Craig Ehlo on Bryon Russell's Challenge To MJ: 'Just Let it Go'

Craig Ehlo has some advice for Bryon Russell: Move on.

Ehlo was the first NBA victim of a legendary Michael Jordan shot. Who will ever forget the sight of a sprawling Ehlo while Jordan nailed a last-second jumper to win the deciding Game 5 of a 1989 first-round series between Jordan's Chicago Bulls and Ehlo's Cleveland Cavaliers?

Russell was the last victim of a legendary Jordan shot. He was on the receiving end in Game 6 of the NBA Finals when Jordan's last-ditch jumper defeated Utah to clinch Chicago's sixth and final title.

After Jordan called out Russell in his Hall of Fame induction speech earlier this month, Russell showed he doesn't want to move on. Speaking with national media, he dropped the gauntlet.

"I want to challenge him,'' Russell said on ESPN's Outside the Lines. "Mike, I'm going to go on national TV, and say, 'If I see you in shorts, I got mine on right now. Let's get this one-on-one on and make it happen'... Whenever he's ready to play, that's what I want. I want M.J. I'm calling him out on national TV.''

Brandt Anderen the owner of the NBADL's Utah Flash, saw a chance to continue to milk Russell's comments for publicity. He has offered to host a match at halftime of his team's Dec. 7 game between Jordan and Russell, putting up $100,000 for charity.

Ehlo is seeing all of this and rolling his eyes.

"I would tell Bryon, 'Just let it go,''' Ehlo said in an interview with FanHouse. "It happened, and it's a great memory. But you don't want him to go out and embarrass you, and let it happen twice.''

Ehlo, by the way, has no intent to issue Jordan any challenges. He also didn't mind that Jordan didn't refer to him in his Hall of Fame speech.

"He's doesn't need to mention me,'' Ehlo said. "That shot holds its own water. It's been on a Gatorade commercial and on ESPN Classic. He doesn't need to mention it any more.''



The reason Jordan singled out Russell in his speech is Russell in 1994, when Jordan had retired, said he wanted to guard Jordan. Ehlo knew better than ever to say anything that remotely would fire up Jordan.

"That would have just been adding to the fire,'' Ehlo said. "You can't stop him.''

Then again, Ehlo, who has seen Jordan several times this decade, does admit to a little bantering.

"I've told him that the mistake I made was running with him. 'If I would have slid and stopped, I could have contested your shot,''' Ehlo said. "He said, 'I still would have made it.'''

It must be said that years later Ehlo did block a Jordan shot in a similar situation. OK, this needs some explanation.

"I worked with his son, Marcus Jordan, at the Nike Skills Academy (in Anaheim, Calif., in 2008),'' Ehlo said. "We had this drill where (campers) started on the wing like Michael did, and I was standing in the same place. When it got to Marcus' shot, I blocked it.

"I rubbed it in. I said, 'I finally blocked a Jordan shot.' George Raveling (a former coach running the camp) immediately called Michael. He laughed.''

Ehlo, a solid guard who played from 1983-97, doesn't mind his place in history. In fact, he wants Russell to know the 1989 shot was superior to the 1998 version, with both coming from the top of the key.

"Mine is probably a lot more memorable because mine started the run,'' Ehlo said of the shot helping elevate Jordan into legendary status. "You always remember the first one more than the last one.''

Ehlo said he's never talked to Russell, a swingman who played from 1993-2006, about being on the wrong end of Jordan shots. If were to talk to him any time soon, he would tell Russell he doesn't stand a chance against Jordan even though His Airness, at 46, is eight years older and was called "overweight.'' by Ehlo.

Wait a minute. Overweight?

"He looked a little bit thick in his suit,'' Ehlo said of Jordan, later adding that Ehlo weighs a svelte 202 pounds, six under his playing weight.

That sounds like a bit of trash talking by Ehlo. Perhaps Jordan will end up wanting to challenge him.

Chris Tomasson can be reached at tomasson@fanhouse.com.