Michael Jordan's Flu Game — It Might Not Have Been the Flu

Everyone called it the Flu Game. But Michael Jordan might not have had the flu at all.

June 11th, 1997. The Bulls are down 3-1 in the series — no, wait. They're tied 2-2 and they NEED this game. Jordan checks into a Utah hotel the night before and orders pizza. By midnight, he's on the bathroom floor.

He showed up to the arena looking like a ghost. The team doctor said his temperature was through the roof. Everyone — his teammates, the coaching staff, the entire Bulls organization — expected him not to play. Scottie Pippen later said he'd never seen Jordan look like that. Not before a game. Not ever.

But here's what the official story left out. Jordan's personal trainer Tim Grover, in his book 'Relentless,' revealed it wasn't the flu. It was food poisoning — likely from that late-night pizza. And some have gone further: five Pizza Hut delivery men showed up to his room that night. In Utah. Bulls country enemy territory. Grover has always believed the pizza was deliberately tainted.

Sabotage or coincidence — we'll never know for certain. What we do know is that Michael Jordan played 44 minutes, scored 38 points, and won one of the most iconic games in NBA history while he could barely stand up. Whatever was wrong with him, it wasn't enough.

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