Craig Fite says he’s the one who made the pizza for Michael Jordan that Jordan says led to the food poisoning before Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals. The Last Dance revealed that Jordan believes the pizza led to him feeling horrible, but Fite says he’s a Bulls fan and personally made the pie for MJ before personally delivering it along with a driver who went with him. Fite called in Monday to give his side of the pizza drama on 1280 The Zone’s Big Show.
“I remember saying this, ‘I will make the pizza because I don’t want any of you doing anything to it,’” Fite recalled to The Big Show, which could be construed as an odd concern, but he continued. “And then I told the driver, ‘you’re going to take me there,’ it will be my first delivery.” As an assistant manager, Fite didn’t usually make pizzas or deliveries.
Fite said the pizza never left him, from the time he began making it, until it was delivered. While Jordan’s personal trainer Tim Grover claimed in the docu-series that five guys showed up at the door to make the delivery, Fite told The Big Show it was just him and his driver. Fite also noted that he asked if he, “could at least say hi to Mike,” to which the person receiving the pizza opened the hotel door a little wider. Jordan then raised his hand from playing cards to wave and said ‘thanks man.’
Hite even remembers it as a thin and crispy pizza. And how are we just now hearing these details to one of the most important games in NBA history? How had Jordan’s team never revealed that it was pizza poisoning in their minds? Craig’s been sitting here all these years with this intel in his head and just now drops it. Absolutely fascinating. At least go on Reddit at some point in your life before this and do an AMA on how he delivered a pizza to Jordan’s room before Game 5.
Something tells me ESPN’s going to have Craig on SportsCenter at some point this week. The pizza poisoning drama rolls on because what else we going to talk about?
