NBA Archives Debunked: The Jordan Saga

Chapter 16 Shocking World (1)

Jordan's rookie season is not over yet, and the Chicago Bulls have changed owners. In March 1985, a consortium led by Jerry Reinsdorf bought the Bulls for $3 million, of which Reinsdorf paid $1 million and became the team's big boss.The bull has since ended the era of loose management in which a group of shareholders held conference calls and everyone voted to make decisions.

In Reinsdorf's first week in charge of the Bulls, Jonathan Kovler also sold him 7 percent of his shares, giving Reinsdorf 63 percent.The following week, Reinsdorf fired Rod Thorn and Jerry Krause took over as Bulls general manager. After the 1984-1985 season, Krause fired Kevin Lochry and handed the Bulls coach to Stan Albeck.

Years later, Jordan's first verdict on the two Jerrys—Leinsdorf and Krauss—in his autobiography was this: "They're business people, they're not sports people, they don't really know the game. Appreciation. They're making business decisions, and basketball just happens to be that business."

The source of this assertion occurred in their first full season together.In fact, that should be the most incomplete season of Jordan's entire basketball career.

In late October 1985, Jordan's second year in the NBA officially opened.In the first game, the Bulls narrowly beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in overtime.The opponent in the second game was the Pistons. Jordan took a brutal blow from Bill Laimbier, but still scored 10 points, 33 rebounds, and 7 assists, leading the Bulls to beat their rivals.The start of the two-game winning streak seems to bode well for the new season.However, three days later, bad luck came.The Bulls played away against the Golden State Warriors. Jordan jumped high to grab the ball, lost his balance when he landed, and sprained his left foot hard on the floor.Although initial X-rays showed no serious injuries, Jordan was in soreness and had trouble starting an emergency stop, and he sat out the next two Western Conference road games.

Back in Chicago for further examination, the Bulls found a fracture in the navicular bone of Jordan's left foot, but it was difficult to confirm the exact angle of the fracture on a CT scan, so no one knew how serious the injury was, and whether it would happen soon. can heal.It was initially said that Jordan would be out for 6 to 8 weeks, but it was soon confirmed that the situation is not so optimistic.Jordan was suddenly told that he would have to recover from the injury all season before he could heal his left foot.

This is a very frustrating news for Jordan.Playing basketball is not only his profession, but also his pleasure.He is one of the few players in the NBA with a "Love of the Game Clause" in his contract.The so-called "love the game clause" means that players have the right to play basketball anytime, anywhere.This may sound ridiculous, but in those days, professional players were not allowed to play basketball casually outside of the team’s formal games and training. Otherwise, if they were injured, the loss would be borne by the player himself, and the team owner would not pay for it.Therefore, only players like Jordan with a "love to play clause" in their contracts can play basketball in the offseason as they please.The owners certainly didn't like this clause, they were afraid of losing their most talented players, but Jordan insisted on having this right when he signed the contract.

Because of a foot injury, Jordan suddenly lost his focus in life and was forced to separate from basketball.In Chicago at the time, Jordan lived in a small apartment and wasn't fully integrated into the city.The winter in Chicago was very cold, and it became more and more difficult without basketball, so Jordan applied to the team to go back to Chapel Hill to recover, and the application was approved.

Back on the familiar campus, Jordan is still living in his own typical style.Since his ability to run and jump is limited, he has to practice shooting—he shoots for hours every day.Slowly, without Chicago's knowledge, he also started playing 5-on-5.But no matter what, it was a difficult time after all. Jordan had never realized that he loved basketball so much in the past.

Using CT scans to monitor the recovery process of injuries was still a novelty in those days, so Jordan's foot became a research topic for doctors.The scanning machine is very new, and there are no previous cases for reference, so the doctor is a little timid during the treatment process and does not know how to adjust the plan.At times, team doctor John Hefferon felt it was like watching grass grow.

The slow progress of recovery is testing Jordan's patience.As the pain subsided little by little, Jordan became convinced little by little that he was ready to play.Every time he went back to Hefron's office for a follow-up consultation, he thought it was the last time, but every time he heard that he would come again next time.By February and March of 1986, Jordan was so anxious that he even went directly to Dr. Hefron wearing his sneakers, hoping to take off the protective gear on his feet to participate in training.He told Hefron again and again "I'm ready", but Hefron answered him again and again "I'm not sure yet", so he had to take off his sneakers again, sign his name and give it to Hefron's secretary as a gift.One day Hefron told Jordan that the foot didn't need to be immobilized anymore, but Jordan refused because he had already resisted the doctor's decision in his heart, and he was tired of it.

During that time in North Carolina, Jordan's body shape has recovered quite well, and his injured left foot is even stronger than his right foot.Doctors couldn't believe it when they saw the new strength test results.Jordan believes that no one knows his body better than himself, and he is ready to play.Hefron believed him.After getting along for less than two years, Hefron has long discovered that Jordan can always clearly describe his symptoms, pain and discomfort to doctors.Hefron thought to himself, with such accurate perception of his own body, he might as well listen to what Jordan said.But Hefron couldn't make a decision on his own, because in addition to him, the Bulls also found two other surgical experts for Jordan to consult.Three doctors participated in the treatment, and none of them would guarantee that Jordan could come back safely.

In the process of repeated exchanges between the management, doctors and Jordan, Bulls general manager Klaus made two mistakes.These were two mistakes that seemed trivial at the time, but turned out to be very serious mistakes.

The first one - in a conversation, Klaus categorically rejected Jordan's request for a comeback, and said: The decision, the boss Reinsdorf and I will do it, just wait, because you are our "asset".It's stupid to say that about any player, especially a black player.This is a sentence that Jordan will never forget and never forgive.Thus began the initial rift between Jordan and the Bulls front office, which grew over time and never resolved.

The second is more sensitive-Jordan began to believe that the Bulls management did not allow him to come back, but there was actually another purpose. In the 1985-1986 season, the Bulls started with three consecutive victories, but after losing Jordan, their winning percentage plummeted. When Jordan was finally allowed to come back, the Bulls' record was already 24 wins and 43 losses.Jordan decided that Reinsdorf and Krause kept him from playing, not to protect his feet, but to secure the team's lottery spot.If it continues to be poor, the Bulls will have a chance to pick Brad Doherty or Len Bias in the 1986 draft, which is a good way to quickly strengthen the team.But in Jordan's view, thinking like this is very sinful, which means that his boss does not take winning as his mission. They are willing to accept failure, willing to sacrifice the results of the current season and the chance of entering the playoffs in exchange for the future The possibility of strengthening the lineup is unacceptable to Jordan.Even in a team that is not strong, Jordan never had the idea of ​​​​accepting failure.He always believes that as long as he can play, the Bulls can enter the playoffs, and as long as they enter the playoffs, he will do his best to lead the team to go further.

Another internal meeting was held to discuss whether Jordan should come back. Jordan, Leinsdorf, Klaus, head coach Albeck, and three doctors sat together.Before everyone opened their mouths, Jordan took out a tape recorder from his bag and placed it in the middle of the table."I don't want any ambiguity," Jordan said.

As on previous occasions, the doctors balked again, unwilling to give Jordan the green light.One of the doctors, Stan James, said that Jordan had a 10% chance of recurring the old injury.That's exactly what Leinsdorf and Krause wanted to hear.

The two Jerrys spoke very carefully and didn't mention any words about the draft and the lottery, but Jordan felt that their intentions could not be more obvious, so the quarrel began.

Klaus said, "We can't take any chances. What the hell are you thinking?"

"I was thinking, there's a 90 percent chance I won't get hurt again," Jordan said.

Jordan knew that the management would not think like him, so he simply put things on the table that the other party didn't want to mention.Jordan said: "You just want to lose so that you can get a higher draft pick." This stabbed Krause sorely, and Krause didn't know what to say.

At this moment, Leinsdorf spoke.Prior to that, there had been a shocking incident of Tylenol capsule poisoning in the Chicago area-Tylenol is a common household headache remedy produced by Johnson & Johnson, but someone was poisoned by the cyanide contained in Tylenol-Leinstrom Husband decided to use this as an analogy and made a hypothesis.

"What would you do if I gave you a bottle of 10 pills and one of them contained cyanide?" Leinsdorf asked Jordan. "Would you reach out and risk getting the wrong pill?"

Jordan thought for a moment and said, "You know what, Jerry, that's a good analogy. But my answer is: It depends on how bad the head hurts."

At the end of the meeting that day, Leinsdorf and Klaus finally agreed that Jordan can train normally and play games, but each half cannot exceed 7 minutes, and it will be increased as appropriate in the future.

Reinsdorf wrote him a letter to make sure Albeck understood Jordan's playing time restrictions.Now, Albeck has to find a balance between superstar and team owner every day.Jordan wanted more playing time, and Leinsdorf and Krause just wanted Jordan to strictly abide by the playing time limit.In one game, Albeck asked Jordan to play for 5 more seconds. According to the NBA record method at that time, 5 seconds was also counted as 1 minute. So the next day, Albeck received a call from Krause, who warned him Him: The boss is very angry.Soon, Bulls press officer Tim Hallam had a new task—every game, sitting next to the scorer's table with a stopwatch to ensure that Jordan would not overtime.

Jordan hated this rule. He wanted to help the Bulls win and play in the playoffs.He thought the management's rules were ridiculous.They allowed him to practice for two hours a day, but they didn't allow him to play more than 14 minutes a game.

The Bulls and Cavaliers are competing for the last playoff spot in the East. The Bulls are behind, but with Jordan's return, the gap between the two sides began to narrow.In the sixth-to-last game of the season, the Bulls faced the Pacers in Indiana. Jordan was allowed to play 14 minutes in each half, but the night before, Reinsdorf had just called Albeck and reminded him again: Ask Jordan to play 1 more minute, and I'll fire you.After two quarters, the Bulls trailed by 5 points. Albeck decided to let Jordan start in the second half. He told Jordan: "Pull us back into the game." Jordan did.He scored 15 points alone in the fourth quarter, and the Bulls were closely chasing their opponents.

With about half a minute left in the game, the Bulls trailed by just one point.Now, here comes the trouble.Jordan's allotted time was about to run out, and if he played for two more seconds, he would be counted for an extra minute, and Albeck had to replace him.Jordan was furious and yelled at the coach: "You can't do this! We're going to the playoffs!" The Indiana fans stopped doing it. They booed and shouted Jordan's name, but it didn't help. Albeck still took Kyle Messi. (Kyle Macy) for Jordan.At the last moment, the Bulls narrowly won by one point thanks to a shot from guard John Paxson.

After the game, the team reporters from Chicago pressed Albeck: "How can you treat Michael like this?" Even Albeck himself wanted to know the answer to this question.The next day, a reporter called Leinsdorf and asked him what was going on. Leinsdorf said: Albeck's arithmetic is too bad.After reading what the boss said in the newspaper, Albeck knew that once the season ended, he would have to pack up and leave.

Despite limited playing time, Jordan took advantage of late-season opportunities, averaging 28.7 points in his final six games, winning four of them for the Bulls.With this final fight, the Bulls boarded the last train of the playoffs, and they were going to face the strongest team in the league at the time-the Boston Celtics in the first round.

The 1985-1986 season was recognized as the best season of the Celtics in the Larry Bird era.That year, they played 67 wins and 15 losses in the regular season, 41 of which lost only once at home.Kevin McHale, the No. 12 on that team, and 1985 years later as the Minnesota Timberwolves' director of basketball affairs, recalls that particular year with pride: "If Good God reached out and said, 'OK, McHale, you've been a good citizen, so you can go back and play another season of basketball because you loved it so much.' Then I'd pick 1986-[-]. "

The Celtics have a complete and strong lineup, especially the frontcourt.Bird, McHale, and Robert Parish (Robert Parish) were the first combination in the NBA to win the reputation of the "Big Three". By the time they retired, the three had been selected to the All-Star 28 times in total.And that year, they added another good helper who was hard to come by—Bill Walton (Bill Walton).When Walton was young, he was one of the best centers in the basketball world. Unfortunately, injuries almost destroyed his career.Now, Walton is old and slow, but he is still good at passing the ball. As the sixth man, he makes the team's inside rotation impeccable.

Jordan is only in his second year in the league, and he desperately wants to play on a championship-level team, and the Celtics are the yardstick for such a team.The Bulls knew that they couldn't beat the Celtics inside, so they bet all their money on the outside, and the offense revolved around Jordan, giving him the ball to open singles. "That was their only chance," McHale said.

(End of this chapter)