Many have not had the opportunity to wear the honorable jersey number ’23’ in the league. Even if they did, they couldn’t match the excellence of Michael Jordan. One time, however, a mysterious incident in the locker room forced the 6x NBA champion to change his jersey number for a day. February 14th, 1990 marks this historic incident which many are not aware of. Even the Jordan fans! Though His Airness dropped one of his best performances that night, he couldn’t help but be furious at the unexpected incident. What was it? 

Putting up historic performances with this jersey number on his back, MJ inspired numerous kids and they would spend as much as they could to buy the famed red jersey of the Chicago Bulls.

Locker room incident that triggered Michael Jordan 

It’s safe to say that the number 23 was a lucky charm for Jordan. During his entire time with the Chicago Bulls, the 60-year-old wore the same number. However, when he came back from his first retirement in 1995, Jordan briefly wore the number ’45’.

Number 23 was indeed close to his heart. Imagine someone grabbed your lucky charm right before the game. Well, that’s exactly what happened to the 5x MVP in 1990. According to reports, Jordan’s famous jersey was mysteriously stolen right before his game against the Orlando Magic on February 14th. 

Due to the sudden disappearance, Jordan was forced to wear his practice jersey that had the number ’12’ on it. Till today, Jordan and the Bulls couldn’t figure out how this happened. The 5x Finals MVP couldn’t help but be pissed about it. 

Though Jordan had to ball in a new jersey, that did not stop him from doing what he does best. Despite wearing ’12’, he dropped an impressive 49 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. But you will be surprised to know that Jordan and the Bulls lost to the Magic by 6 points. 

Watch this story: “Are the New York Knicks a ticking time-bomb?”

Disappointed and frustrated by the loss, Jordan refused to sign autographs as well. Now you know how Jordan’s lucky charm was apparently stolen as mentioned above. This is indeed one of the NBA’s most uncanny events, considering the fact that a random stranger just came into the locker room and stole Jordan’s jersey.

What are your thoughts on this unheard story? Share your take in the comments below.