The NBA announced Wednesday that police in Rocky Mount, N.C., have arrested a man in connection with the harassing telephone calls made to Michael Jordan when the Bulls were in Minneapolis Dec. 30.
An NBA spokesman said Thomas Christopher Davis of Rocky Mount was arrested March 19. NBA security cooperated with the Rocky Mount police in the investigation.
Davis reportedly confessed after a long investigation.
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Three calls allegedly were made to the Target Center. The first, before halftime, left a North Carolina number and said Jordan’s mother was in a hospital. Jordan was concerned that the call was real because of the North Carolina number.
Davis left his own telephone number.
According to an NBA spokesman, arena security called back to check on the number, then gave the message to the Bulls, who passed it on to Jordan. In the fourth quarter, another message was received and three telephone numbers were left, but that message wasn’t passed on to Jordan. After the game, a third crank call was received, giving the name Sheldon Davis and a number, all of which led back to Thomas Davis.
Police said they had no motive.
Davis was released without bail and is due in court April 9.
Horror of horrors redux: The date was May, 5, 1995. The occasion was Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. The site was the Orlando Arena, which the Bulls revisited Wednesday night.
It was here, three years ago, that Jordan failed miserably for one of the few times in his brilliant career. With the Bulls leading 91-90 and 18 seconds remaining, Nick Anderson stripped him of the ball and set up Horace Grant for a dunk. Then, on the Bulls’ last chance for a win, Jordan drove and tried to get the ball to Scottie Pippen, but it went off him and out of bounds.
Jordan shot 8 for 22 with eight turnovers in the game and said he felt “personally responsible” for the loss.
“I forget those types of things,” he said Wednesday. “I do remember that. But I forget those types of things. And the team’s changed a lot. Penny’s (Hardaway) not here, Shaq’s (O’Neal) in L.A. This team’s still trying to build itself back up.”
Play it again: Wednesday also marked the Bulls’ final regular-season visit to Orlando, and as usual, the event was billed as the last chance for area fans to see Jordan. The arena was filled, and he was greeted not as a bitter enemy but as a visiting dignitary.
“No one knows,” Jordan said when asked if it was his last Orlando appearance. “It could be. Then again, it could not. Either way, the respect (the fans) pay me is always greatly appreciated. It motivates me to go out and do my job.”
No show: Bill Wennington didn’t travel with the Bulls to Orlando, but is expected to rejoin them in time for their Friday game in Atlanta. “It was a personal matter,” coach Phil Jackson said of the center’s absence.
Update: Luc Longley, who has missed the last 12 games with a bad left knee, is eligible to come off the injured list in Atlanta. Will he? “I don’t know. It’s not my decision,” he said after taking part in Wednesday’s shootaround.
“I’m pretty fit. I’m pretty good. Whether they give more time to get it 100 percent or they want me to come back now, that’s their call. We’ll see how it goes. I’ve been anxious for about three weeks. The projection was a week or so, and you set your mind to playing after that time. When I practiced and couldn’t go, after that I started being anxious.”