20 Second Timeout

Classless Chicago Fans Tarnish Bulls' Inaugural Ring of Honor Ceremony by Booing Jerry Krause

On Friday night, the Chicago Bulls held their inaugural Ring of Honor ceremony, inducting Artis Gilmore, Johnny "Red" Kerr, Dick Klein (the team's first owner and general manager), Bob "Butterbean" Love, Jerry Sloan, Chet "The Jet" Walker, Jerry Krause, Tex Winter, Phil Jackson, Toni Kukoc, Dennis Rodman, Scottie Pippen, and Michael Jordan. What should have been an event brimming with joyful nostalgia was tarnished when Chicago fans booed lustily after Krause's name was announced. Krause's widow Thelma, in attendance to accept the honor, cried at the disrespect, and was immediately comforted by other honorees and retired Bulls players. 

There is a proper time and place to express displeasure regarding Krause's role in ending the Bulls' dynasty, but a ceremony honoring him for his significant contributions to building the Bulls' dynasty is not that time or place, particularly considering that Krause died several years ago and thus his widow felt the brunt of the fans' senseless hatred. I don't want to hear excuses about fans being too young to remember Krause, or fans booing without knowing why just because other fans booed. If other people jumped off of a cliff would you follow them, or would you assess the situation and draw conclusions? Of course, that question presumes that the people who booed have functioning brains, which is far from certain. 

When your team honors the people who gave their blood, sweat, and tears to make your team great, you cheer. This is not complicated.

I have written about Krause many times. I am not his biggest fan, but I respect what he accomplished--and anyone who has any knowledge of basketball history respects what he accomplished. An objective, detached take on Krause's legacy is that he deserves a lot of credit for building the Bulls' dynasty, and a lot of blame for breaking up the Bulls' dynasty, as I explained in my obituary for Krause:  

In 1998, I was furious at Krause for destroying something so beautifully artistic and so competitively fierce.

Nearly 20 years later, I am still puzzled and saddened by what Krause did but I also appreciate what he accomplished--not just with the Bulls but over the span of his life. Those who knew him well say that he was a loyal friend with a good heart. Ultimately, that is how he should be remembered--and, despite his gruff demeanor at times and despite his mistake in breaking up the Bulls, there is no doubt that Krause belongs in the Basketball Hall of Fame. It is a shame that if he ever is inducted he will not be around to enjoy that most deserved honor.

After Krause was inducted posthumously in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017, I assessed his legacy: 

I was as baffled and upset as anyone by Krause's haste and glee to break up the Bulls so that he could try to build another championship team from scratch but Krause deserves a lot of credit for hiring Phil Jackson as coach and for acquiring key players Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, B.J. Armstrong, Bill Cartwright, Toni Kukoc, Ron Harper and Dennis Rodman. An NBA executive's job is to win games and championships; by that standard, Krause is one of the most accomplished executives in pro basketball history.

"The Last Dance" told the story of the Chicago Bulls' dynasty from Michael Jordan's perspective, and to a large extent made Krause a villain for a generation of fans too young to remember the 1990s. Krause resigned from the Bulls in 2003 after his post-dynasty plan failed woefully, but it should never be diminished or forgotten that Krause's Chicago teams won six NBA titles (1991-93, 1996-98). Jordan did not win a playoff series as a player before Krause arrived in Chicago, and Jordan did not win a playoff series in his two years playing for the Washington Wizards; in 18 years as an owner/executive, Jordan's teams only made the playoffs three times, and did not win a single series. Jordan's 2011-12 Hornets went 7-59, setting the NBA record for worst single season winning percentage. Obviously, being a successful NBA executive is not quite as easy as Jordan thought when he mocked Krause during the Bulls' glory years. Krause's critics say that anyone could have built a championship team around Jordan, but Jordan himself proved for nearly two decades that he was neither capable of finding a great player nor capable of even putting together a team that consistently qualified for the playoffs.

The Bulls' classless fans should be ashamed of booing Krause and tarnishing what should have been a great moment.

Labels: Artis Gilmore, Bob Love, Chet Walker, Chicago Bulls, Dennis Rodman, Dick Klein, Jerry Krause, Jerry Sloan, Johnny "Red" Kerr, Michael Jordan, Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen, Tex Winter, Toni Kukoc

posted by David Friedman @ 11:17 PM

9 comments

Scottie Pippen's Life Story Should Be Read, Admired, and Emulated

In an era when some people are often praised for telling "their truth" even if that "truth" diverges from evidence-based reality, why does the autobiography of one of pro basketball's greatest players make so many people not only cringe but feel compelled to publicly rebuke that player?

Scottie Pippen's Unguarded has attracted a lot of media attention, much of it negative. 

Why do people get upset by what Scottie Pippen writes/says, and why does Pippen care so little about what other people think?

On the surface, these are simple questions, but the answers to these questions reveal a lot not only about Pippen but also about the mainstream media and our society in general. Our society enjoys being fed simple narratives, and mainstream media members are paid to create simple narratives. If you stick to the popular narrative, you will remain popular. If you challenge the popular narrative, you will be attacked.

Some professional athletes are masters at creating and/or promoting simple narratives; they tell media members what the media members want to hear, and the media members in turn give the general public a narrative that is favorable for the athlete who provides them with soundbites that they can use.

"Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all-time" is a simple narrative. There is evidence supporting the validity of that statement, but there is also evidence supporting the notion that Michael Jordan is not the greatest basketball player of all-time--and, more to the point, there is evidence that there is no objective way of determining that one player is better than every other player who ever played basketball.

"Michael Jordan was Batman and Scottie Pippen was Robin" is a simple narrative. The complex reality that Jordan and Pippen formed perhaps the greatest and most versatile duo in basketball history does not fit within the confines of that simple narrative, but--as Pippen said in a recent interview--he brought out the best in Jordan and Jordan brought out the best in him. As a result, Jordan and Pippen led the Chicago Bulls to six championships. Pippen emphasizes that basketball is a team sport, not an individual sport--but that goes against the simple, hero-driven narrative that can be traced back for decades; think of the famous marquee promoting not Lakers versus Knicks but rather George Mikan versus the Knicks: if Mikan's teammates had stayed in the locker room, could Mikan have beaten five Knicks by himself?

Understand how this works and then you understand why Jalen Rose calls Pippen the most underrated great player of all-time; the simple narrative idolizing Jordan leaves no room for Pippen to be anything more than a member of Jordan's supporting cast. Contrast Rose's perspective with the bleatings of "Screamin' A" Smith promoting simple pro-Jordan narratives while blasting Pippen for telling his life story. Rose works for ESPN but he has shown on multiple occasions that he does not feel compelled to stick with simple pre-determined narratives, and "Screamin' A" has repeatedly demonstrated that he is incapable of doing anything other than loudly spewing the same narratives over and over.

Pippen was selected to both the NBA's 50 Greatest Players List and the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team, but he is often belittled in a way that other great players are not: his bad moments are magnified, his significant contributions to six championships are minimized, and he is sometimes dismissed as a player who could only thrive as the second option behind Michael Jordan but was not capable of leading a team as the first option. These criticisms of Pippen are asinine and demonstrably false, and it is not surprising nor is it wrong for Pippen to resent these attacks on his basketball legacy.

In Scottie Pippen's Place in Basketball History, I noted that Phil Jackson once declared, "Scottie was our team leader. He was the guy that directed our offense and he was the guy that took on a lot of big challenges defensively...the year that Michael retired, Scottie I think was the most valuable player in the league." Pippen's former teammate Bill Cartwright said that Pippen "was as much a part of winning the championships as MJ. I don't think it would have gotten done without him." I also pointed out that when Pippen was 37 years old The Oregonian selected him as the midseason MVP of the 2002-03 Trail Blazers: "Statistics don't tell the whole story with Pippen, whose ability to guard anyone from Atlanta Hawks power forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim to San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker to Boston Celtics small forward Paul Pierce has given the Blazers incredible versatility." Further, Tex Winter--who had a front row seat as a Bulls' assistant coach watching Jordan and Pippen--stated, "Jordan always felt Pippen was something special. Michael realized how easy it was to play with him and how he helped make his teammates better. It's often said Jordan needed Pippen and Pippen needed Jordan. I'm not sure Jordan didn't need Pippen more than Pippen needed Jordan."

Being honest is no guarantee of always being right, but being honest does guarantee that you are going to upset many people, including people who are powerful and who have a vested interest in repressing your honest statements.

Scottie Pippen is honest about what he thinks and how he feels. He has never participated in mass market simple narrative creation. He speaks his mind with no filter, regardless of whether or not his opinion conforms with popular narratives, and regardless of whether or not his opinion may offend other people. As I put it in 2007, Scottie Pippen is No Diplomat, but He Knows Basketball; when Pippen was asked his thoughts about the Chicago Bulls' current players, he offered his candid assessment. For example, Pippen said that Tyrus Thomas "dribbles better with his left hand than his right. He must have broken his arm when he was a kid. He shouldn't be dribbling. He should be a fetcher. Like Ben Wallace, (Joakim) Noah, go get the ball." Pippen declared that Ben Wallace "doesn't know the game like Dennis Rodman did. Dennis knew how and why he got rebounds. So you keep on him (Wallace) or he doesn't play." Thomas was the fourth overall pick in the 2006 draft, and the Bulls acquired him from Portland by trading away the rights to LaMarcus Aldridge. It is obvious that Pippen's assessment of Thomas was correct, but what Pippen said is not what the Bulls wanted to hear at that time. Wallace was an impactful player, but anyone who saw both Rodman and Wallace play understands that Rodman had a better overall grasp of the game in terms of setting screens, passing, and contributing in ways beyond rebounding and defense. Neither player was an offensive threat as a scorer, but Rodman was more of an offensive threat than Wallace and demonstrated a higher overall basketball IQ than Wallace, as Pippen correctly noted. 

Scottie Pippen has a genius level basketball IQ, and he is not afraid to express unfiltered opinions about the sport that he understands so well.

Contrary to mainstream media portrayals, Unguarded is not vindictive in tone, nor is it focused on attacking or diminishing Michael Jordan (or anyone else). Unguarded tells the remarkable story of a boy from Hamburg, Arkansas who was one of 12 children, who began his college basketball career without a scholarship, and who worked so hard on his craft that he provided generational wealth to his family while earning official recognition as one of the NBA's greatest players ever. Pippen was an unselfish player who served as the de facto point guard on offense and as the linchpin to team success on defense.

Pippen's life story is inspirational and uplifting.

This is the man and the athlete who should be the focus of so much criticism? Ray Lewis pled guilty to obstruction of justice in an unsolved double murder, and Brett Favre was a selfish player who is also accused of welfare fraud for receiving funds for speeches that he never gave, but Scottie Pippen is the retired Hall of Famer who must be shouted down and demeaned? This is not surprising behavior by the media--I previously questioned why Ray Lewis is lionized and Terrell Owens is demonized--but it is very disappointing.

Pippen begins Unguarded by recalling the bullying incident at school which paralyzed his brother Ronnie from the neck down when Ronnie was just 13 years old. Pippen describes how the school officials did nothing to stop the bullying before the fateful attack, and he discusses the horrible mistreatment that Ronnie endured in the hospital. Eventually, Pippen's parents were able to bring Ronnie home. It took years of hard work for Ronnie to regain some of his mobility. Pippen concludes, "He has inspired me like no one else...I'm not the biggest success story in the Pippen family. He is" (p. 4). 

About 10 years after Ronnie was paralyzed, Pippen's father Preston suffered a debilitating stroke that left him wheelchair bound and rendered him unable to communicate much verbally. The family rallied around Preston to help and support him the same way that the family helped Ronnie. Preston passed away a few years later, during the 1990 playoffs. 

Pippen describes how poor his family was, but he adds, "In spite of everything, I never felt poor. I felt blessed" (p. 7). Pippen says that when he was younger he did not think about how his early experiences influenced his mindset but now that he is in his fifties he reflects back and realizes that how much the challenges experienced by his brother and his father impacted his thinking. Pippen knows that he is portrayed as naive or stupid for signing a long-term contract that soon resulted in him being underpaid relative to his value, but at that time he felt that he could not risk being left with nothing if he got injured and was no longer able to play. A five year, $18 million contract was something that he could not pass up after seeing two examples of how your entire life can change in an instant.

Becoming an NBA player fulfilled Pippen's improbable childhood dream. His favorite basketball player is Julius Erving. Pippen declares, "Talk about charisma. There has been no one in the sport like Dr. J ever since. Sorry, MJ. Sorry, Magic. Sorry, LeBron. Whenever one of Dr. J's games was on TV, I couldn't take my eyes off him" (p. 14). 

However, when Pippen was a young, small point guard, his nickname on the playground was Maurice Cheeks, the heady Hall of Fame point guard who was Erving's teammate for many years and who later coached Pippen in Portland near the end of Pippen's career. 

To say Pippen was not highly recruited is an understatement. He received no college offers except for an opportunity to go to the University of Central Arkansas on a work-study program. Pippen would not be able to play in any of the basketball team's games, but he would be permitted to work out with the team. Pippen received a basketball scholarship only after two players quit the team. Pippen averaged just 4.3 ppg as a freshman, but he was elated to have the opportunity to play in all 20 of the team's games.

While attending college, Pippen grew from a skinny 6-1 point guard to a 6-7 player with point guard skills and a forward's size, and he became a two-time NAIA All-American. Pippen's contentious interactions with Jerry Krause, the Chicago Bulls' longtime general manager, are well-documented, but Pippen gives Krause credit for recognizing his talents from the beginning. Pippen writes about Krause, "There isn't one word I wish I could take back. At the same time, give the man his due. He could spot talent where others couldn't..." (p. 40). That is not a vindictive or vengeful assessment by Pippen; that is honesty: he had his disagreements with Krause and he regrets nothing that he said about Krause, but he also respects Krause's ability to scout players. Krause made a trade with Seattle to swap first round picks and acquire Pippen. 

Regarding his early interactions with Jordan, Pippen does not belabor the point but it is obvious that he was never intimidated by Jordan. Sure, Jordan challenged Pippen on the court--Jordan challenged everyone--but Pippen went right back at Jordan, and Pippen is one of the few players in basketball history who had the physical skills and the mental toughness necessary to compete with Jordan. We have read, seen, and heard many stories about Jordan berating and belittling players, but those stories never involve Pippen. Pippen says that he constantly worked to improve his game, but he never sought Jordan's approval. Pippen's work ethic and determination to be great were formed long before he ever met Jordan, so the simple narrative that Jordan molded Pippen into greatness does not make much sense. Jordan was just entering his fourth season when Pippen was a rookie. Jordan's Bulls had a 1-9 playoff record up to that point, so Jordan was not in a position to give anyone lessons about what it takes to be an NBA champion. After Jordan's first retirement the Bulls--with Pippen as the undisputed best player on the team and, arguably, the best player in the NBA--went 6-4 in the playoffs, with perhaps only one terrible Hue Hollins call preventing them from returning to the NBA Finals. 

Pippen recalls that the first NBA game he saw in person was his first preseason game. Think about that: one of the NBA's 50 greatest players had never even been to an NBA game until he joined the Chicago Bulls. Pippen was used to having hard-driving coaches in high school and college, but he resented the way that Doug Collins publicly berated him and other players, particularly because Collins rarely said anything negative to or about Jordan. Pippen writes that he is not surprised that Collins became a respected TV commentator, and he acknowledges that Collins has a great basketball mind. Pippen says that he learned a lot from Collins, but that he did not appreciate Collins' coaching style. Those words may not go over well in a basketball community in which Collins is a highly regarded figure, but everything that Pippen asserts is true and easily verifiable.

By nature, Pippen finds it difficult to trust people, and his relationship with the Bulls' front office was strained by several situations in which he felt betrayed. During his rookie season, Pippen had serious pain radiating down his legs. The medical staff insisted that he was just having muscle spasms. It is baffling that no trainer or doctor figured out that Pippen was experiencing radiculopathy (the medical term for nerve pain in the legs caused by a herniated disc in the back). Pippen did not receive a correct diagnosis until he was evaluated by a doctor not affiliated with the team, and Pippen eventually needed back surgery, which took place after his rookie season and caused him to miss the start of his second season. Pippen resents not only that the Bulls misdiagnosed him, but that Collins and others in the organization questioned his toughness. 

Pippen describes how Collins marginalized and at times even mocked veteran assistant coach Tex Winter. Meanwhile, the youngest assistant coach on the staff--Phil Jackson--made a name for himself with his thorough scouting reports and engaging communication style. Jackson, who is not quite the contemplative monk he portrays himself to be, also knew how to curry favor within the highest power structures of an organization, a skill that he displayed throughout his coaching career. Even though Collins led the Bulls to the 1989 Eastern Conference Finals, he was fired that offseason and replaced by Jackson. One of the reasons that Jackson was hired to replace Collins is that the team needed a coach who was not afraid to challenge Jordan, and another reason is that Jerry Krause wanted to implement Tex Winter's Triangle Offense, but Collins resisted doing this.

Nothing that Pippen writes about Collins is vindictive, or even surprising. Sam Smith and Roland Lazenby have both written about what happened behind the scenes before Jackson replaced Collins as Chicago's coach, but Pippen lived through the situation so it is valuable to have his firsthand account. Pippen's description of Collins' coaching style is in line with recent comments made by Kwame Brown about what it was like to play for Collins in Washington when Collins catered to elder statesman Jordan the same way that Collins catered to young superstar Jordan.  

In contrast to Collins yelling at players and embarrassing players, Pippen recalls that Jackson "was critical in a constructive way. He didn't embarrass us in front of our fans or teammates. He pulled guys off to the side or asked one of the assistant coaches to explain what we did wrong. I felt respected as a player and, more important, as a man" (p. 86). Pippen describes Jackson's practices as well-organized, and says that the team expended just enough energy to stay sharp while also preserving enough energy to play hard during the games. Jackson implemented Tex Winter's Triangle Offense, but Jackson was smart enough to run isolation plays for Jordan in the fourth quarter if the Triangle Offense was not working. The Triangle Offense provided a structure that kept everyone involved, and it forced the defense to chase Jordan when Jordan did not have the ball--but the Bulls never forgot that they had the sport's greatest closer if/when they needed him.

Pippen describes the challenges the Bulls faced in learning how to run the Triangle Offense. One of the biggest challenges was convincing Jordan to give up the ball and trust his teammates to make the right decisions. Pippen notes that Jordan was used to holding the ball for five or six seconds, but Pippen adds that even at his worst Jordan never monopolized the ball the way that James Harden did during his time in Houston. Pippen recalls watching Harden and thinking to himself, "For God's sake, James, stop dribbling!" 

Pippen is not afraid to shatter simple narratives, but if you are a media member getting paid to promote Jordan as the greatest player ever and to promote James Harden as the greatest scorer ever then expert commentary from Pippen refuting your simple narratives threatens your livelihood and your status. Keep that thought in mind when various media members criticize Pippen's firsthand account of his NBA career.

To Pippen, Jordan is a great player--Pippen admits that he would have wanted the ball in no other player's hands during last second moments such as the famous shot to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1989 playoffs--but the story of the Chicago Bulls is the story of a team coming together, not the heroic one man quest of Michael Jordan triumphing against all odds (including overcoming the teammates he derisively considered to be his supporting cast instead of viewing them as his partners).

To Pippen, Harden is not a basketball superhero but just a player who dribbles the ball too much instead of focusing on team success.

I am baffled by the notion that Pippen's book and the comments that he has made during his book promotion tour indicate that he derives no joy from his time with the Bulls. Pippen makes it quite clear that the joy he derives comes from how a team worked together to win six titles. Ask any of Pippen's teammates and, to a man, they will tell you what a great teammate he was, and how he lifted them up, particularly after Jordan often broke them down with harsh remarks. Pippen views basketball as a team game, and he is offended by the media's attempts to transmogrify the Bulls' team success into a simple narrative focused entirely on deifying Michael Jordan. Pippen's recollections and fondest memories of those six championship seasons revolve around what the team accomplished as a group. 

Pippen is not a person who has many regrets, but in Unguarded he says that he should have made more of an effort to reach out to Jordan after Jordan's father was killed during the summer of 1993. Pippen states that he will regret that for the rest of his life. I wonder why those passages from the book and those heartfelt sentiments are not emphasized in the media coverage of the book.

I wonder if anyone who has blasted Pippen and Unguarded has read the entire book.

Pippen notes that he played in 1386 NBA games (regular season and playoffs combined), yet there is inordinate focus on 1.8 seconds from those games. He also questions why a documentary about "The Last Dance" (which is what Phil Jackson called the Bulls' 1997-98 season) dwells on 1.8 seconds from a 1994 playoff game. Pippen asks, "Why then did Michael find it necessary to bring it up again? Did he consider for a moment how it might affect me and my legacy? Besides, he wasn't on the team in 1994. He was playing baseball" (p. XIX). Pippen says that it is fair to ask him questions about those 1.8 seconds--and he devotes an entire chapter in Unguarded to answering those questions--but he insists that those 1.8 seconds do not belong in "The Last Dance." Pippen adds that it is fair that "The Last Dance" mentions his 1997 delayed surgery and his trade demand, because those things were a part of that season; however, he declares that Jordan should not call him selfish because Jordan displayed selfishness on many occasions, from retiring right before the 1993-94 season (thus providing the Bulls no time to try to replace him on the roster) to the way that Jordan played in game six of the 1992 NBA Finals. Pippen recalls that Phil Jackson, at the urging of assistant coach Tex Winter, took Jordan out of that game six because Jordan was forcing shots and the Bulls were trailing by 15 points. With Pippen and four reserves on the court, the Bulls rallied, and then Jordan returned in the final moments to join Pippen as the Bulls sealed the deal to win their second championship in a row. 

Pippen is right to question why on the one hand the 1.8 seconds scenario was featured so prominently in "The Last Dance" but on the other hand his key role in the game six comeback was minimized. Pippen believes that these editorial choices were made in order to portray Jordan as a one man team. Is that an unreasonable perspective for Pippen to have about how he and his teammates were depicted in a documentary over which Jordan had creative control?

While "The Last Dance" aired, I wrote Remember 25-8-6 About Scottie Pippen, Not 1.8:

An objective examination of the record shows that the Bulls would not have won a single title without Pippen. Michael Jordan won one playoff game--not one playoffs series, but one playoff game--without Pippen. Pippen was an MVP-level player for the 1994 Bulls team that lost in game seven of the Eastern Conference semifinals, and he was the leader of the 2000 Trail Blazers team that lost in game seven of the Western Conference Finals. Pippen's defense against Magic Johnson in the 1991 NBA Finals and against Mark Jackson in the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals played a major role in Chicago's victories in those series. Pippen was a rare player who could dominate a game without taking a shot.

During Jordan's first retirement, Pippen emerged as an All-NBA First Team/MVP-caliber player, and he remained an All-NBA First Team/MVP-caliber player for several years, until age and back surgery slowed him down in 1999. Pippen is without question one of the top 25 basketball players of all-time--not a Pantheon-level player, but securely in the next category of greatness.

Michael Jordan is an iconic historical figure whose impact transcended the NBA, and he is understandably the focus of "The Last Dance." His viewpoint dominates the narrative not only because he is the central figure, but also because the footage would have never been seen by the public without his approval. All of that being said and acknowledged, it must also be said and acknowledged that Pippen was not some minor character in this epic-length drama; Pippen was Jordan's co-star during those title runs, and the story would not exist--the Bulls would not have been a dynasty--without Pippen.

It is indisputable and inarguable that Scottie Pippen Was One of Just Three Essential Members of the Chicago Bulls' Six Championship Teams:

Only three main cogs participated in all six Chicago championship teams: Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan, and Scottie Pippen. Every other participant was replaceable, and was replaced. 

Those who are quick to assert that Jordan could and would have won six titles with any other coach running the team and any other star player alongside him should be reminded of several facts:

1) Prior to teaming up with Jackson and Pippen, Jordan's career playoff record was 1-9, with three first round losses.

2) After teaming up with Jackson and Pippen, Jordan failed to make the playoffs in two seasons with the Washington Wizards.

3) After winning six titles with the Bulls, Jackson won five more titles with the Lakers.

4) After Michael Jordan's first retirement in 1993, the Bulls replaced him in the starting lineup with Pete Myers, and went on to post a 55-27 record, just two wins less their 1992-93 record. The Pippen-led 1993-94 Bulls lost in seven games in the second round to the New York Knicks, who benefited from a game-deciding call by Hue Hollins in game five that Darell Garretson--one of the other officials on the court during that game--later publicly called "terrible."

5) After Jordan returned to the Bulls near the end of the 1994-95 season, the Bulls lost in six games in the second round of the playoffs.

6) Pippen was the heart and soul of Portland's 2000 team that pushed the eventual three-time champion L.A. Lakers to seven games in the Western Conference Finals. 

7) Pippen's playoff record without Jordan was 3-6 in series, and 19-21 in games. That may not look great at first glance, but it is much better than Jordan's playoff record without Pippen, and most of Pippen's playoff games without Jordan took place past Pippen's prime and after Pippen had major back surgery. Pippen went 1-1 in playoff series and 6-4 in playoff games in his only playoff run during his prime sans Jordan.

The above seven bullet points contain facts, not opinions or speculation. Those facts can be placed in context in a variety of ways, but the bottom line indisputable fact is that--of the three essential members of the Bulls' six championship teams--Jordan had the least playoff success on his own. That does not mean that Jordan was not great, but it does suggest that efforts to lionize Jordan while marginalizing the contributions of Jackson and Pippen do a disservice to the historical record.

What is your vision of the ideal basketball player? You might say, "My ideal player is unselfish and he focuses more on team goals than his individual accolades. He has no skill set weaknesses: he can score from all levels (in the paint, midrange, three point range), he can rebound, he is a talented and willing passer, he can handle the ball, and he not only can defend his position but he can defend multiple positions while demonstrating a high level understanding of team defensive concepts. He is quick, explosive, and he is big enough to play inside yet nimble enough to play on the perimeter."

Or, if you wanted to be concise, you could just say "Scottie Pippen." Pippen is one of the few players in basketball history who fits the above description of the ideal basketball player.

Read Unguarded, and then ask yourself this question: "Why are so many members of the mainstream media focused on portraying Pippen in a negative light?"

Labels: "The Last Dance", Chicago Bulls, Michael Jordan, Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen

posted by David Friedman @ 7:03 PM

24 comments

Scottie Pippen Was One of Just Three Essential Members of the Chicago Bulls' Six Championship Teams

Scottie Pippen has never been afraid to speak his mind regardless of what other people may think, say, or do, and I find that quality refreshing. Ask Pippen about Kevin Durant, and Pippen will tell you that Durant should not have tried to beat the Milwaukee Bucks by himself in game seven but also that first year Coach Steve Nash made a mistake by playing Durant for so many minutes. Ask Pippen about Ben Simmons, and Pippen will tell you that Simmons' inability to shoot well and his consequent reluctance to shoot in the fourth quarter are nothing new, and that Coach Doc Rivers should have adjusted his late game rotations accordingly, much the way that even a player as great as Shaquille O'Neal would sometimes be pulled from a game because of his poor free throw shooting. 

Durant has proven not only that he is a great player but also that he has rabbit ears, so it is not surprising that he quickly clapped back at Pippen with a reference to the infamous 1.8 seconds that Pippen did not play at the end of game three of the 1994 Eastern Conference semifinals after Pippen was upset that Coach Phil Jackson designed the last shot for Toni Kukoc.

Dismissing Pippen's greatness based on "1.8 seconds" not only mischaracterizes that specific event, but fails to take into account the essential role he played on six championships teams. The numbers 25-8-6 (Pippen's point/rebound/assist totals in the Bulls' win in the next game after the infamous 1.8 seconds) speak eloquently not only about Pippen's talents but also about how thoroughly and quickly he healed any rift with his teammates. It is also important to remember that Pippen was a key member of three Chicago championship teams after those 1.8 seconds.

Only three main cogs participated in all six Chicago championship teams: Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan, and Scottie Pippen. Every other participant was replaceable, and was replaced. 

Those who are quick to assert that Jordan could and would have won six titles with any other coach running the team and any other star player alongside him should be reminded of several facts:

1) Prior to teaming up with Jackson and Pippen, Jordan's career playoff record was 1-9, with three first round losses.

2) After teaming up with Jackson and Pippen, Jordan failed to make the playoffs in two seasons with the Washington Wizards.

3) After winning six titles with the Bulls, Jackson won five more titles with the Lakers.

4) After Michael Jordan's first retirement in 1993, the Bulls replaced him in the starting lineup with Pete Myers, and went on to post a 55-27 record, just two wins less their 1992-93 record. The Pippen-led 1993-94 Bulls lost in seven games in the second round to the New York Knicks, who benefited from a game-deciding call by Hue Hollins in game five that Darell Garretson--one of the other officials on the court during that game--later publicly called "terrible."

5) After Jordan returned to the Bulls near the end of the 1994-95 season, the Bulls lost in six games in the second round of the playoffs.

6) Pippen was the heart and soul of Portland's 2000 team that pushed the eventual three-time champion L.A. Lakers to seven games in the Western Conference Finals. 

7) Pippen's playoff record without Jordan was 3-6 in series, and 19-21 in games. That may not look great at first glance, but it is much better than Jordan's playoff record without Pippen, and most of Pippen's playoff games without Jordan took place past Pippen's prime and after Pippen had major back surgery. Pippen went 1-1 in playoff series and 6-4 in playoff games in his only playoff run during his prime sans Jordan.

The above seven bullet points contain facts, not opinions or speculation. Those facts can be placed in context in a variety of ways, but the bottom line indisputable fact is that--of the three essential members of the Bulls' six championship teams--Jordan had the least playoff success on his own. That does not mean that Jordan was not great, but it does suggest that efforts to lionize Jordan while marginalizing the contributions of Jackson and Pippen do a disservice to the historical record.

Labels: Ben Simmons, Kevin Durant, Michael Jordan, Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen

posted by David Friedman @ 3:01 AM

6 comments

Westbrook Clinches Season Triple Double Average With Record-Setting 14-24-21 Stat Line

Russell Westbrook scored 14 points, passed for 24 assists, and grabbed 21 rebounds as his Washington Wizards defeated the Indiana Pacers 154-141. Westbrook tied his single game career highs for both rebounds and assists. He also tied the record for most assists in a triple double performance, a mark originally set by Isiah Thomas in 1985 and subsequently matched by Rajon Rondo (2010) and Westbrook himself (2019). Westbrook's 178 career triple doubles place him just three shy of an Oscar Robertson record that for decades was thought to be unapproachable; no one imagined that anyone might surpass Robertson (the next closest player, Magic Johnson, finished his career with 138 triple doubles). The Wizards had 50 assists versus the Pacers, and they are the first team to have at least 50 assists in a game since 1990. 

Racking up assists and rebounds used to be considered a great thing--and it still is when any player other than Westbrook does it. Teams that run up and down the court piling up points and assists are considered wonderful when led by Steve Nash or Stephen Curry, but somehow someone will figure out a way to devalue Westbrook's 24 assists and his team's 50 assists. 

Every decade has at least one great player who is severely underrated. Julius Erving earned four straight All-NBA First Team selections in the 1980s, in 1981 he became the first non-center to win the NBA regular season MVP since Robertson (1964), and he was an All-NBA First Team performer for arguably the greatest single season team ever (1983 76ers, 12-1 in the playoffs--including a Finals sweep of the Magic Johnson-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Lakers), but the revisionist history is that the 1980s began with Magic versus Bird and ended with the emergence of Michael Jordan. Erving's ABA years (including three regular season MVPs, two championships, two Finals MVPs, and three scoring titles) are relegated to an Orwellian-memory hole, and his NBA accomplishments are glossed over. 

Then, in the 1990s Scottie Pippen was an All-NBA level performer for six championship teams and--although he was deservedly selected to the NBA's 50 Greatest Players List--both his contributions to those championship teams and his high level of play during other seasons are often diminished and disparaged. 

In the 2000s, Kobe Bryant won five titles while elevating himself closer to Michael Jordan--in style and substance--than any other player since Jordan retired, but "stat gurus" and misinformed/biased media members refused to give Bryant the credit that he deserved. 

In 2014, I predicted that Westbrook would inherit Bryant's dual role as best guard in the NBA and vastly underrated superstar. Like Erving and Bryant, Westbrook has won one NBA MVP--and, like Erving and Bryant, Westbrook is also subjected to criticism that most MVPs do not receive. That is not to say that Westbrook is as great as Erving or Pippen or Bryant--that is not the subject of this article--but rather just to say that (1) in each decade that I have followed the NBA there has been at least one great player who did not quite get the recognition that he is due, and (2) I enjoy telling the stories of those players with the hope that maybe the false narratives will one day be muted.

The Wizards are just a half game behind the Pacers in the Eastern Conference standings, and they now own the tiebreaker over the Pacers. The teams face each other again on Saturday, their final head to head matchup of this season. No NBA team has been hit harder by COVID-19 and other injuries/health concerns than the Wizards, but now that their squad is healthy--and now that Westbrook is posting huge triple doubles almost every game--they have won 13 of their last 16 games. Westbrook notched a triple double in 13 of those games, and the Wizards went 11-2 in those contests.

If Westbrook plays in all seven of the Wizards' remaining regular season games and posts no points, no rebounds, and no assists in each game he will still average a triple double for this season. Think about that for a moment: in a 72 game season, Westbrook has clinched a triple double average--a feat accomplished by only one other player in pro basketball history--with nearly 10% of the season left. The triple double was not officially tracked when Oscar Robertson set the career record with 181, but we have complete statistical information to confirm that--prior to Westbrook's emergence several years ago as the best all-around guard in the NBA--Robertson was the first player to average a triple double for an entire season (30.8 ppg, 12.5 rpg, 11.4 apg in 1961-62). Robertson also averaged an aggregate triple double over the first five seasons of his career. No other player came close to matching either accomplishment until Westbrook began his run five years ago. Westbrook is the only player who has averaged a triple double in multiple seasons (2017-19, 2021) and he is eight total rebounds short of averaging an aggregate triple double for the past five seasons, so if Westbrook plays all seven remaining games then he needs at least 78 rebounds to tie Robertson's record for maintaining a triple double average for half a decade. 

Westbrook did not make the All-Star team this year. It seems doubtful that he will receive any MVP votes. It will be interesting to see if he gets any All-NBA consideration. 

After the win over Indiana, Washington Coach Scott Brooks did not hesitate to offer his opinion about Westbrook's place in basketball history: 

"Point guards don't do what he does. He's not normal; they're not built that way. There may be someone that probably shoots better. There might be someone that probably can do certain things better. But there's nobody in the history of the game that can do what he does throughout the stat sheet.

I used to always say he's going to probably go down as the third-best point guard ever, but I think he's passed one. He's going to go down as probably the second best, and [No. 1] is obviously Magic [Johnson]. He's underappreciated. What he does, there are no point guards ever done it, nobody."

I am disinclined to select one greatest player of all-time or one greatest point guard of all-time; I have a Pantheon of 14 all-time great players (Westbrook is not in that group), and I have compiled an updated 50 Greatest NBA Players List (Westbrook is in that group). Size--Specifically, Height--Matters in the NBA, which is why there is only one player shorter than 6-4 in my Pantheon (Jerry West), and why there are few players shorter than 6-4 on my 50 Greatest NBA Players List (Bob Cousy, Stephen Curry, Allen Iverson, John Stockton, Isiah Thomas, Jerry West, and Russell Westbrook).

Therefore, I am not quite ready to join Brooks and call Westbrook the second greatest point guard of all-time, but Brooks' larger point--that Westbrook is vastly underrated and underappreciated--is correct.

Labels: Julius Erving, Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Russell Westbrook, Scott Brooks, Scottie Pippen, Washington Wizards

posted by David Friedman @ 1:32 AM

19 comments

My Second Appearance on Benbo's Podcast: The Chosen Game, Coaching Philosophies, MVP Criteria, Interviewing Techniques, and More

I recently made my second appearance on Benbo's podcast, hosted by Dr. James Ben Guest. Our wide-ranging conversation began with sharing our thoughts about Charley Rosen's book The Chosen Game, which describes the influence that Jewish players and coaches had on the development of basketball in the early 20th century. 

Then, we talked about many other subjects, including coaching philosophies (from Nat Holman to Red Holzman to Phil Jackson, with digressions about Larry Brown and Vince Lombardi), MVP selection criteria, and my experiences interviewing various players--including Green Bay's two-time Super Bowl champion safety Tom Brown (who also played outfield and first base for the Washington Senators), six-time NBA champion Scottie Pippen, and 1971 NBA champion Oscar Robertson. 

I compared my approach to interviews with the way that some media members slant their coverage based on a person's availability/affability; for example, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar declined to do an interview with me, but that did not change my opinion that he is one of the most underrated great players in pro basketball history.

I also discussed the importance of using one's platform and talents to maximum effect. I have used this website and other platforms to speak out about the NBA's disgraceful treatment of the "Pre-65ers" and also on behalf of underrated individuals such as Artis Gilmore, Mel Daniels, Roger Brown, and Slick Leonard, who each were eventually, belatedly inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. I don't know how much influence my writing had on helping those ABA legends obtain the recognition that they deserve, but the point is that I used my voice to call attention to their greatness. It is disappointing that many people who have been blessed with large platforms/audiences squander the opportunity to, as the saying goes, comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

Here is the link to the podcast: Jews, Immigration, and Basketball.

Here is the link to my first appearance on Benbo's podcast: Interview with David Friedman: Great Sportswriting is Great Writing.

Labels: Artis Gilmore, Benbo, Charley Rosen, James Ben Guest, Larry Brown, Mel Daniels, Nat Holman, NBA, Phil Jackson, Red Holzman, Roger Brown, Scottie Pippen, Slick Leonard, Vince Lombardi

posted by David Friedman @ 7:40 PM

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Check Out My Guest Appearance on Benbo's Podcast

Dr. James Ben Guest, who posts basketball content under the name Benbo, recently reached out to me regarding some of the articles that I have written about Scottie Pippen. We exchanged emails about what made Pippen great and why Pippen is underrated, and then he invited me to appear on his podcast to not only discuss Pippen but also to have a wide-ranging conversation about basketball. 

Here is the link to the podcast:

Interview with David Friedman: Great Sportswriting is Great Writing.

Here is Benbo's Newsletter and Benbo's YouTube basketball channel. 

Labels: Benbo, James Ben Guest, NBA, Scottie Pippen

posted by David Friedman @ 11:03 AM

2 comments

The Defense Rests: The Harden Effect/Defect

Many media members love offense, and they also love "advanced basketball statistics." This is why we used to see and hear so many stories about how efficiently Steve Nash's teams played on offense, and that is why we often see and hear so many stories about how efficiently James Harden's teams play on offense. Of course, Steve Nash's teams never advanced to the NBA Finals, and James Harden's lone trip to the NBA Finals happened nearly a decade ago when he was Oklahoma City's third option behind Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. 

The stories that we do not see and hear as often as we should pertain to defense and rebounding. If you are college age or younger, you were not alive during the "Last Dance" season when the Chicago Bulls capped off their second three-peat in 1998. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were great offensive players who could score inside or outside and who could create scoring opportunities for their teammates with their passing skills. You may have seen their highlights and assumed that the Bulls won six championships because of all of the points that Jordan and Pippen scored.

However, if you want to watch or study just one game to understand why the Bulls were so great then that game would be game seven of the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals, when the Bulls defeated the Indiana Pacers, 88-83. The Bulls shot .382 from the field, with Jordan (9-25, .360) and Pippen (6-18, .333) both shooting poorly. However, Pippen led both teams with 12 rebounds and six offensive rebounds, while Jordan had nine rebounds (including five offensive rebounds). The Bulls were physically and mentally drained after making deep playoff runs for so many seasons, but with their season on the line their defensive principles, their rebounding, and their tenacity carried them to victory.

Another defensive masterpiece that is worth watching and studying is game three of the 1998 Finals, when the Bulls set numerous records while humiliating the Utah Jazz, 98-54. The Bulls held the Jazz--who featured the legendary pick and roll combination of Karl Malone and John Stockton--to .300 field goal shooting. Even the Bulls could not replicate that suffocating defense every game, but that game--in a series during which the other games were each decided by five points or less--highlighted the Bulls' defensive dominance, and made it clear that the Bulls were the superior team that would find a way to prevail in the series. Game six of that series was a defensive slugfest during which Pippen aggravated a back injury that would require offseason surgery to repair two ruptured disks, but he had a game-high +16 plus/minus number; Pippen made his presence felt during that game not so much on offense (eight points on 4-7 field goals shooting, four assists in 26 minutes) but rather on defense. Jordan got the headlines and the Finals MVP after scoring 45 points (on 15-35 field goal shooting) and nailing the famous game-winning jumper over Bryon Russell, but the Bulls were in a position to win because of their defense. 

While those two games are outliers in terms of rebounding and defense, they represent excellent examples of the building blocks of the Bulls' greatness. The 1997-98 Bulls ranked ninth in points per game and 15th in field goal percentage, but they posted a 62-20 record and won their third straight title because of their stifling defense, ranking third in points allowed and fifth in defensive field goal percentage. 

Being the high-flying, high-scoring "Air Jordan" helped Michael Jordan to sell merchandise and become a pop culture icon--but playing defense helped Jordan and his teammates become champions.

Great defense is not a "sometime" thing; great defense is built on habits and principles that must be established team-wide from the start of the season, and those habits and principles must be emphasized during practices and games.

Nash is now the head coach of the Nets, and his top assistant is Mike D'Antoni, who was Nash's coach when Nash won two MVPs with the Phoenix Suns. The D'Antoni-Nash philosophy is to play up tempo, shoot a lot of three pointers, score a lot of points, and play just enough defense to survive. The Nets give lip service to playing defense, but defense is not a part of the team's core philosophy: it is not part of their daily grind, and when things get tough during the playoffs it is not a pillar upon which they will be able to lean when the offense gets bogged down--and if a Michael Jordan-led offense can get bogged down, then any offense can get bogged down.

While the defensive mindset starts with the coaching staff, it is essential that the players adopt that mindset. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were great defensive players throughout their careers. In contrast, James Harden's defense is notoriously bad: he is slow to get back in transition, he does not stay attached to his man off of the ball in the half court set, and he is far too often little more than a traffic cone as an on the ball defender on the perimeter or in the open court. In recent years, Harden's supporters point to his post defense as a positive, and there are "advanced" numbers that support the notion that he is a good post defender. You don't need the numbers to know that, though; the eye test shows that Harden is deceptively strong, and that his strength enables him to hold his own even against bigger players, including elite players such as Kawhi Leonard (as we saw the other night, when Leonard could not budge Harden in a post up situation). Harden appears to take it as a personal challenge when the opposing team engineers a switch and then posts him up. Of course, holding one's ground in the post for a few seconds on a few possessions a game does not mean that someone is a good defensive player; what Harden does--and does not do--during the rest of the game matters more, and sets an example that his teammates follow.

If media members are going to give Harden so much credit for Houston's offensive efficiency the past several years, then media members should also mention the defensive numbers. Last season, the Rockets ranked 23rd out of 30 teams in points allowed (114.8 ppg) and they ranked 14th in defensive field goal percentage (.462). So far this season, the Rockets rank eighth in points allowed (109.1 ppg) and they rank fifth in defensive field goal percentage (.447). The numbers for the Nets are reversed; without Harden last season, the Nets ranked 18th in points allowed (112.3 ppg) and they ranked sixth in defensive field goal percentage (.446), but this season the Nets rank 28th in points allowed (117.8 ppg) and they rank 11h in defensive field goal percentage (.457).

No, one player should not receive all of the credit or blame for his team's defense (or offense, for that matter), and yes, the sample size for this season is small, but these numbers are worth monitoring. 

Kevin Durant proved that he can be an above average defensive player on two championship teams. Kyrie Irving proved that, at the very least, he can avoid being a fatal defensive liability on a championship team. However, if Harden does not commit to becoming a good defensive player then the Nets are not strong enough defensively at other positions to make up for his deficiencies. The Nets do not have a strong defensive presence in the paint, nor do they have a defensive stopper on the perimeter. It may be true that their offense will be so good at peak power that they will not need to be great defensively to win a title--though I am skeptical of that notion--but they will not win a title if they are below average defensively, and since Harden joined the Nets the team is well below average defensively.

Labels: Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Bulls, Houston Rockets, James Harden, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Steve Nash

posted by David Friedman @ 6:49 PM

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The 1997-98 Chicago Bulls' "Last Dance"

"We could have won seven." Michael Jordan, with the last word on the Chicago Bulls' "Last Dance"

A major reason that Michael Jordan came back to the NBA in 2001 is that, as he later put it, he still had an "itch to scratch." That itch, that burr in Jordan's saddle, developed because the Chicago Bulls' dynasty did not reach its natural conclusion--the Bulls were not dethroned, nor did the principal figures who created that dynasty collectively agree to leave the game; the dynasty screeched to a halt because Jerry Krause's oversized ego convinced him that it made more sense to run off the game's greatest player, the game's best coach and the game's best second option in order to build a team from the bottom up and install his fishing buddy Tim Floyd as the team's coach. It should be emphasized that while Krause is most often mentioned as the villain in this drama, team owner Jerry Reinsdorf--Krause's boss--could have stepped in and stopped Krause, so Krause should not receive all of the blame.

After winning six championships in an eight season stretch, Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen earned the right to dictate their terms of departure--and they each would rather have either kept the run going until someone beat them, or win some more rings before riding off into the sunset. That is how the movie is supposed to end; the gunslinger hero either wins that last battle or he dies a noble death.

When Rick Telander asked Jordan why he would come back and risk ruining the "perfect ending" he forged by hitting the game-winning shot in the 1998 Finals, Jordan snarled, "What perfect ending? Who said it was a perfect ending? If you listened properly for that whole year, I said if Phil Jackson would be there, I would keep playing."

ESPN's much-anticipated 10 part series titled "The Last Dance"--which is what Phil Jackson labeled the upcoming 1997-98 season after Krause made public his team demolition plans--provided context, background, and behind the scenes footage from not only the Bulls' sixth championship run, but also the events that led up to that season. In the final episode, Jordan reiterated the point that he had made to Telander: Jordan did not feel happy about leaving at his peak, and in fact he would have signed a one year deal to go for his seventh championship.

I have addressed the breakup of the Bulls in depth twice, and that history is worth reviewing before turning our attention to "The Last Dance."

My December 14, 2015 article titled Terri-Bull: Premature Breakup of the Jordan-Pippen Bulls Demonstrated Why Tanking Does Not Work analyzed how difficult it is to build a championship team from scratch--which is one reason why a championship team should not be prematurely dismantled--and corrected some of the revisionist history that had been asserted about how Krause broke up the Bulls:

In November 2004 Colangelo was the chairman and CEO of the Phoenix Suns, who went into Chicago and drilled Krause's hapless Bulls 94-74. Colangelo said, "The concept of taking your championship run and then going all the way back and starting over again? There's no guarantees. You gotta be lucky. You can't afford any mistakes, bad drafts. Your picks don't turn out to be big time-players? You've got a problem. So, in my opinion, you stay as competitive as possible for as long as possible. If you back up the truck, you never know. Look, in my almost four decades in sport, I never had the pleasure of having that (Jordan-style) dynasty. Knowing me as I do? I couldn't break it up."

Becoming really bad in order to become really good is not just counterintuitive; it does not work. Colangelo is right: in any endeavor, "you stay as competitive as possible for as long as possible." Krause's demolition of the Bulls' dynasty is a cautionary tale that should be taught in business schools and should be mandatory homework for anyone who becomes a sports executive.

It is easy to refute the revisionist history--propagated by none other than Krause and Bulls' owner Jerry Reinsdorf--that Krause had to do something because Jackson, Jordan and Pippen did not intend to stay around. In a July 24, 1998 Chicago Sun-Times article by Jim O'Donnell titled "Phil's agent has fill of Reinsdorf tactics," Phil Jackson's agent Todd Musburger reminded the world who broke up the Bulls and how he did it:

"Phil's not coming back. That has long been clearly understood. It's been understood since last July, when Jerry Krause told Phil, 'You can go 82-and-bleeping-0 and you're not coming back. This is it for you and the Chicago Bulls."

Think about that. I have heard of an owner or a GM threatening to fire a coach if he does not win a certain number of games but who tells a coach that he will be fired even if the coach wins every game? Krause was so eager to prove that he was the brains behind the Bulls' championships that he ripped apart a dynasty in order to build a championship team from scratch in his own image--and the aftermath of that foolish decision was so disastrous that it lent a lot of credence to the speculation that instead of being a brilliant talent evaluator he was a solid GM who lucked into having Michael Jordan and then put some good pieces around Jordan.

What prompted Musburger to speak out to O'Donnell on that particular day? During the Bulls' televised press conference announcing the hiring of Tim Floyd as director of basketball operations, Reinsdorf said that the path was still open for Jackson to return as coach and that Floyd would only be the coach if Jackson decided not to return. In other words, one year after telling Jackson he was fired no matter how well the team did in the next season, Reinsdorf and Krause tried to act like the hatchet job never happened.

Musburger declared, "That's why what I heard on the TV Thursday from Reinsdorf was incredible. And what really made my blood boil was that, if nothing else, Phil left in dignity. After all he went through in his final 12 months around that team, all he did was win one last championship, and then fulfilling the expressly stated wishes of Jerry Krause and Jerry Reinsdorf, he left. No final cheap shots, no besmirching of any reputations, nothing. Simple, quiet dignity. And now they were going to dredge his good name back up to rewrite history once again and drag him through this."

Musburger called it "obscene" that Reinsdorf hijacked a day that should have belonged to Floyd and concluded, "I guess as the work day ended, the thing I was most happy about is that the more dimensional members of the media no longer need a road map when it comes to any of the convoluted paths chairman Reinsdorf and his associates may lead them down. The chairman's ways and means are too well-known by now. But why he couldn't allow Tim Floyd to have his moment without having once again flail at Phil's wonderful legacy with the Bulls remains beyond my comprehension. Thursday simply should have belonged to Tim Floyd."

In his July 24, 1998 Chicago Tribune column titled "Jackson should've called their bluff," Bernie Lincicome wrote that the press conference announcing Floyd's hiring "is so hollow it echoes." Lincicome urged Jackson, "Hey, Phil, you should have called their bluff. Asked for $12 million and demanded they exile Tim Floyd to the Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D. for the duration. I have a map. And a floor plan."

Lincicome continued, "Is this any way to kill a dynasty? There never is a good way, but I'll take the end of the Celtics over this. Larry Bird lying on the floor in a back plaster. Kevin McHale hobbling on one foot. Robert Parish rooted like a lamp post. How is this ending? With lies and dares, and, to use Reinsdorf's own words, 'fairy tales.'"

In Jerry Krause Built (and broke up) the Bulls' Dynasty, I eulogized the man who helped build the Bulls' dynasty before he inexplicably destroyed it:

"Few GMs have enjoyed the success that Jerry Krause did. 6 rings says it all. To me, his track record is absolutely Hoophall worthy."--Scottie Pippen, after learning of Jerry Krause's death

"He's been around a long time and won championships. They had a dynasty, now they have a coffee shop."--Charles Oakley, speaking of Krause in 2002, when the post-dynasty Chicago Bulls went a league-worst 21-61

Two quotes by two players who knew firsthand what it felt like to be signed--and shipped off--by Jerry Krause serve as fitting epigraphs for Krause's life and career. Krause, who passed away at the age of 77 on Tuesday, deserves more credit than he often receives for building the Chicago Bulls' 1990s dynasty; he assembled all of the pieces around Michael Jordan for the first three-peat (including a marvelous coaching staff) and then when Jordan came back from his baseball hiatus Krause built an entirely new supporting cast (other than Pippen) for the second three-peat.

Sadly, Krause also deserves the blame (along with owner Jerry Reinsdorf) for breaking up the Bulls' dynasty. I have heard of coaches being told "Win (x amount of games) this year or you are fired" but, until Krause, I had never heard of an executive telling his coach that even if the team went 82-0 and won the championship he was gone--but that is exactly the message that Krause delivered to Phil Jackson prior to the Bulls' "Last Dance" championship in 1998.

Krause relished the challenge of proving that he could win without Jordan but that was foolish pride; the Bulls deserved the opportunity to, as the saying goes, come back "with their shields or on them" in 1999, as opposed to Jordan, Pippen and Jackson being exiled from the city that they had placed on the basketball map. Jackson would go on to win five more championships as a coach, Jordan came out of retirement to be an All-Star during the season that he turned 40 and Pippen recovered sufficiently from back surgery to be a key member of a Portland team that came within one bad fourth quarter in game seven of the 2000 Western Conference Finals of perhaps derailing Jackson's budding Lakers' dynasty before the Lakers won three titles in a row.

ESPN's "The Last Dance" pulled back the curtain to provide a fascinating look at what life was like for the Bulls at the top of the mountain when they simultaneously basked in the success of winning two titles in a row (and five in seven years for Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan, and Scottie Pippen) while also chasing a sixth title amidst the turmoil of realizing that their run would end even if they won the championship. "The Last Dance" not only covered the 1997-98 season, but it also examined the background and history of the Chicago Bulls franchise, as well as the background and history of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and Phil Jackson.

The first two episodes of the series traced Michael Jordan's development from a lanky 5-10 player cut from his high school varsity team to the North Carolina freshman who hit the game-winning shot in the NCAA Championship game to the NBA Rookie of the Year to a championship-winning iconic figure. One constant with Jordan was his work ethic; at every stage of his life, at every stage of his development as a player, he outworked his teammates, and he outworked his competitors.

Jordan's resentment toward Krause and the Bulls' front office began during Jordan's second season. Jordan had suffered a broken foot that caused him to miss most of the 1985-86 campaign. By the time he felt ready to return, the organization was content to sit him out the rest of the way, miss the playoffs, and collect a Draft Lottery pick. Jordan wanted to play. He had vowed to reach the playoffs every season, and he aimed to fulfill that vow. The organization applied a strict minutes restriction on Jordan down the stretch, the Bulls barely qualified for the playoffs, and then the organization lifted the minutes restriction. Jordan responded by hitting the soon-to-be NBA champion Boston Celtics with a 49 point outing and then a playoff record 63 point game. The Celtics won the series 3-0, but Jordan had staked his claim as the best player in the league. The musical selection of L.L. Cool J's "I'm Bad" to be the soundtrack for Jordan's 63 point masterpiece was quite fitting; when the song begins with the voiceover saying "Calling all cars" you can picture Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson, Danny Ainge, and Bill Walton expressing a similar sentiment while facing the daunting task of guarding the player who Bird referred to as "God disguised as Michael Jordan." The media may have been slow to concede the point that Jordan was the NBA's best player, but--as Magic Johnson and Larry Bird made clear during "The Last Dance"--the players who shared the court with Jordan understood exactly how great he was.

Keep in mind that if Jerry Reinsdorf and Jerry Krause had gotten their way, fans would have been robbed of Jordan's 63 point playoff game the same way that Reinsdorf and Krause robbed fans of seeing whether or not the Bulls could have won the 1999 championship.

It is very instructive to watch how Jordan scored in the 63 point game, or in any of the vintage highlights for that matter. Jordan attacked the hoop from all angles, his footwork was impeccable, he had a deadly jump shot out to about 20 feet, and he was a very good free throw shooter. Jordan did not need a "Eurostep"/travel move to get open, he did not hook his arm around the defender's arm to try to trick referees, and he rarely shot three pointers--yet he was as efficient as he was unguardable. Seeing Jordan score like that in a more physical era and at a time when the court was not spread out with three point shooters is a vivid reminder of how unstoppable Jordan would be in today's softer era with little defensive paint presence and the court spread out with three point shooters. A team shooting 20-60 from three point range may be more mathematically efficient than a team shooting 29-60 from two point range but the latter is more fun to watch, and is more likely to be part of an overall championship equation (which includes not only shooting efficiency but also floor balance, defense, team chemistry, and other elements that are not valued by many "stat gurus").

All of that being said, it is important to remember that Jordan posted a 1-9 record in playoff games without Scottie Pippen. "The Last Dance" details how Pippen emerged from humble beginnings in Hamburg, Arkansas to become one of the greatest players in NBA history. Viewers who are too young to remember the 1990s may be surprised to see and hear just how important Pippen was. That point was reinforced at the start of the 1997-98 season when Pippen was out of action as he recovered from foot surgery. In the previous season with a healthy Pippen, the Bulls started out 34-5, finished 69-13, and won their second title in a row; the Bulls sans Pippen for the first portion of the 1997-98 season started out 6-5, and they were 24-11 when he returned to action. The Bulls went 36-8 the rest of the way with Pippen in the starting lineup (they went 2-1 in games that he missed), and they won their sixth title before Krause accomplished his goal of dismantling the team of the 90s. Pippen was not as great as Jordan, but Jordan would not have become who he became without having Pippen by his side. Jordan is the first to admit that, even if Pippen's critics are reluctant to give Pippen his due.

"The Last Dance" provided a great reminder that these players are not just numbers on a stat sheet or a salary cap spreadsheet; they are immensely skilled, sensitive human beings who gave their blood, sweat, and tears to the pursuit of excellence. Any executive and/or "stat guru" who thinks that there is a formula that can enable one to move around players like chess pieces or poker chips and thus achieve championship success misunderstands not just sports but life. Maybe the Bulls saved some money in the short term by not renegotiating Scottie Pippen's contract when he was the second best player in the league but not even one of the top 100 paid players in the NBA. The Bulls organization won that battle. How many championships has that Bulls organization won since getting rid of Jordan, Pippen, and crew? How many free agents are eager to play for a franchise that disrespected the players who built such a wonderful championship legacy?

Episode three focused on Dennis Rodman, who won two titles with the Detroit Pistons--beating Jordan's Bulls in the playoffs along the way--before playing a vital role for the Bulls' 1996-98 championship teams. Rodman was an introverted student of the game who wanted everyone to think that he was an extroverted person who just ran around the court like a crazed fool. Jackson termed Rodman a "heyoka"--a Native American term for a "backward walking" person who is a kind of jester or contrarian--and the two bonded as fellow maverick non-comformists. It is beautiful to see the way that Jackson provided structure for Rodman while also giving Rodman a lot of freedom and leeway. Jackson understands that all people have value, and that not everyone can or should be expected to fit in with the so-called "normal" way of doing things.

Jordan said, "Dennis is one of the smartest guys I played with. He understood defensive strategy with all the rotations and he had no limits in terms of what he does." In Rebounding tips from Dennis Rodman, Larry Miller and Ollie Taylor, I described Rodman as "a Phi Beta Kappa student of basketball who seemingly wants everyone to believe that he is the class clown." Rodman does not like to publicly talk about his rebounding techniques, and his autobiography I Should Be Dead By Now devotes little space to that subject, other than noting that Rodman applied judo concepts to rebounding: as I paraphrased Rodman's explanation in the aforementioned article, Rodman "would interlock his arms and legs with his opponents until he could determine where the ball was going to go and then he would use his quickness and agility to untangle himself and get to the ball." During a one on one interview many years ago, Steve Kerr confirmed to me that Rodman spent a lot of time studying game film/video, but that Rodman did not want the public to know about this.

"The Last Dance" provided a well-balanced portrayal of the Chicago Bulls-Detroit Pistons rivalry. Most reports about the Pistons' infamous 1991 "walkoff" after being swept by the Bulls neglect to point out that the Boston Celtics did the same thing after losing to the Pistons in 1988; you may be familiar with the oft-shown footage of Kevin McHale slapping hands with Isiah Thomas, but it was Thomas who approached McHale while the Celtics--including Larry Bird and Robert Parish--fled to the locker room before the game ended without congratulating the Pistons. "The Last Dance" noted that the Bulls had shaken hands with the Pistons after losing to the Pistons in 1989 and 1990, but there is a weird double standard applied against the Pistons for their 1991 "walkoff" because the Celtics are never criticized for poor sportsmanship regarding their 1988 "walkoff" after the Pistons dethroned them. The double standard goes much deeper than just the two "walkoffs," though. As I mentioned in The Celtics Were the First Bad Boys, the Pistons built their roster and formed their attitude in order to overcome a very physical Boston team:

The Pistons were not the NBA's first "Bad Boys" or even the baddest of the bad. The Larry Bird-Kevin McHale-Robert Parish Boston Celtics were a brutally physical team--think back to McHale clotheslining Kurt Rambis in the 1984 NBA Finals and M.L. Carr undercutting Julius Erving in the 1980 Eastern Conference Finals and the way that their whole frontcourt mauled the Philadelphia 76ers' frontcourt in game seven of the 1981 Eastern Conference Finals while the officials swallowed their whistles. Erving was one of the classiest players in pro basketball history, someone who rarely received technical fouls and never got into fights--but during a November 1984 regular season game he took a swing at Bird after getting frustrated by Bird's roughhousing tactics (and verbal taunting, something that Erving never did on the many occasions that he outplayed Bird and other players). James Worthy put it best during "Bad Boys": "We knew that they (the Pistons) were a good team, a very physical team, but 'Bad Boys' was something that, nah, they didn't get much respect from us. Playing against the Celtics--it didn't get any tougher, no one got any badder. You could call the Celtics 'Bad Boys' back in the early '80s."

Erving's 76ers overcame the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals in 1980 and 1982 despite the Celtics' rough tactics and then in 1983 the 76ers brought in Moses Malone as the final piece to their championship puzzle; although the 76ers had proven that they could circumvent the Celtics' physical tactics without changing their own style, they needed Malone to match up with the Lakers' Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

The Pistons followed a similar path in the mid to late 1980s, adding Rick Mahorn, John Salley and Dennis Rodman in order to match up with the size, strength and physicality of the Celtics' frontcourt--but the idea that the Pistons did something fundamentally different from what the Celtics had been doing for years is nonsense. The Celtics taught the Pistons how to use physicality to gain an edge and win championships but then the Celtics got mad and lost their composure when they received a dose of their own medicine.

This narrative does not fit the narrative that the NBA and many media members portray, but it is nevertheless the truth. As a fan, I prefer the way that the 76ers and the Bulls played to the way that the Celtics and the Pistons played, but I understand why Isiah Thomas and other Pistons still feel disrespected more than 30 years later. Thomas is a vastly underrated player who was the central figure as the Pistons rose from being a 21-61 doormat in 1980-81 (the season before he joined the team) to being back to back champions in 1989-90, and Thomas' teams beat the Celtics, the Bulls, and the Lakers in the playoffs during that era. You do not have to like the Pistons, but the Pistons deserve respect as a championship team built from the ground up that more than held their own against some of the greatest teams in NBA history.

After the Bulls dethroned the Pistons in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals, they beat Magic Johnson and the L.A. Lakers to win the NBA title. The Lakers won game one on a Sam Perkins three pointer, but then the Bulls took four straight victories. Pippen's smothering defense against Johnson was a major factor, foreshadowing the significant role that Pippen's defense would play throughout the Bulls' subsequent title runs.

Episode four focused on Jackson, who was the perfect coach for this group of talented individuals. He knew how to push Jordan without alienating Jordan, and he knew how to get the most out of everyone else, from a Top 50 player like Pippen to an eccentric Hall of Famer like Rodman to role players who he prepared mentally, emotionally, and physically to provide support to the team's superstars at key moments. Great players want to be coached, and they respect coaches who push them to new heights. The respect and loyalty that Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman feel toward Jackson stems from the way that Jackson treated them. As Red Auerbach once said after being asked about how to handle certain players, "You handle animals, but you deal with people."

Episodes five and six explored several topics, starting with some glimpses of the beginning of the Michael Jordan-Kobe Bryant friendship, a friendship whose extent the general public did not know about or understand until Jordan gave a powerful eulogy for Bryant at the public memorial service for Bryant. Jordan and Bryant faced off in the 1998 All-Star Game, with Jordan winning the MVP, and giving Bryant an open invitation to reach out to him if he ever needed advice or help; as Jordan memorably recounted during his eulogy for Bryant, Bryant accepted Jordan's offer, and often sought out Jordan for advice not just on basketball but on other matters as well. Bryant was interviewed for "The Last Dance," and he explained that he dislikes the comparisons that are often made about him and Jordan. Bryant said, "What you get from me is from him. I don't get five championships here without him, because he guided me so much and gave me so much great advice."

"The Last Dance" examined Jordan's role on the 1992 Dream Team. It has often been reported that Jordan refused to join the team if Isiah Thomas was on the roster. Jordan denies issuing that ultimatum, but he also makes it clear that he and other players would not have felt comfortable with Thomas being included. It is unfortunate that Thomas was denied an opportunity that he had earned based on his performance; as Thomas has often said, "I fit the criteria": at the time the Dream Team was selected, Thomas had led the Detroit Pistons to two championships, trailing only Magic Johnson (five titles) and Larry Bird (three titles) among his active peers. Jordan had won one title, and he won his second title just prior to the 1992 Olympics.

During the Dream Team's intense practices, Jordan showed that even among alpha males he was the "alpha alpha male," leaving no doubt that he had supplanted Johnson and Bird as the sport's top player.

Jordan and Pippen resented that during the early 1990s Krause was pursuing young Croatian player Toni Kukoc. As Jordan put it, Krause was placing Kukoc "ahead of his own kids," meaning the Bulls players who had performed at such a high level, eventually winning three straight NBA titles. Pippen shut Kukoc down during Team USA's first game versus Croatia. Kukoc performed better in the gold medal game against Team USA, but Team USA still dominated, and Jordan and Pippen had more than made their point. Kukoc was interviewed for "The Last Dance," and he said that prior to the 1992 Olympics he had no idea that Jordan and Pippen felt such resentment toward Krause about him. After Kukoc joined the Bulls in 1993 and proved his worth, Pippen and Jordan (after he returned from his first NBA retirement) welcomed him as a valuable contributor.

Winning an NBA championship in 1991 forever silenced any talk that Jordan was a high scoring individual talent who could not lead a team to ultimate success. Jordan relished prevailing in the head to head Finals battle against Magic Johnson's L.A. Lakers. After the 1991 season, Jordan's carefully crafted public image took a hit because of the publication of Sam Smith's book The Jordan Rules. The book painted a picture of Jordan as someone who could at times be selfish, be a bully toward his teammates, and be an intimidating presence to both teammates and foes. In "The Last Dance," Jordan insisted that a disgruntled Horace Grant was Sam Smith's source for information from inside the locker room, but Grant denied this. As B.J. Armstrong said, there was likely more than one single source. Further, it has already been established that Phil Jackson was a primary source.

The Bulls won a second championship in 1992, as Jordan took his Finals matchup with Portland's Clyde Drexler very personally; Jordan aimed to obliterate the notion that Drexler might be ranked on par with Jordan. Back to back titles put Jordan in the conversation with Johnson and Bird, but Jordan wanted to lift himself above them, and the best way to do that would be to win a third consecutive title. Up to that time, only George Mikan's Lakers and Bill Russell's Celtics had won at least three NBA championships in a row.

During the 1990s, the Bulls often had to get past a very physical New York team in the East before advancing the Finals. The Knicks were similar to the "Bad Boys" Pistons in terms of the mental and physical challenges that they posed for the Bulls, but the Knicks did not capture the public's imagination the way that the Pistons did, probably because the Knicks did not win a title during that era.

The 1993 championship drive wore Jordan down mentally and physically. He was criticized for going to Atlantic City to gamble the night before the Bulls lost a playoff game to the Knicks. Information about some of the seedy characters who Jordan had been gambling with--and losing money to--over the years became public knowledge, most notably when Jordan had to testify in court to explain a $57,000 check he wrote to Slim Bouler to pay off a gambling debt. Bouler was later sentenced to nine years in prison on unrelated money laundering and conspiracy charges. Jordan claimed that he had a "competition" problem, not a gambling problem, and he admitted that, in retrospect, he should have been more careful about associating with certain people. Jordan was offended by what he felt to be the media's attempt to bring him down, and for a time he refused to speak to the media at all.

None of this had any visible impact on Jordan's level of play. The Bulls won four straight playoff games versus the Knicks after falling into an 0-2 hole in the 1993 Eastern Conference Finals, and the Bulls then defeated Charles Barkley's Phoenix Suns 4-2 in the NBA Finals. Jordan, indignant that Barkley had been voted the regular season MVP by the media, made a point of asserting his individual superiority over Barkley, much as Jordan had done in the 1992 Finals versus Drexler.

B.J. Armstrong declared, "Michael Jordan didn't even really play basketball anymore. He just figured out how to win the game. He knew how to steer momentum. He knew how to get guys going. Not only was he that good on the offensive end, he was that good on the defensive end. He was just playing a different game than the rest of us. He let us play, but he was there to win the game."

Episodes seven and eight covered some of the most emotionally gripping and wrenching territory, including the murder of Jordan's father James, and Jordan's strong feelings about why his harsh, confrontational leadership style was necessary.

Jordan was already considering retirement prior to his father's July 1993 murder. After the murder, Jordan decided that he not only had nothing left to prove, but also that he wanted to be sure that his father saw his last basketball game. Jordan's father had encouraged him to play baseball, and after Jordan retired from the NBA he pursued that childhood dream, signing a contract to play minor league baseball in the Chicago White Sox system. Reinsdorf owned both the Bulls and the White Sox, and during the documentary he stated that he paid Jordan's NBA salary during Jordan's retirement because Jordan had been underpaid in previous seasons.

Jordan is understandably displeased with the media coverage of his father's murder, his first retirement, and his minor league baseball career. Without any evidence or factual basis, many media members speculated that the murder of Jordan's father might somehow be connected with Jordan's gambling. Also, without any evidence or factual basis, many media members speculated that Jordan had not retired but rather had been secretly suspended by the NBA as punishment for his gambling. Many media members also mocked Jordan's baseball career by suggesting that he was somehow embarrassing the sport. In fact, Jordan's Birmingham Barons teammates, manager, and coaches said that Jordan had an incredible work ethic, and that he possessed sufficient talent to reach the major leagues provided that he had enough practice.

Basketball fans can be thankful that Major League Baseball was foolish enough to have a work stoppage that canceled the 1994 World Series, and extended into the 1995 season; Jordan refused to cross the picket line, started working out for basketball again, and officially rejoined the Bulls on March 18, 1995 by sending out this press release: "I'm back."

Without Jordan, the Bulls had lost to the New York Knicks in the seventh game of the 1994 Eastern Conference semifinals before losing Horace Grant to free agency, and Bill Cartwright and John Paxson to retirement. Pippen had an MVP-caliber season in 1993-94, but Pippen was also heavily criticized for sitting out the final 1.8 seconds of game three versus the Knicks after Phil Jackson designed the final play for Toni Kukoc. Kuckoc hit the game-winning shot, Pippen's teammates accepted Pippen's apology, and Pippen dominated in a game four win--25 points, eight rebounds, six assists--as the Bulls surprised the basketball world by remaining a contender without Jordan. The substance of Pippen's career adds up to much more than "1.8," but just as Jordan never won a title without Pippen it was evident that it would be challenging for Pippen to win a title without Jordan.

The Bulls had been gathering momentum prior to Jordan's return--winning eight of their previous 10 games--and they went 13-4 down the stretch after Jordan came back. Jordan had some great moments--including the famous "double nickel" game at Madison Square Garden--but all you need to know about the difference between playing pro basketball and playing pro baseball is that Jordan got out of shape playing pro baseball. Yes, there are different muscle groups involved in each sport, and he had to retrain his body, but it is also clear that basketball requires a greater and broader overall level of fitness than baseball does. As a result, Jordan could not sustain the highest level of energy over a 48 minute game, or over the duration of a playoff series. He was still an elite player, but he was not the best player in the league; a good case could be made that he was not even the best player on the team, and at that time Jordan was quick to acknowledge that he needed to catch up with Pippen.

The Bulls won their first round series versus Charlotte--with Jordan deriving some inspiration to lift his game after ex-teammate B.J. Armstrong hit the game-winning shot in game two--but Jordan came up short in several clutch moments as the Orlando Magic eliminated the Bulls 4-2 in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Jordan with Pippen had not been able to advance any further in 1995 than Pippen had advanced without Jordan in 1994.

Jordan rebuilt his body during the summer of 1995, playing pickup games on the set of the movie "Space Jam." Jordan not only fine-tuned his game but also made mental notes about the NBA players who participated in the games. TNT's Kenny Smith once said, half-jokingly, that the NBA players made a mistake helping Jordan get back in shape.

Even with Jordan back to his full powers, the Bulls still needed someone to fill Horace Grant's old role, and they needed the supporting cast--an entirely different group from the 1993 team--to provide enough help for Jordan and Pippen, who would be the only two players who played for all six Bulls championship teams.

"The Last Dance" showed many examples of Jordan's famous competitive fire, and the way that he manufactured motivation out of slights real and imagined; one gets the sense that many of the slights were imagined, and that Jordan--much like the comic book hero The Incredible Hulk--was driven by rage. There should be no doubt, though, that Jordan loved the game, and that he loved winning. He sought to perfect his craft, and he pushed his teammates to perfect their craft.

Jordan explained during one of "The Last Dance" interviews, "My mentality was to go out and win at any cost. If you don't want to live that regimented mentality, then you don't need to be alongside of me because I'm going to ridicule you until you get on the same level with me. And if you don't get on the same level, then it's going to be hell for you." Jordan added, "Winning has a price. And leadership has a price. So I pulled people along when they didn't want to be pulled. I challenged people when they didn't want to be challenged. And I earned that right because [other] teammates came after me. They didn't endure all the things that I endured. Once you joined the team, you lived at a certain standard that I played the game. And I wasn't going to take anything less."

During "The Last Dance," Jordan showed the greatest amount of emotion when discussing two situations: (1) the murder of his father, and (2) explaining why he pushed his teammates so hard. Jordan's love of the game fueled his competitive anger, and Jordan did whatever he had to do to make sure that his teammates would do everything possible to win championships. Jordan declared during one of "The Last Dance" interviews that he never asked a teammate to do something that he did not do.

It is an interesting quirk of media coverage that the competitive fire that is considered such an admirable aspect of Jordan's legacy has been so often criticized as a detriment to Kobe Bryant's legacy. If anything, Jordan's verbal taunts and physically aggressive behavior toward his teammates seems worse than any known behavior that Bryant displayed toward his teammates. It should also be noted that Bryant carried the Lakers to two titles and three straight Finals appearances in the second act of his career with a lot less talent around him than Jordan had during any of his championship runs. Other great players have won multiple titles without being as overtly demanding of their teammates as Jordan and Bryant were, but no great player has won multiple titles without setting a standard of excellence for himself and then demanding--in one way or another--that his teammates match his work ethic, focus, and toughness even if they cannot match his skill level.

The final two episodes of "The Last Dance" began by focusing in general on the Chicago Bulls' rivalry with the Indiana Pacers, and specifically on Michael Jordan's rivalry with Reggie Miller. Miller noted that he did not fear Jordan the way that many NBA players did--Miller respected Jordan, but he did not fear him. Jordan and Miller came to blows in a 1993 regular season game, and Jordan conceded that--other than the Detroit Pistons--Miller's Pacers posed the biggest challenge that he faced. Jordan played in just two game sevens during the Bulls' six championship runs: a 110-81 win versus the New York Knicks in 1992, and an 88-83 win versus the Pacers in 1998. Jordan shot just 9-25 from the field in game seven against the Pacers, but he chased down five offensive rebounds as the Bulls grabbed 22 offensive rebounds and outrebounded the Pacers 50-34. Jordan--like Kobe Bryant after him--understood what so many of today's players--and so many "stat gurus"--do not: championship basketball is about not just numbers, but about heart, and about doing what needs to be done when it most needs to be done. If you are not shooting well, then play defense, and grab rebounds. Those who rely on analytics will never believe or understand it, but I would take Jordan's performance in that game seven over a gaudy, but empty stat line resulting from a player chasing numbers that make him look good as opposed to focusing on doing whatever needed to be done to win the game.

It is also worth noting that in a high stakes game during which rebounds mattered the most, Scottie Pippen had the most rebounds (12), and the most offensive rebounds (six). Jordan and Pippen each had more offensive rebounds than Indiana's entire team (four). If you understand how special Jordan and Pippen were in that game, then you also understand Kobe Bryant's value in game seven of the 2010 NBA Finals, when Bryant grabbed 15 rebounds--five more than any Boston Celtic--to lead his Lakers to an 83-79 win.

The last two episodes also revisited one the the core themes running throughout the series: Jordan's motivational fire was stoked by slights real and imagined. Objective reality took a back seat in Jordan's mind to framing situations in ways that enabled Jordan to develop anger, and then direct that anger at his opponents while he dominated them. Jordan said that one time during his first retirement Utah's Bryon Russell made a comment to Jordan that Jordan retired because he knew that Russell could shut him down. Maybe this was an offhand or lighthearted comment, maybe Russell never even said it; what Russell actually said is secondary in this context to what Jordan heard: he felt disrespected by Russell, and after that Russell was "on my list," as Jordan put it. Jordan made sure that Russell will forever be known as the futile defender flailing at Jordan's final shot as a Chicago Bull, the shot that clinched Chicago's sixth title.

Jordan understandably felt slighted when the media gave the 1997 regular season MVP to Karl Malone. Jordan won the MVP while leading the 1996 Bulls to a then-record 72 wins, and yet the media did not select Jordan as the MVP when he led the Bulls to 69 wins--equaling the previous record--the next season. Selecting Malone as MVP over four-time--and eventual six-time--champion Jordan made no sense. Malone is a consummate playoff choker who never won a title and who shot .463 from the field in the playoffs compared to his .516 regular season field goal percentage. Yes, we are talking about a regular season award and not a playoff award, but how "valuable" is a player like Malone who cannot be relied upon when the games matter most?

As was usually the case, Jordan got the last word with Russell, Malone, and the media. Jordan's Bulls beat Malone's Jazz in the Finals in 1997 and 1998. In the clinching game six of the 1998 Finals, Pippen suffered a serious back injury that ultimately required offseason surgery. He had ruptured two disks in his back. During "The Last Dance," Bulls' trainer Chip Schaeffer explained, "He was in such pain. So disabled. He had continued loss of function. He was losing mobility and his pain was increasing. It was spiraling." That kind of severe back injury not only causes excruciating back pain, but it leads to radiculopathy--pain down one or both legs as a result of the disk material pressing on a nerve. At first, Pippen did not think that he could return to the game, but ultimately he came back and--despite modest box score statistics--he made an impact, posting a game-high +16 plus/minus number. Jordan's plus/minus number was +2, but of course he shared many of his minutes with Pippen; during the 22 minutes that Pippen did not play, the Bulls struggled mightily. Phil Jackson recalled of game six, "When Scottie left, we were just kind of holding on."

The Bulls may have been a good team without Pippen, but they were not a great team without him--as we saw during the first part of the 1998 season when Pippen was out of action while recovering from offseason foot surgery. Pippen later told me with pride about his game six contribution, "I was productive. I could have been more productive, could have done a lot more if I had been healthy." Schaeffer declared, "Anybody that would have a notion that Scottie Pippen was a soft player, that is patently absurd. He is as tough a player and as tested of a competitor as anybody I've ever worked with. What he did in game six was extraordinary. I know so many players who would have tapped out without hesitation. He was just going to throw it out there and finish no matter what."

Jordan deserves a lot of credit for scoring 45 points on 15-35 field goal shooting in that 87-86 series-clinching win, but no one should forget Pippen's contributions not only throughout the series and throughout the season, but especially in that last game.

During the locker room celebration, Jordan said, "Now, you all say whatever you want, they can't win until we quit."

Sadly, the Bulls organization had made the decision before the season to quit. They broke up this team for the ages. In Blood on the Horns--perhaps the definitive book-length examination of the Bulls' 1998 season--Roland Lazenby concluded with these words:

Did Krause actually think that he could go back and start all over again? Conjure up all this magic again?

The answer to that lay in a simple, hubris-filled comment the GM made after Jordan hit the shot in Salt Lake City to win the sixth championship. "Jerry and I have done it six times now," Krause told Phil Rosenthal of the Sun-Times.

It was one final sour note on his theme from October. Organizations do win championships.

He was wrong, of course. These were and are Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls. Always have been. Always will be.

Labels: Chicago Bulls, Dennis Rodman, Jerry Krause, Jerry Reinsdorf, Last Dance, Michael Jordan, Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen

posted by David Friedman @ 4:13 AM

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