After LeBron James' scoring record celebrations last weekend, it is fellow NBA legend Michael Jordan's turn to party in the coming days.
The former Chicago Bulls (and Washington Wizards) superstar turned 60 on Friday.
Stats Perform has marked the occasion by recapping some of the most remarkable numbers of his career – from one to 60.
1 – Since the ABA–NBA merger, Jordan is the only player to have scored 60 or more points in a playoff game, finishing with 63 in a double overtime defeat to the Boston Celtics in 1986.
2 – As if dominating in the games that mattered was not enough, Jordan twice won the Slam Dunk Contest in 1987 and 1988. At the time, he was the only player to have won it back-to-back.
3 – Jordan was the All-Star Game MVP on three occasions, beaten only by Kobe Bryant, who the award is now named after, and Bob Pettit.
4 – In the regular season, Jordan scored 60 or more points in four different games. Bryant (six) is the sole player to have topped that feat since the merger.
5 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (six) alone has won more MVP awards in the regular season than Jordan's five.
6 – Jordan boasts a remarkable 6-0 Finals record and was named Finals MVP on each occasion. No player can match his six such awards.
7 – In leading the league in scoring between 1986-87 and 1992-93, Jordan tied Wilt Chamberlain's record by doing so in seven straight seasons. They are the only two players to lead the league in scoring in any seven seasons.
8 – Jordan scored 50 or more points in eight different playoff games, a dominant record. Allen Iverson is his nearest challenger with three such performances since the merger.
9 – As well as being a legendary scorer, Jordan was named to the All-Defensive First Team on nine occasions. He was the Defensive Player of the Year in 1988.
10 – Jordan led the league in scoring in a record 10 seasons across his career, following up his streak of seven in a row by doing so in 1995-96 to 1997-98.
11 – In his rookie season, Jordan led the league in total points (2,313), although Bernard King and Larry Bird were ahead in scoring average. Along with his 10 seasons as NBA scoring champion, Jordan led the league in total points 11 times.
12 – Jordan needed only 12 games of his rookie season to reach 300 points, the fewest since the merger.
13 – Led by Jordan, the Bulls lost only 13 games across the regular season and postseason in 1995-96. Their combined 87-13 record remains the best of all time.
14 – Jordan was a 14-time All-Star. In a 15-season career, he was not selected only in the 1994-95 season when he came out of retirement after the All-Star Game. He missed the 1986 game through injury.
15 – Jordan is one of 15 players to have made more than 10,000 field goals in the regular season. He ranks fifth on 12,192.
16 – The NBA named Jordan its Player of the Month on 16 occasions, with all of those wins coming before the award was split by conference from the 2001-02 season.
17 – Jordan made 17 field goals in the 1988 All-Star Game, tying a Chamberlain record. It stood for a further 26 years before being broken by Blake Griffin.
18 – An early highlight of Jordan's career saw him score the Bulls' final 18 points in a win against the New York Knicks. No player in the NBA had previously scored 18 points in a row, although he broke his own record by scoring 23 straight in a 61-point game against the Atlanta Hawks.
19 – Of the 119 playoff wins Jordan played in, 19 were by at least a 20-point margin.
20 – Jordan's scoring average of 20.0 in his final season in 2002-03 was comfortably the lowest of his career. Only LeBron James (20 – including 2022-23), Abdul Jabbar and Karl Malone (both 17) have averaged 20 or more points in more than Jordan's 15 seasons.
21 – Jordan was 21 at the start of his rookie season, but he averaged 27.7 points before his birthday. That is the best average of any player before their 22nd birthday since the merger.
22 – At the end of his rookie season, Jordan, aged 22, became the youngest player ever to score 30 points in consecutive playoff games. That record was later broken by Bryant.
23 – The number Jordan wore is forever associated with his remarkable career. It was retired by the Bulls but also by the Miami Heat ahead of their final game against him.
24 – Jordan made a move to point guard for the final 24 games of the 1988-89 regular season and dominated in a whole new way. He had 12 triple-doubles over that stretch – he only had 28 across his entire career – as he averaged 30.4 points, 10.7 assists and 9.2 rebounds.
25 – Jordan won his first Player of the Week award in January 1985 and his last 18 years later in January 2003, just three months before he retired for good. That was his 25th win.
26 – In the 1997 All-Star Game, Jordan recorded the event's first ever triple-double. He had 14 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds in 26 minutes.
27 – Jordan played more playoff games against the Knicks than against any other team, averaging 33.1 points across those 27 games.
28 – A sign of what was to come saw Jordan score 28.2 points per game in his rookie season, a record since the merger.
29 – Of Jordan's 32,292 regular season career points, 29,277 came playing for the Bulls. Discounting his points for the Wizards, Jordan still ranks above Shaquille O'Neal, who is eighth on the all-time NBA scoring list.
30 – Jordan's 30.1 career points per game in the regular season rank him first all time. Only Chamberlain (also 30.1) is also above 30.
31 – Since the merger, no player can match Jordan's 31 50-point games in the regular season. Modern greats like James (14) and Stephen Curry (11) have less than half as many such performances.
32 – Jordan scored 246 points in the 1993 NBA Finals against the Phoenix Suns, just 32 fewer than Jerry West's 278 against the Baltimore Bullets in the 1965 playoffs – the most ever by a winning player in a single series.
33 – A career playoff scoring average of 33.4 remains unmatched, although Luka Doncic (32.5), Jordan's nearest rival, is still going strong.
34 – The Portland Trail Blazers were Jordan's favourite regular season opponents as he averaged 34.0 points in such matchups, although he averaged 34.8 against the Utah Jazz when counting only games as a starter.
35 – Jordan scored 20 or more points in a record 35 straight Finals games between 1991 and 1998. That sequence included scoring a benchmark 35 in a single half against the 1992 Trail Blazers.
36 – Jordan played in 37 playoff series for the Bulls and was the leading scorer in 36 of those, beaten only by the Milwaukee Bucks' Terry Cummings during his rookie year.
37 – The best scoring season of Jordan's career saw him average 37.1 points per game in 1986-87, a mark only beaten by Chamberlain (four times) and Elgin Baylor.
38 – Jordan's final 50-point game came in the 2001-02 season, aged 38. He was the oldest player to have such a performance until Jamal Crawford in 2019.
39 – Although later known as a legendary postseason winner, Jordan did not come out on top in a playoff series until his fourth attempt. His 39 points in Game 5 against the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1988 took the Bulls beyond the first round.
40 – In scoring 43 points in 43 minutes against the New Jersey Nets four days after his 40th birthday, Jordan became the first and only player to score 40 points in a game aged 40 or older.
41 – Jordan still boasts the best scoring average for a Finals series with his 41.0 against the Suns in 1993.
42 – Even in his final season, Jordan scored 20 points or more in 42 games. He did so in at least 70 regular season games in 10 separate seasons and in 926 games over the course of his career.
43 – Across three playoff games in 1986, Jordan averaged 43.7 points – an NBA high for a single postseason.
44 – The 1988-89 season that included 15 Jordan triple-doubles also unsurprisingly saw a career-high for double-doubles. He had 44 in the regular season as he averaged highs in both assists and rebounds (both 8.0).
45 – Jordan played his final playoff game in Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals against the Jazz and scored 45 points in a one-point win.
46 – MJ played four games on his birthday, with his best performance on February 17 seeing him score 46 points against the Cavaliers in 1992.
47 – Jordan ended his career having scored 20 or more points in each of his final 47 playoff games, albeit he later played two more seasons with the Wizards without making the postseason.
48 – Jordan finished having played 48,485 minutes across the regular season and postseason for his career.
49 – MJ attempted a career-high 49 field goals in a 64-point performance against the Orlando Magic in 1993. Only Bryant (50 against the Jazz in 2016) has since attempted more in either the regular season or postseason.
50 – The Bulls relied on Jordan to score more than 50 per cent of their points in four different playoff games, including his last with the team. The Bulls won each time.
51 – Jordan shot 51.5 per cent from the field in his rookie season. No guard has made more field goals in a rookie season (837).
52 – Before Jordan returned with 17 games remaining of the 1994-95 regular season, seeing the Bulls go 13-4 to finish, the team had a middling 52.3 per cent win percentage.
53 – Jordan is the only guard in NBA history to attempt 1,750 field goals in a regular season and make at least 53 per cent – he did so three times.
54 – Jordan scored 54 points in the first game of the 1989-90 season. No player since the merger has scored more in the first game of a new season.
55 – Game 4 of the 1993 Finals saw Jordan score 55 points, his most in a championship series and behind only Baylor's 61 against the Celtics in 1962 all-time.
56 – Jordan's biggest playoff performance in a game that did not go to overtime saw him put up 56 in a 1992 win against the Heat. Legend has it he played a full round of golf on the morning of that game, too.
57 – Jordan had a 24-11 record in the NBA Finals, but one defeat in the championship series was the longest game of his career. He played 57 minutes in a triple overtime loss to the Suns in Game 3 in 1993.
58 – In a 1987 game against the Nets, Jordan outscored his opponents' entire starting five. The Nets' starters scored 54 to Jordan's 58.
59 – Jordan's great team-mate Scottie Pippen won 73.5 per cent of the 859 career games he played alongside MJ across the regular season and postseason. Pippen won only 59.8 per cent of 527 games when not playing with Jordan.
60 – Jordan scored at least 20 points in a record 60 consecutive playoff games between 1989 and 1993.
Rangers 5-2 Dundee: Cantwell and Wright keep Celtic's title party on hold
Rangers kept Celtic's Scottish Premiership celebrations on ice after Todd Cantwell and Scott Wright inspired a remarkable turnaround to hammer Dundee 5-2 at Ibrox Stadium on Tuesday.
Philippe Clement's side could not afford to drop points in this clash and seemed set to do so after Jordan McGhee bundled home before Antonio Portales headed past Jack Butland in the first half.
Ross McCausland managed to slice the deficit on the stroke of half-time for the hosts, sliding in to convert from Leon King's cross and teeing up a monumental comeback.
The Ibrox crowd were offered further inspiration to keep the title race alive when Cyriel Dessers glanced in from Cantwell's delivery after 52 minutes.
Former Norwich City midfielder Cantwell's fortuitous cross then dipped over Jon McCracken as Rangers hit the front for the first time, before Wright's pair of late finishes sealed the much-needed three points.
Yet this Rangers salvaging act could still matter for little, with Celtic requiring just a point away to Kilmarnock on Wednesday to seal a third successive top-flight trophy.
Data Debrief: Attacking barrage pays dividends
Clement may apportion this victory to Rangers' unrelenting desire to keep the title race ongoing, blasting 31 shots – and 13 of those on target – at the Dundee target for their 3.34 expected goals (xG) tally.
A plethora of attacking opportunities must be credited to star man Cantwell, who created a game-leading six chances – four more than any other Rangers team-mate.
Former US Open champion Thiem misses out on Roland Garros wild-card invitation
Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem will have to fight for his place at the French Open after missing out on Tuesday's wild-card invitations.
Thiem will retire later this year due to a persistent wrist injury that has derailed his career but will likely need to battle through the qualifying rounds to appear at Roland Garros for a final time.
The two-time French Open semi-finalist is currently six places away from a main-draw spot for the upcoming major, with Richard Gasquet among the eight male players to secure a wild-card invitation.
Frenchman Gasquet will equal Feliciano Lopez's 21 tournaments at Roland Garros, the joint-most appearances of any player in the Open Era.
In the women's tournament, world number 99 Alize Cornet was also invited on a wild-card pick and will appear in a women's singles grand slam main draw for the 72nd time in her career.
That is the third most in the Open Era for major appearances, behind only Venus Williams (93) and Serena Williams (81).
Ten Hag confident over Fernandes stay despite reported Bayern interest in Man Utd star
Bruno Fernandes is reportedly drawing interest from Bayern Munich and Saudi Arabian clubs but Erik ten Hag remains confident the midfielder will stay at Manchester United.
The Portugal international, who joined the Red Devils from Sporting in January 2020, is said to be attracting attention from numerous clubs in the Saudi Pro League.
Bundesliga giants Bayern are also reportedly weighing up their options in attempting to sign Fernandes, though under-fire Ten Hag expects him to remain at Old Trafford.
When pressed at Tuesday's press conference on Fernandes' future, Ten Hag responded: "It is the same question as last week. So I answered.
"The same answer. Now in all the years he was, he was a tremendously important player for Manchester United and creating the most chances across the Premier League.
"So many assists, so many goals. It's clear he's a very important player for us."
Indeed, since his debut against Wolves on February 1, 2020, Fernandes leads United for chances created (644), goals (79) and assists (63) across all competitions.
In the same period, the 29-year-old also leads the way among Premier League players overall in chances created, ahead of Kevin De Bruyne (519), Trent Alexander-Arnold (424) and Pascal Gross (388).
Though Ten Hag is keen to keep Fernandes in Manchester, Raphael Varane has announced his intentions to leave the Red Devils at the end of the current season.
Casemiro is also said to be of interest in Saudi Arabia, where clubs are reportedly targeting moves for the likes of Mohamed Salah, De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku.
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