UCLA and North Carolina have combined for 39 Final Four appearances and 17 national titles.
Yet upholding the Tar Heel legacy was only part of the motivation for Michael Jordan ahead of the "NCAA Jam" championship matchup against the Bruins. Jordan's steal led to teammate Vince Carter's reverse dunk, and that gave North Carolina a 54-53 victory against UCLA, which was led by legends Bill Walton and Lew Alcindor.
What fueled Jordan in the arcade battle for the ages?
"Sporting News named Bill Walton as its Player of the Year three times and I only won it twice," Jordan said. "At that point, it became personal for me."
North Carolina beat Kansas and UCLA knocked off Duke to set up the final in the first ever "NCAA Jam" tournament, which featured 16 classic 2-on-2 teams (with fans determining the results via Twitter).
MJ and Vince vs Alcindor and Walton.
— 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 (@sportingnews) March 9, 2023
You voted, and North Carolina and UCLA will go at it for the right to call themselves NCAA Jam champs 🔥
Read more about the epic matchup here: https://t.co/Vl6J8kuQwh pic.twitter.com/hQi4SuRHcb
No. 1 @UNC_Basketball vs No. 2 @UCLAMBB. Four legends. It all comes down to this 😤
— 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 (@sportingnews) March 9, 2023
Who's getting crowned champ of NCAA Jam?
The victory wasn't without controversy.
UCLA – which took advantage of a front-line that featured 7-foot-2 Alcindor and 6-foot-11 Walton – had a one-point lead with 12 seconds left. Walton was trapped in the corner near the half-court line. He elbowed Carter out of the way, but Jordan stole the ball and passed to Carter, who snuck the reverse dunk in under Alcindor's attempted block before the buzzer.
No fouls are called in "NCAA Jam" games, and Walton took exception to the lack of officiating – or in this case the lack of officials at all.
"They clearly robbed the Bruins faithful and the conference of champions," Walton said. "It is the most egregious travesty in the history of fictitious basketball."
UCLA led at halftime with an unorthodox strategy to take advantage of its size. Alcindor – who had 13 blocks because goaltending is rarely called – stood under the rim to prevent Jordan and Carter from getting to the rim – then threw full-court outlet passes to Walton, who stayed on the other end of the court.
Jordan and Carter were limited to a combined total of two dunks in the first half, and Walton banked in a half-court shot at the first-half buzzer for a 30-20 lead. While walking to the locker room, several reporters overhead Walton taunt Carter with a reference to the 1998 Final Four.
"How many NCAA championships did you win?" Walton reportedly asked.
"At that point, all I was thinking about was a quadruple windmill dunk," Carter said afterward.
The Tar Heels rallied in the third quarter. Jordan turned to the outside shot to pull Alcindor away from the rim. Jordan hit three consecutive 3-pointers, and the third caused the net to spontaneously combust in flames.
From there, the high-flying back-and-forth final quarter erupted. Carter's somersault dunk gave North Carolina a one-point lead with 1:30 remaining, but UCLA answered with a baby hook from Walton and a backboard shattering dunk from Alcindor. The game was stopped for two seconds while the glass was cleaned off the floor.
Jordan then cut the lead to one with a floater in the lane with 12 seconds left.
"The game should've been over at that point," Alcindor said.
But it wasn't. Alcindor inbounded and Walton raced outside the three-point line. That's when Jordan snuck behind Walton, who had elbowed Carter past the half-court line. Alcindor had drifted toward half-court. Jordan came up with the steal, and Carter – who had recovered - sprinted toward the rim. The reverse beat the buzzer by one second. Jordan and Carter both leapt 30 feet in the air to celebrate.
Jordan finished with 30 points, 13 steals and two assists. Carter had 24 points. Alcindor had 27 points and 12 rebounds. Walton had 26 points.
"It's a great win and we have a saying around here for moments like this," Jordan said. "The ceiling is the roof."
Walton was despondent when he heard those comments.
"The ceiling is the roof?" Walton asked. "I have no idea what he is talking about. I hope he doesn't get into broadcasting."
MORE: Latest bracket forecast for NCAA tournament
