It was long before LeBron James went on national television to say he was taking his talents to South Beach. Long before Kobe Bryant announced his retirement in an essay published on The Players Tribune. Long before Luka Doncic broke social media when news of his trade was tweeted.
Long before the existence of Twitter and TikTok, before the daily use of websites and e-mails, before the reliance on iPhones and Wi-Fi, Michael Jordan sent a fax 30 years ago today.
"I'm back," it said.
The brevity of the two-word statement announcing his return to the Chicago Bulls after a 17-month retirement, and the now antiquated manner in which it was delivered, add to the legend of what transpired after the fax was sent. And, of course, after the confirmation page was received.
To active NBA players, the fax machine is as foreign as the peach basket.
And for kids out there who have never dialed anything other than the touch screen of an iPhone, Jordan is to LeBron what fax is to e-mail.
Jordan's fax is perhaps the most famous in the device's history. And the day after it was sent, he was back on the court in an NBA game.
Jordan had unexpectedly retired in October of 1993 at the age of 30, just months after he helped lead the Bulls to their third consecutive championship. Citing a lack of motivation -- and still mourning the death of his father James, who was murdered that July -- Jordan announced that he would pursue a baseball career.
Jordan went on to play 127 games with the Double-A Birmingham Barons, hitting .202 with three home runs and 51 RBIs.
Michael Jordan of the Birmingham Barons throws during an August 1994 game against the Memphis Chicks in Alabama. (Photo by Jim Gund/Getty Images)
The Bulls, in the first season of the post-Jordan era, won just two fewer games in the regular season than the year prior at 55-27. Scottie Pippen averaged a career-best 22.0 points per game, finishing third in MVP voting. The Bulls swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round and then pushed the New York Knicks to the limit in the Eastern Conference semifinals, with a Game 7 road loss signaling the end of their dynasty.
The following season, they were hovering around .500 in March when speculation of Jordan's return intensified -- practicing with his former team earlier that month was kind of a spoiler. The fax made it official.
It was sent on March 18, 1995.
To do so, a document was placed onto the fax machine, a phone number was dialed, the paper was scanned, the images were transmitted to its destination, a hard copy printed out for the recipient, a confirmation page was provided to the sender.
It has some similarities to e-mail, but the delivery process typically would take a few more minutes and require far more paper and patience -- particularly if ink was low or if there was a dreaded paper jam. Still, at the time, it was the most efficient way to spread information.
Not much ink or paper was required for Jordan's fax.
Jordan had looked over drafts of a news release prepared by his agent David Falk.
"He didn't like the feel of them," Falk told ESPN. "He said, 'I'll do it myself.'"
The message was typed on Falk Associates Management Enterprises letterhead and opened with the agency's standard press release introductory language:
WASHINGTON, DC. (March 18, 1995) — The following statement was released today by Michael Jordan, through his personal attorney and business manager David B. Falk, Chairman of Falk Associates Management Enterprises, Inc. (“FAME”) located in Washington, D.C., in response to questions about his future career plans:
“I’m back.”
The following day, Jordan was back on an NBA court as the Bulls took on the Indiana Pacers, his first game since June of 1993. Indianapolis transformed into the chaotic center of the basketball world as national media and ticket scalpers descended upon the area.
"It was like David Stern (then the NBA commissioner) deciding the NBA championship would be a one-game playoff, and that one game is in your building and you've got 24 hours to prepare," Pacers media relations staffer David Benner told the Indianapolis Star.
As Jordan took the floor with the Bulls starting lineup, he wore his familiar red Bulls jersey. Same name on the back, but different number. Jordan's second chapter in the NBA began with him wearing not his familiar No. 23, but the No. 45 he wore on his baseball uniform.
As time passes, and reality fades to myth, it might be said that Jordan instantly returned to dominant form in his first game like a Hollywood movie. The truth is, his field goal percentage wasn't much higher than his batting average.
Jordan's first field goal wouldn't come until just over four minutes remained in the second quarter and the Bulls trailed by 18. Chicago did come back to force overtime, tying the game on Pippen's 3-pointer with 19 seconds remaining, but went on to lose 103-96.
Jordan finished just 7-for-28 from the field, recording 19 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals over 43 minutes.
Less than a week later, in the fourth game of his return, Jordan became Jordan. He hit a pull-up jumper at the buzzer to give the Bulls a 99-98 win over the Atlanta Hawks. In his following game, against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, he scored 55 points in what became known as the "double-nickel" game.
Jordan, over the 17 regular season games he played that season, averaged 26.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.3 assists. The Bulls would go on to advance to the conference semifinals, where they lost in six games to the Orlando Magic.
It was the last playoff series Jordan would lose in his career.
The following season, he led the Bulls to what was a then NBA record 72-win season and the first of three straight championships.
Following his second three-peat, Jordan retired in 1998 for the second time. And, once again, returned years later.
Having served as part owner and president of basketball operations of the Washington Wizards, Jordan revealed in 2001 than he would be resuming his playing career with the team at 38 years old.
This time, there would be no fax.
Michael Jordan in his first game as a player for the Washington Wizards in 2001. (Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images)
The formal announcement, which had been expected for weeks, ultimately was made just 13 days after the September 11th terrorist attacks.
The Wizards released a statement saying Jordan had signed a two-year contract with the team and would be donating his $1 million salary for the upcoming season to relief and victim-assistance efforts.
"Although I am energized by my impending return to the court, I am deeply saddened by the recent tragic events and my heart goes out to the victims and their families," Jordan said in the statement. "Out of deep respect for them, I will not participate in media interviews before the start of training camp on October 1.
"I am returning as a player to the game I love because during the last year and a half, as a member of Washington Wizards' management, I enjoyed working with our players, and sharing my own experiences as a player. I feel there is no better way of teaching young players than to be on the court with them as a fellow player, not just in practice, but in actual NBA games. While nothing can take away from the past, I am firmly focused on the future and the competitive challenge ahead of me."
