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Why Kevin Durant's game-winning shot brought back memories of Jordan for the '89 Bulls

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PHOENIX — The comparison surfaced not long after Kevin Durant knocked off the Chicago Bulls on Monday. In the final seconds, the Phoenix Suns forward buried a double-pump, he-just-did-that jumper to give the Suns a 115-113 win.

If you thought Durant's incredible shot was similar to Michael Jordan's iconic double-pump jumper that eliminated the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5 of the first round of the 1989 playoffs, you're not alone. A few Bulls from that same team agree.

Will Perdue, analyst for NBC Sports Chicago, watched Monday night's game from a studio in Chicago. As soon as he saw Durant's shot, he immediately recognized its significance.

“That was a double pump!” said Perdue, who was with the Bulls during the 1989 playoffs in his rookie season at Vanderbilt. “That's the same thing Jordan did against (Craig) Ehlo in '89. I was there!”

The people around him were not convinced.

“Look again,” Perdue said.

Apparently the circumstances were different. Chicago's 1989 victory came in a first-round elimination game: win or go home. Phoenix's game on Monday evening took place in the middle of the season. And unlike the 1989 game, when Chicago trailed Cleveland 100-99 when Jordan got the ball, this game was tied when Suns guard Grayson Allen prepared for the impact with 6.3 seconds left.

But just like in 1989, everyone in the building knew where the ball was going. In 1989 that was Jordan. Monday it was at Footprint Center Durant. Jordan had to double pump to keep Ehlo from blocking the ball. Durant had to do this to prevent Alex Caruso from fending him off from behind.

Phoenix's inbound pass went to big man Jusuf Nurkic, who passed it back to Durant. Chicagoans went straight to Jordan. Durant took one left-handed dribble. Jordan took two.

Durant double-pumped and shot from 17 – good.

Jordan double-pumped and shot from 17 – good.

In a telephone interview Wednesday, Perdue said he remembered Jordan's shot like it was yesterday. In 1989, he was stuck behind Bill Cartwright and Dave Corzine in the Bulls' rotation. The play had taken place on the other side of the field, away from the Chicago bench. Perdue was on the baseline at Richfield Coliseum in Cleveland. He saw Jordan jump. He saw him double pumping.

On Monday, he saw Durant do the same, changing his shot in the air because Durant saw Caruso coming from behind.

“Caruso almost blocked it – and there's a defender in front?” Perdue said. “It's one of those things, it's almost like spidey sense. He has a third eye. Or an eye in the back of his head or something. … The perfect timing of the pump and then bringing it back up after Caruso swerved through to go up and shoot it. And if you notice, it was so pure that it barely moved.”

How difficult is it to make such a recording?

“Basically, just like taking a car going 100 miles per hour, you hit the brakes, put it in reverse and drive in the opposite direction,” Perdue said. “And then still back in first gear and go back the way you went. To try to stop all that inertia to do that, on a scale of 1 to 10 it's 12.”

The similarities don't end with Durant's final shot. In fact, his performance Monday night pretty much mirrored Jordan's from 1989. Check this out:

In the first half…

Durant was 4 of 13 from the field.

Jordan was 5 out of 13.

In the second half…

Durant scored 30 points.

Jordan scored 30 points.

In the fourth quarter…

Durant scored 17 points.

Jordan scored 17 points.

Before the game…

Durant finished 16 of 32 for 43 points.

Jordan finished 17 of 32 for 44.

In 1989, Sam Vincent was a reserve guard for the Bulls. In the Game 5 win over the Cavs, he played eight minutes, collecting two points and two assists. He was on the bench when Jordan broke Cleveland's heart.

“We realized how big the moment was in terms of the win and advancing in the playoffs, but we didn't realize the history that would build around 'The Shot,'” Vincent said. “A very impactful shot. A great shot. One of many for Michael. But it was hugely important to how the Bulls grew from there.”

Vincent missed Durant's shot. As the men's basketball coach at Beacon College in Leesburg, Florida, he watched film Monday night in preparation for Friday's game against Keep Striving Prep. But after that The Athletics sent him the video, Vincent agreed to take a look.

His response: Oh, wow.

“After watching it a few times,” Vincent said, “I saw the incredible, eerie comparison to that recording Michael made in Cleveland.”

Vincent said both players used their unique skills to their advantage. For Jordan, it was his ability to hang. (“I don't know how he stayed in the air so long,” Brad Daugherty, the bewildered Cleveland center, had said after the 1989 game.) For Durant, it was his height.

“I don't think it's a shot you practice, but I think it's a shot you practice Doing practice – which I know Michael practiced a lot and I'm sure I've seen footage of Kevin doing it too – and that is being able to take a hard penetration dribble to a certain spot and then actually come up, Vincent said. “You practice that shot over and over again and in a game the defense shuts down. But because you've worked on that shot, it's a little easier to maneuver the ball to make that shot.

The 35-year-old Durant has played well all season, but lately he has taken his game to the next level. He was the Western Conference Player of the Week and had 40 points in a home win over Indiana. A night later he torched the Bulls. On Wednesday, he had 12 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists as Phoenix defeated Dallas 132-109. After a slow start, Phoenix (26-18) has won seven in a row. Suddenly, those preseason championship hopes don't seem so unrealistic.

In his seventeenth season, Durant has played a leading role in the turnaround.

“I hope Phoenix Suns fans truly understand what they are witnessing,” Perdue said. “And this has nothing to do with age. This has to do with greatness.”

(Photo of Durant's game-winner Monday against the Bulls: Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)

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