ProBasketballDoc John Hefferon Debunks Michael Jordan's Infamous "Flu Game"

Saturday, June 11, marked 25 years since Michael Jordan's infamous “Flu Game” that saw the six-time champion score 38 points in Utah in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals while suffering severe flu-like symptoms.

As one of Jordan's legendary moments, the incident was re-litigated during The Last Dance and Jordan and his personal trainer Tim Grover leveled an allegation that a local pizza restaurant fiddled with a midnight pizza and that led to a case of food poisoning.

Among other noted theories are that Jordan was hungover after a long night – evidenced by said pizza – or that he was accidentally sickened by cigar tobacco. 

(According to the Jordan-sponsored documentary's director, Jason Heir, he had been smoking a cigar and spit on the pizza to make sure nobody else would eat it).

According to Sports Injury Central's ProBasketballDoc John Hefferon – who was also the Bulls' head team physician during Jordan's tenure – it wasn't a flu game OR a bad pizza game. 

It was… the altitude sickness game? 

Hefferon said last June on the ProFootballDoc podcast – now named the Sports Injury Central podcast which drops every week on Youtube, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts – that he and the other Bulls' medical staff have believed that Jordan was suffering from altitude sickness. 

The Bulls were staying at a hotel in Park City, which has an elevation of around 7,000 feet, and playing in Salt Lake City, which is up at around 4,500 feet.

Possibly poisoning this theory, however, is that Jordan played many games in Utah, as well as in Denver, which posts an elevation higher than SLC, and only once got sick. 

Whoever you choose to believe, Jordan's game remains a flash point on its silver anniversary.