On Saturday, country music star Kenny Rogers, who recorded his iconic “The Gambler” in 1978, passed away at the age of 81, and the venerable sports publication The Sporting News offered an unlikely tribute: the time Rogers executed a pump-fake during a celebrity basketball game and faked out Michael Jordan before scoring with a jump shot.
As The Sporting News noted:
The 1988 game was part of the Kenny Rogers Classic Weekend, a three-day fundraising celebration at his Georgia home. The festival featured live music, golf, fishing, and a star-studded 3-on-3 celebrity basketball game played against NBA legends and other celebrities, including Michael Jordan, Isiah Thomas, Larry Bird and Dominique Wilkens. A $400,000 prize pool was in play.
As FanBuzz writes, “As you’d expect of the greatest basketball player ever, M.J. was playing to win. He hit the game-winning shot to help his Red Team defeat Wilkins’ White Team, but it was Bird’s Green Team who came away champions.”
The video shows Jordan with one of his patented slam-dunks before segueing to the ball in Rogers’ hands near the top of the key. Despite Jordan coming through the air at him. Rogers pump-fakes, side steps, then hits a smooth 21-foot jumper. Los Angeles Lakers play-by-play man Chick Hearn enthused, “Kenny Rogers puts Michael Jordan in the popcorn machine and hits a 21-footer! How about that shot?”
Of course, Jordan wasn’t going to let that happen again; Rogers subsequently attempted a layup; Jordan then did what Jordan was famous for: rejecting the attempt with vigor.
In honor of Kenny Rogers today, let's remember the time he scored on Michael Jordan at the 1988 Kenny Rogers Classic Weekend. pic.twitter.com/CODlblr099
— 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 (@sportingnews) March 21, 2020
Rogers said in a 2016 interview with CMT.com, “I came into country music not trying to change country music but trying to survive. And so I did songs that were not country but were more pop. Nowadays they’re not doing country songs at all. What they’re doing is creating their own genre of country music. But I told somebody the other day, country music is what country people will buy. If the country audience doesn’t buy it, they’ll kick it out. And if they do, then it becomes country music. It’s just era of country music we’re in.”
In April 2018 he announced his retirement, saying, “I didn’t want to take forever to retire. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity to say farewell to the fans over the course of the past two years on ‘The Gambler’s Last Deal’ tour. I could never properly thank them for the encouragement and support they’ve given me throughout my career and the happiness I’ve experienced as a result of that,” Variety reported.
As The Atlantic noted, Dolly Parton, who recorded the 1983 classic “Islands in the Stream” with Rogers, prompting a friendship that lasted until his death, said after Rogers passed away, “I loved Kenny with all my heart. My heart’s broken, and a big old chunk of it has gone with him today. And I think that I can speak for all his family, his friends, and his fans when I say that I will always love you.”
Rogers was elected to the Country Hall of Fame in 2013; he sold over 100 million records worldwide. In a 1986 poll conducted by USA Today and People magazine, he was named respondents’ “Favorite Singer of All Time.”
More of the game here:
1988 KENNY ROGERS CLASSIC
Green Team (3-0)@James_Caan (Captain)
Larry Bird
John McEnroeBlue Team (2-1)
Kris Kristopherson (C)@IsiahThomasRed Team (1-2)@LorenzoLamas (C)
Michael JordanWhite Team (0-3)
Kenny Rogers (C)@DWilkins21 #RIPKennyRogers pic.twitter.com/3W4NYGh1J0— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) March 21, 2020