Okay, so I was digging around the internet the other day, trying to figure out something about Michael Jordan, and you won’t believe what I stumbled upon. The question was simple: how many times has the great MJ been swept in the playoffs? Sounds straightforward, right?
Well, let me tell you, it wasn’t as easy as I thought. First off, I hit up a few of the usual sports sites, you know, the big names. They all had a ton of stats, like how many games Jordan played in the playoffs – 179, in case you’re wondering. But the specific number of sweeps? That was a bit trickier to pin down.
So, I started diving into forums and fan pages. I mean, who knows this stuff better than the die-hard fans, right? I found some interesting tidbits there. Apparently, Jordan was swept twice in his career. But – and this is a big “but” – both of these sweeps happened in the first round, and back then, the first round was a best-of-5 series, not best-of-7 like it is now.
Then I thought, “Let’s compare this to LeBron James, just for kicks.” Turns out, LeBron has been swept three times, but all of his were in the best-of-7 format. And get this – two of LeBron’s sweeps were in the NBA Finals, while Jordan never got swept in the Finals. In fact, there have been nine NBA Finals that have ended in a sweep. Also, I read somewhere that Larry Bird swept Jordan twice, but that was in the first round.
Here’s a little breakdown I cobbled together from all this digging:
- Michael Jordan: Swept twice, both in the first round (best-of-5).
- LeBron James: Swept three times, all in best-of-7, with two in the NBA Finals.
So, what did I learn from this little adventure? Well, stats can be a bit misleading if you don’t look at the context. I mean, a sweep in a best-of-5 is way different from a sweep in a best-of-7. And while Jordan was indeed swept twice, it’s not quite the same as what LeBron experienced.
Anyway, that’s my little story of how a simple question turned into a mini research project. It’s funny how these things can suck you in, right? One minute you’re just curious, and the next you’re knee-deep in playoff history and stats. But hey, that’s what makes being a sports fan so much fun, isn’t it?
