Petty WiFi Name At Jazz Arena Proves Utah Is Still Salty About Losing To Michael Jordan In The NBA Finals

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Michael Jordan had the ability to make life miserable for basically every team he faced off against over the course of his legendary career. That includes the Jazz, who still haven’t gotten over an iconic play that transpired in the NBA Finals based on the name of the WiFi network inside their arena.

As you likely know, Michael Jordan racked up six championships with the Bulls in the 1990s by pulling off two separate three-peats during his time with the franchise.

While the Utah Jazz had the chance to secure a title of their own in two consecutive seasons by punching their ticket to the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998, they were unable to stop a Chicago squad that won each of those series in six games.

The first of those showdowns featured what is known as “The Flu Game,” as His Airness managed to overcome the sickness he was battling (which was actually a case of food poisoning stemming from a tainted pizza) to score 38 points and lead the Bulls to victory in Game 5.

The following year, the Jazz had the chance to force Game 7 in a back-and-forth contest where they were sporting a one-point lead before Jordan hit Bryon Russell with a debilitating crossover prior to scoring the game-winning bucket in the closing seconds of the series-deciding showdown.

On Tuesday, current Jazz owner Ryan Smith stopped by The Pat McAfee Show for a conversation where he reflected on that second loss. He said that he (like many Jazz fans) is convinced M.J. illegally shoved Russell to create the space for his wide-open jumper to the point where the name of the public WiFi network at the Delta Center is “JordanPushedOff.”

It turns out he wasn’t joking, as the team’s official Twitter account posted a screenshot to confirm that’s actually the case.

Jordan may have placed his hand on Russell during the play in question, but if you watch the replay, it seems like the guard’s momentum had already swung in the wrong direction before contact was initiated.

With that said, I can’t help but respect the level of pettiness on display here.