This frame captures more than a single drive to the basket — it captures a meeting of two of the most explosive leapers of the 1980s. Larry Nance, the man Jordan is rising over here, was the winner of the very first NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 1984, beating Julius Erving in the final and earning the nickname “The High-Ayatolla of Slamola.” Jordan, of course, answered with back-to-back dunk titles in 1987 and 1988, the second sealed by his iconic free-throw-line dunk. Two champions of the same event, caught in the same image.

By 1989, Nance had become the cornerstone of a rising Cleveland team. Traded to the Cavaliers in February 1988, he helped transform them into an Eastern Conference contender; the 1988–89 Cavaliers won a franchise-record 57 games and went 37–4 at home, with Nance earning All-Star and All-Defensive First Team honors. That made the Bulls–Cavaliers matchups of the era genuinely heavyweight — two ascending teams meeting in some of the most memorable games of Jordan’s climb to the top of the conference. This Al Hall Studios original, with the matchup certified by name on the PSA label and the agency’s filing marks intact on the back, is a first-generation document of that rivalry.