On February 14th, 1990, the Chicago Bulls were visiting the Orlando Magic for a regular-season matchup that came just a few days after the 1990 NBA All-Star Game. During the All-Star Game, some media attention was grabbed by an apparent theft that transpired in the Eastern Conference All-Star Locker Room, where a crook (yet to be apprehended) swiped Reggie Miller’s jersey from the room. Just a few days later, a ‘copy cat’ of sorts would do the same to Michael Jordan’s jersey at Orlando’s O-Rena; immediately the security locked the place down, sealing off the building at 6:00 PM and searching all employees. The jersey was never found, so club officials actually searched game attendees in a stand for a jersey for Michael to borrow, but the lone ’23′ was worn by a kid – too small for Michael to wear.

With no options available, Michael was issued a #12 jersey for the game. The jersey featured no name on the back, and where that 12 jersey came from still remains a mystery as no other player on the Bulls roster at the time donned that number. Perhaps the Bulls had a traveling seamstress with them? It would make some level of sense, as the number 12 is the rounded-up figure of half of 23 (how Jordan arrived at 23 from 45 in the first place), but that’s all conjecture (a creepy one at that). The number didn’t seem to hinder Michael much because he was still the Michael that was expected – 49 points (not surprisingly, a record for a Bulls player wearing #12) and seven rebounds – but the Bulls would go on to lose that game in OT. Unfortunately for MJ’s fans in Orlando, Michael’s displeasure spilled over after the game as he vowed to not sign any autographs that day.