So here are a few more thoughts…

There is not an image of Jordan’s winning basket in any of Morton’s books.

A check of major North Carolina newspapers from March 30, 1982 reveals:

“The Winston-Salem Journal”
“The News and Observer” (Raleigh)
“The Fayetteville Observer”

All used tightly cropped pictures of Jordan’s winning basket and each one closely resembles the Millan “Sports Illustrated” shot (UMI book, page 95), but each newspaper image was credited to United Press International (UPI Photo).

After looking the Yahoo Sports video and hearing Worthy describe “the play” and hearing Kenny Smith’s comment, there might be a possible answer why Morton didn’t get the Jordan shot.

With 32 seconds left in the game and trailing by one point, you might assume that Coach Smith would want his more experienced player(s) handling the ball and taking this most important shot. Morton might have been thinking that way too and focused on senior Jimmy Black or junior James Worthy, who was Smith’s first choice, but if he wasn’t open the backup would be freshman Jordan. The world now knows it was Jordan, who had imagined earlier in the day about making the game-winning shot.

A close look at of the images of the Jordan shot indicates that all were taken within less than a second of each other. The game clock in the background shows :17 in each.

A closer look at “Our State” magazine from February, 1998 reveals that there is an article by Barry Jacobs titled “Legends of North Carolina Basketball,” on pages 18-25, complete with 18 Morton images. But the cover shot of Jordan hitting the NCAA game-winner is from Heinz Kluetmeier of “Sports Illustrated.” Seems like they would have used a Morton image of “The Shot” if there was one.

It would be interesting to look at the two negatives Morton took before the James Worthy action image in this post. The Jordan shot took place at 17 seconds. The Worthy image must have taken place about the 5 second mark, because Georgetown brought the ball up to the key when Worthy intercepted Brown’s pass. And as you say, the Worthy image was taken before Smith fouled. The shot of Worthy on the foul line shows the clock at 2 seconds. So what was Morton shooting between the Carolina time-out at 32 seconds and the 5 second mark when he took the Worthy action shot?

Interestingly enough both Coach Smith and Coach Guthridge believe “The Real Shot” actually took place with 3:26 left in the game. It was a Jordan left-handed layup. Guthridge recalls: “One of the best shots of the game was a driving layup when Jordan laid it almost off the top of the backboard to get it over Ewing.”

Coach Smith agrees: “I thought it was a great drive, and then I saw Patrick (Ewing) come in and it flashed through my mind that it was going to be blocked. That was a sensational shot.”

In looking back, Jordan couldn’t explain why he shot the layup with his left hand…he almost always used his right.

Just a thought or two, Stephen.

As for that Morton mystery with the Jordan winning NCAA shot…I too wondered about that last year when I was researching the ’82 Championship piece. In my research, I found at least four images of what some call “the shot heard ’round the basketball world.” I’m sure Morton would have taken the shot. He’s obviously in the right place with the Worthy shot seconds later. But it’s interesting that Art Chansky, in his 1982 book, “March to the Top,” used a shot by “Daily Tar Heel” photographer Al Steele (pages 24-25) when there are dozens of Morton pictures in the book, and Morton is given lead photo credit for the book.

Steele, in a 2002 interview said this about his famous image:

“I had actually moved into another area to shoot the end of the game, trying to be able to get the floor and the bench. I probably wasn’t supposed to be there, but sometimes it’s just luck to get a shot like that, one that ends up being so well known. But I didn’t know what I had when I took the picture. It means a lot to have taken that picture. People will be talking about that shot, and I’ll tell them that I took it, and they can’t believe it.”

Then there is a similar shot by Bettmann/Jerry Lodriguss

http://www.rsvlts.com/2012/03/29/michael-jordan-the-legend-was-born-30-years-ago-today-11-photos/basketball-ncaa-tournament-north-carolina-vs-georgetown/

The book, “North Carolina National Championship 1982″ by UMI Publications used a much tighter shot of Jordan’s famous basket and that image is credited to Manny Millan of “Sports Illustrated.”

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=michael+jordan+vs+georgetown+Sports+Illustrated&hl=en&sa=X&qscrl=1&rlz=1T4GGLL_enUS398US398&biw=948&bih=528&tbm=isch&tbnid=fDxBC780adXq1M:&imgrefurl=http://www.carolinaonmymind.org/tag/georgetown/&docid=ZeaF85HY7tCeHM&imgurl=http://www.carolinaonmymind.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/1982-michael-jordan-james-worthy1.jpg&w=641&h=437&ei=9RJbUYT8B4Hs8wTMloGgAg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=225&vpy=207&dur=2766&hovh=185&hovw=272&tx=113&ty=90&page=1&tbnh=133&tbnw=191&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:14,s:0,i:126

Apparently, “Sports Illustrated” had two photographers in place for the Jordan shot because there is a similar shot on the front cover of “Our State” magazine for February, 1998 and it is credited to Heinz Klutmeier of “Sports Illustrated.”
(Oddly enough, neither of the images credited to the “SI” photographers appears in the magazine issue of April 5, 1982 with the game story.)

Morton always included images of Michael Jordan in his slides shows, but I don’t recall every seeing one of that game-winning shot. So I guess the mystery will remain for now.

Your mentioning Bones fouling out of that championship game in Madison Square Garden in 1946, brings to mind yet another great Bones story. This one from UNC General Alumni Association’s Tom Bost, as related in Ken Rappoport’s 1976 book “Tar Heel: North Carolina Basketball.”

Bones was given the awesome task of guarding Oklahoma A&M’s 7-foot center Bob Kurland…Bones was 6 feet 6 inches.

Early in the second half, the referee called a foul on Bones, his fourth for the game. As Bost tells the story, “Bones went over to the referee and said, ‘Mr. Ref, the other three fouls were correct. But you missed this one a mile. I didn’t touch him. The sad part of this is I’ve got another foul in my system and I’m going to have to commit it. But I figured I had that extra foul to give.’

“So, sure enough, he fouled out with 6:06 remaining in the game,” as Bost continues his story. “At that point, Bones goes back over the ref and says, ‘You called a good game except for that fourth foul. That was terrible.”

Like many other Tar Heels at the game that night, Tom Bost believed that if Bones had not fouled out, Carolina would have another championship trophy in the Basketball Museum and an additional championship banner hanging in the Smith Center.