February, 1990-Reggie Miller’s jersey was stolen from the Eastern Conference dressing room after the 1990 All-Star Game at Miami Arena. Then a thief pulled off the coup de grace at Orlando Arena on the following Wednesday, when he/she swiped Michael Jordan’s famous No. 23 before the Chicago-Magic game.

Someone slipped into the Bulls’ dressing room about 5:30 p.m. and stole Jordan’s jersey for the first time ever. An alert was sounded, and drastic measures taken. Orlando Arena officials sealed off the building about 6 o’clock, and departing employees were searched. The jersey was not found.

Then someone spotted a kid in the stands wearing a Jordan jersey. He had a likely story: He was a Bulls fans and bought the jersey at a sporting-goods store. The authorities apparently believed him, but they took the jersey to Jordan anyway. It was too small, so His Airness was given the a jersey with the number 12,  and had the name removed off the back. Michael scored 49 points, a Bulls record for players wearing that number, but the Bulls lost in overtime. I have read that Sam Vincent gave up his jersey, but he wore the number 11, and even more interesting, Sam was traded to Orlando before the trade deadline… weird!

Jordan was none too pleased about the heist. After the jersey was stolen, he sent out word that he would not sign any autographs in Orlando, and he held true to his word. “It’s pretty irritating because you’re accustomed to certain things and you don’t like to have things misplaced,” he said.

The jersey has yet to appear to this day, and if located could be worth a small fortune. A pair of legitimately obtained Jordan game shorts sold for $15,000 at an Orlando auction back in 1990.

Peep the video of the game:

The Chicago Bulls with the assistance from the Leo Burnett agency, on Monday sent to LeBron’s house the classic red, white and black Air Jordans and asked if he could fill those shoes. Tuesday it was a case featuring seven empty ring boxes, representing one more championship than Jordan won here, and the question, “Can you fill these boxes?”

Figuring the biggest hurdle — and potential advantage — to winning him for Chicago was the legacy of Bulls’ superstar Jordan, they got together with a creative team from the agency and decided to appeal directly to James’ competitive spirit: Challenge him to outdo even Jordan, who always loved a good challenge himself.

A tad overwhelming by the Bulls in their attempt to get LeBron to Chicago. So many players are routinely compared to “His Airness” but playing for the Bulls puts the scrutiny directly on LeBron’s shoulders. Its like R&B singer Usher getting a sequined glove from Michael Jackson, with an attached note. “Can you feel these gloves?” The Bulls may have scared off the King with this one.

With the start of the NBA’s free-agent period just three days away, details are starting to emerge about the meetings LeBron James will hold with potential suitors Thursday, when all parties can begin talking.

According to sources and media reports, the meetings with James will take place in northeast Ohio near — but not at — his suburban Akron home. The Bulls, New York Knicks, Miami Heat, New Jersey Nets and Los Angeles Clippers are expected to make pitches to James. There also was talk Sunday that the Dallas Mavericks, who are over the salary cap and only could acquire James through a sign-and-trade, want to make a presentation as well.

The Knicks have the most cap space of all the teams. They can get $34.15 million under the projected cap of $56.1 million. Next up are the Bulls, who can get roughly $29.1 million under the salary cap, followed by the Heat ($27.6 million) and the Nets ($27 million).

Just think if LeBron was to have cameras present, he could turn the entire process into a critically acclaimed reality show. Or LeBron could have each team compete in challenges (VH1 style) and prove which one really is up to the task of aiding James to a championship. Each team that proved its worth, would stepped down and receive a game ball, meaning they were still in the running towards~proving their love to LeBron. Teams that failed would be told by LeBron “You have fouled out, please return to the locker room and collect your things”. ” I have no love for you”.

This show would squash the entire Summer lineup on ABC by the way!

AP Photo/Pat Sullivan

Nuggets 97 Rockets 92: The Nuggets won for the second straight time without Carmelo Anthony, the NBA’s second-leading scorer, who sat out with a sprained left ankle. The Rockets lost for the eighth time in 12 games, despite yet another dominating start. Chauncey Billups and J.R. Smith were enough to beat the sputtering Rockets who have lost a bit of the intensity they had early in the season. Not to point the finger but Trevor Ariza is shooting 13-45 over the three game skid.

Hawks 90 Spurs 105: An old dog never loses its tricks and the Spurs used everyone of those tricks on display in a trouncing of Atlanta. Tim Duncan grabbed a career-high 27 rebounds and scored 21 points, and the San Antonio Spurs ended their three-game slide with a 105-90 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night. It was the first 20-20 game since 2005 for Duncan, who bested his previous career rebounding high of 25, set against Miami in 2003. Jamal Crawford earned his 23rd career 4-point play. Now just one behind Reggie Miller’s NBA record. Whwn the Hawks win and lose BIG!

Lakers 118 Pacers 96: Bynum scored 22 points in the first half. Kobe Bryant took over in the second half and finished with a game-high 29 points to go with nine rebounds and seven assists. Bynum finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds. Indiana decided to go small and it failed. Times have been rough in Indiana, for basketball at least. The Indianapolis Colts are playing in the Super Bowl next Sunday! Los Angeles doesn’t even have a football team, so…small victories.

AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki

Bulls 96 Thunder 86: Derrick Rose scored 26 points, Noah added 13 points and 11 rebounds and the Bulls held the Oklahoma City without a field goal for the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter on their way to a 96-86 victory on Wednesday night. The Truth Sports knew the Del Negro ship would stay afloat. It was Chicago’s fourth straight win — all on the road — after starting the season 4-15 away from the United Center. The Bulls — fresh off wins at Phoenix, Houston and San Antonio — improved to 22-22, returning to .500 for the first time since they were 6-6 on Nov. 21. A disappointing 3 game losing streak that gets tested Friday against the Nuggets….good luck

Heat 103 Raptors 111: Chris Bosh had 24 points and a season-high 18 rebounds,Andrea Bargnani scored 27 points and Raptors played another solid game after beating the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.

Ron Turenne/NBAE via Getty Images

“We put (the Lakers game) behind us,” Bosh said. “One thing about a big win, you don’t want to beat a good team and then come back and have a poor performance. You always want to keep the momentum going and I think we’re building some good resistance at home.” Dwyane Wade had 35 points and 10 assists and former Raptors center Jermaine O’Neal scored 22 for Miami, which lost Michael Beasley to a right knee injury. The injury may keep him out of Heats next game against Detroit. Bosh is the onlyRaptors player to start all 46 games this season, and even more appealing to the Heat, and the Rockets, and the…….

Timberwolves 95 Cavaliers 109: Cavs are 9-0 at home against Western Conference teams, if you consider the Timberwolves a team. Just kidding, but this one was a no-brainer. LeBron is dancing in the highlights, and thats never a good sign.

Grizzlies 99 Pistons 93:  The Pistons 11-19 (57.9%) free-throw shooting was the only negative output of the game, unfortunately the Grizzlies shot 26-28 (92.9%) from the stripe. The Grizzlies have passed all the wins they had all last season(24). Ben Gordon (groin) missed his 19th game of the season, and Will Bynum (ankle) also sat out for Detroit.

76ers 88 Bucks 91: This game was not watched, yet it was played. Brandon Jennings scored 18 points, hitting a 12-footer with 22 seconds left, and the Bucks held on for a 91-88 win on Wednesday night after the Sixers missed three shots to tie in the final 11 seconds. Iverson finished with six points, all in the first half.

Jazz 106 Trailblazers 95: Here are some mismatch numbers. The Jazz had 19 turnovers the Blazers had 9. Utah shot 60.3 percent from the field, hitting 38 of 63 shots. Portland shot 36.3 percent (33 of 91). Utah led by as many as 26 points during the first half. The Jazz won for the eighth time in nine games and took over second place in the Northwest Division. Carlos Boozer, who scored 14 points, left the game early in the third quarter with a right calf strain and did not return. Can you hear the money slipping through Boozers fingers. It sounds like when Sonic loses his rings.

Hornets 123 Warriors 110: Did you know Stephen Curry is 5th in steals per game, crazy right? Chris Paul scored 38 points to lead five New Orleans starters in double figures. Paul shot 14 for 19 from the field, made all nine of his free-throw tries, dished out nine assists and grabbed six rebounds. Paul is a lock for All-Star reserve.  Monta Ellis returned for Golden State after missing the past two games with a sprained right ankle and had 19 points, nine assists and six rebounds. He had been averaging 30.7 points over his previous 16 outings. Hope this doesn’t hurt Monta’s chances of making it to the All-Star Game as a reserve. The roster is to be announced tomorrow.

AND THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT!!!

NETS WIN!!! NOW THE STRIVE FOR 5!

The Air Jordan 11′s are in stores tomorrow($175), right in time for Christmas. The quintessential all-black sneaker worn by Michael Jordan during the 95′-96′ season when the Bulls went 72-10. Jordan started that season with a 42 point game against the Hornets, had a 53 point game against the Pistons, and averaged 30.4 points per game or the season. The Bulls lost only three playoff games as they won their fourth championship in six years. The Air Jordan 11 is quite possibly the best all-black sneaker ever made. There aren’t very many sneakers that can be worn at weddings, proms, and even funerals.

The Bulls have played confused on offense and lackluster defense this season. The Bulls have yet to repeat the level of play they showed in last years playoffs.

Some of the decline could be due to the lack of Ben Gordon. The trio of Rose, Luol Deng, and Joakim Noah are capable of playing smart, efficient basketball. The win against Atlanta proves their tenacity, while the lost to the Nets last week shows their immaturity.

On Monday the Bulls host the Sacremento Kings and their former Memphis point guard rookie,  Tyreke Evans who is way ahead in the Rookie of the Year running. The Bulls should win this one if they play against the Kings the way they played Atlanta in the second half.

Earlier this season Rose said he wasn’t “cutting his hair” until he started to play better. Somewhere in Chicago a barber chair just became open.

The NBA on Wednesday made a shocking decision. The decision to suspend one player who threw an elbow and one who threw a punch. The elbow was delivered by Dwight Howard in the first quarter of Game 5 in Orlando. The recipient was Samuel Dalambert who took the elbow pretty good.  The punch came from Rajan Rondo in the final seconds of Game 5 in Boston. The recipient of the punch was Brad Miller, and he didn’t take the punch as well. What turned out to be so shocking was that Howard was suspended from Game 6 in Philadelphia, while Rondo received no further punishment. The elbow from Howard was at the beginning of a game in which he had 24 points and 24 rebounds. Think if he had been thrown out right at that moment the momentum it would have given the 76ers. Instead Howard remained in the game to accidentally(this time) elbow his own teammate Courtney Lee, who will also miss game 6 with a fractured sinus. In many ways the Chicago Bulls are feeling the repercussions of being the 8thseed and up against the defending champs. With less than 5 seconds remaining, the Bulls passed the ball into Brad Miller who immediately attacked the basket. As he extended for the goal his face was met by Rondos paw, causing an airball and a whistle from the ref.  Miller had to stop the bleeding in his mouth before he attempted the potential game tying free throws. The look on Brad Millers face made it obvious he was a ball player and not a boxer. He stepped to the line and missed both free throws while obviously groggy. Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro didn’tagree with the call “Rondo didn’t come near the ball. He came right across his face. I agree that it is a hard playoff foul, but you still have to call it a flagrant and I’m sure that will be addressed,” Del Negro said afterward. Unfortunately for the Bulls the triple double averaging Rondo will be on the court come Game 6. The next player to be involved in any flagrant altercation will most certainly be suspended, if he doesnt play for the Boston Celtics.