What if Michael Jordan never came back?

March is a historic month in basketball history. Everyone remembers March 2, 1962 for Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points. But what if I told you a 19 point game where a guy shot 7-28 was possibly the most important basketball game in the last 20 years? You'd probably think I'd lost my mind. But on March 19th, 1995, 17 years ago today, Michael Jordan suited up for an NBA game for the first time since Game 6 of the 1993 NBA Finals. That comeback influenced so much of what we have today. But what if it hadn't happened? It's quite possible that Shaq and Penny would have eventually become what Shaq and Kobe became in LA, at least the champions part. Remember it was the Magic in 1995 who knocked the Bulls out of the playoffs and drove Jordan to get back in shape and lead the Bulls to a sweep of the Magic on the way to the title in 1996. That sweep led Shaquille O'Neal to sign with the Lakers that summer. That summer also saw the Lakers make a deal that would give them the draft rights to a young player who went to the NBA straight from high school large part because he wanted to play against Jordan. That player's name was Kobe Bryant. And that Laker dynasty that Shaq and Kobe helped orchestrate? It was coached by Phil Jackson. Would Phil have 11 rings if Michael Jordan never came back? Probably not. We can even look at our shoes. When MJ retired, the basketball shoe game hit a bit of a lull. Jordans were still cool, but something about seeing Mike do work in them took our desire for them to the next level. So March 19th, 1995, Michael Jordan came back and the impact of that is still being felt even today. As a huge Jordan fan and in the vein of his 2 word fax that announced his comeback, I'll close with this: THANK GOD!