last year," Terry Armour of the Chicago Tribune said.
The third writer, Kent McDill of the Arlington Heights Herald, again voted for Malone.
"Both teams won the same number of games, and my question has always been how many games would the Bulls win without Michael vs. how many would the Jazz win without Karl?" McDill said. "My answer always seems to come back to the Bulls would win more without Michael than the Jazz would without Karl, making Karl most valuable."
Jordan led the league in scoring for the 10th time, although his 28.7 average was his lowest since his second year in the league.
He also had some of his worst career numbers in shooting percentage (46.5), free-throw percentage (78.4), rebounds (5.8) and assists (3.5). But the voters rewarded him for leading the Bulls to a 62-20 record - tied with Utah for the best in the league - despite the absence of teammate Scottie Pippen for 35 games following foot surgery.
Malone's average dropped from 27.4 in 1996-97 to 27.0 this season, and his field-goal percentage dropped from 55 to 53 percent.
The Jazz went 11-7 when John Stockton was sidelined by knee surgery early in the season, while Chicago went 24-11 before Pippen rejoined the team.
"That's the confusing aspect of the MVP. No one has defined it clearly," Jordan said. "I like to think my reason for winning is my consistency - to constantly step on the court each and every night and be a threat, force teams to double-team and triple-team me - and yet still be able to succeed in those situations."
Jordan was presented with the award by Hall of Famer Bill Russell - another five-time MVP winner.