NBA Archives Debunked: The Jordan Saga

Chapter 61 The Last Dance (3)

The Clippers were scoreless in the second overtime, and Jordan scored all nine of the Bulls' second overtime points.Of the Bulls' final 9 points in this campaign, 30 were scored by Jordan.Jordan played 26 minutes and scored 52 points. This is the 49th time in his career that he has scored 150 points.Although too tired to even make free throws, Jordan scored the final 40 points of the game and led the Bulls to a 13-111 victory.

A game that was originally insignificant became very important because of Jordan's performance.Jordan's determination and will to overcome physical fatigue, this special mental strength later proved to play a key role.Without these "unimportant" victories fought with will, the Bulls would not have home court advantage in the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals. If there is no home court advantage, the result may change.

The story of the night is not over yet.Pippen was still on the road with the team after a foot injury, and he was sitting in the locker room after the game with an empty chair next to him as Kent McDill, a reporter for the Chicago Daily Herald, walked over. , greeted him.Originally, McDill just wanted to ask a few random questions, "How are you doing recently", "Which game do you expect to come back", and so on, but Pippen opened his mouth and said, "I won't play for the Bulls again. "

Harper was standing next to him at the time, and when he heard Pippen say this, he looked down at Pippen and made some sarcasm at Pippen.Pippen smiled and continued: "I'm tired of being treated like this. I don't want to play for any team that Jerry Krause is on or represents. I don't want to represent Jerry Krause anymore." Pippen blasted MacDill with a bunch of similar stuff, and then he and Harper bantered about where they might go and which team they might play for.Finally, Pippen stared at McDill again, and said solemnly: "I want to be traded."

MacDill was not stupid, he felt that it would be ridiculous if he really wrote these things. "I know that even if he wants to be traded, the Bulls probably won't trade him," McDill said.

McDill did not write Pippen's words to the newspaper that day.When he arrived in Sacramento two days later, he saw Pippen again and asked, "When will you hold a press conference to announce that you want to be traded?" Pippen replied, "I will open the article as soon as you write it." This time Pippen looked serious, so MacDill asked him two more questions, then went to the media room to write down what Pippen had said, and what happened the previous two days in Los Angeles.During the intermission, the two met again. Pippen took the initiative to ask: "Can you write?" McDill replied: "To tell you the truth, I have already written it." He told Pippen the general content of the article, and Pippen Said: "That's exactly how I feel. I want to be traded, I don't want to play for the Bulls anymore."

McDill believes that this is obviously not a decision made after careful consideration, and Pippen just wants to make things bigger.He did it.Soon his words spread across the United States: "I won't come back, I want to be traded, I want to go to Phoenix or Los Angeles." It's ready."

Pippen's clamor to leave is a sign of the escalation of the Bulls' internal conflicts this season.Now in the team, Jordan and Pippen are on one side, and Krause is on the other. The collision between the two sides is no longer as simple as occasional sarcasm and bickering, but has reached the point of open hostility, with Jackson caught in the middle.The other players are very embarrassed, especially some substitutes. They are not as confident as Jordan and Pippen. They will have to negotiate contracts with Klaus in the future, so they don't like to see the superstars around them fight with the boss.

And Klaus is still around the players all day, as before. The general managers of most NBA teams try to avoid staying with the players every day. Unlike Klaus, he can be seen everywhere in the Bulls' locker room, on the bus, and in the chartered plane.Jackson, like his predecessor Collins, often advised Krause not to go around the players, but Krause didn't listen. He believed that as the team's general manager of basketball affairs, he had the right to go wherever he wanted.

Krause still travels with the team for the first five or six weeks of the season, which he says helps him maintain a sense of what the team needs.But to the players, Krause was trespassing on their territory.The locker room, the bus, and the chartered plane were all places for players to relax and have fun. Klaus's intrusion made them very uncomfortable.

On the day of Sacramento's game against the Kings, in the team's practice room before the game, there was a heated argument between Jordan, Pippen and Krause.After the game, the Bulls flew to Seattle, where an even uglier conflict was brewing.

The Bulls beat the Clippers and the Kings in a row and won two consecutive away games, so on the plane, everyone was very happy and celebrated with some wine, especially Pippen, who drank a lot.After arriving in Seattle, there were two buses to take them to the hotel, one for players and coaches, and the other for broadcasters and other staff, and Krause chose to board the player's bus.As soon as he got in the car, the chatter began.At first it was Jordan, who mostly taunted Klaus about his fishing skills.Soon, Pippen became the protagonist.

Jordan is a master of trash talking, he knows how to irritate Klaus, and at the same time, he knows how to stop when there are any red flags.And Pippen's emotions are often more obvious. He is not good at self-control, especially like this time, he has obviously drunk too much, and the beer made him talk.Pippen angrily scolded Krause: When can you stop telling others that it is your credit for choosing me?Then he rants again: Sign me a new contract or trade me!
Under the combined effect of alcohol and emotions, Pippen accuses Klaus at length, his voice is getting louder and his words are getting worse and worse.Finally, Jackson couldn't stand it anymore. He turned around and held a bottle of beer to Pippen. The backup center Joe Kleine (Joe Kleine) was taken aback, thinking that Jackson was going to toast Pippen.Klein asked the coach, "Are you drinking to Scotty? I've never seen anything like that." Jackson said, "No, I showed him a bottle of beer and told him you drank too much. You better be quiet."

Jackson didn't like what was happening on the bus. He felt it was beyond the normal range, but Krauss said, "Don't worry, I can take it, don't worry at all."

Referring to the incident later, Klaus said: "Scotty, like that, didn't affect me at all. He was drunk, and he thought the best way to get out of here was to further piss me off."

Harper believes that Pippen is just drinking to let off steam, and he needs to say these things.Jordan agreed: "It's just venting his depression." But Jordan also said: "I think the relationship between them is completely ruined, and I don't think Scottie has ever come out of it."

The next morning, Pippen sobered up and could have repaired the damage done the day before, but when he and Krause met on the team bus, Krause said, "Good morning, Scottie," Pippen's answer was: "Go to hell, Jerry!"

Pippen's ruthless words that he "doesn't want to play for the Bulls anymore" have been spread, and the national media are desperately following up.For the Bulls, this is a crisis moment.The season has only just started, the team is underperforming, the team's second-best player has been absent, and now, he may never return.

Before the team's shooting practice in Seattle, Jackson held a brief team meeting. At the meeting, Pippen apologized for the trouble he caused everyone, but he also said that he stood firm and would not wear a Bulls jersey again.Pippen told his teammates: I love you all, but I think it's over.

Jackson was very afraid that Pippen would reach a point where he could not turn back. At that time, he would not only damage the team, but also himself.In the face of the media, Jackson tried his best to minimize the big things. He said: "Personally, I think he is just joking with the media and throwing some harsh words out." Pippen responded that he didn't just want to make things interesting. That's all, "I feel like I've been treated very unfairly by this team... Now it's reached a point where I don't think I can continue."

Pippen continued to complain to the media, but Krause told reporters: "We spent a lot of money to keep this team intact, and trading any key player on our team would be a devastating deal. Unless someone took us Eliminate, or I will not send Scottie away."

When the Bulls returned to Chicago before Thanksgiving, Jackson arranged for a physical therapist to spend more time with Pippen to calm him down.Late one night, Pippen called Jackson, and the two talked for a long time. This conversation made Jackson realize that Pippen seemed determined not to play for the Bulls.Jackson understood that if the Bulls wanted to win the championship again, they could not do without Pippen. At the same time, he also knew that to make Pippen change his mind, it required the joint efforts of Jordan, Harper, Jackson himself and some other players.

"We let Scottie be himself," Harper said, "and we were all on his side." But in reality, both Jackson and Jordan publicly expressed displeasure with Pippen as part of the strategy. On December 12, they hinted to the media that they felt betrayed by Pippen."We care about Scottie, but this time we're going against him because he's going to abandon us," Jackson said.

Both Jackson and Jordan said they would not have returned if they had known Pippen was leaving.After the end of the previous season, only Pippen was still under contract in their core team. It was Pippen who asked Jackson and Jordan to come back. Jackson even remembered what Pippen said: "Don't leave me here alone." Now , they came back, Pippen was making a fuss to leave, and Jackson said: "There was a feeling of, 'Hey, we're back, let's do it together, and Scottie opened the door and slipped'."

Jackson also recalled to reporters that Jordan's comeback in 1995 was partly due to Pippen's active lobbying, "I don't think Michael will forget this. When Scotty was here alone in 1994 and 1995, he said' Come back, come back Michael, help me carry'. So I'm sure Michael will fight back and put pressure on him."

Jackson has no lack of experience in dealing with Pippen, and the "most bizarre ending" in his coaching career has something to do with Pippen.It was May 1994, Jordan was playing baseball, and Pippen was leading the Bulls against the Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals.In the third game of the series, 5 seconds before the end, the two sides tied at 1.8, and the Bulls had a chance to win.During the timeout, Jackson devised a tactic for the final shot, with Pippen throwing a sideline and passing it to Kukoc.Pippen was very dissatisfied with this and protested. He believed that he was the ace of the team and he should take the last shot, just like Jordan did in the past.Jackson insisted on his arrangement, and when everyone dispersed to start the game, Pippen angrily sat on the far end of the bench.Jackson asked, "Are you going or not?" Pippen replied, "I'm not going."

Jackson was very surprised. He turned around and asked his assistants: "He doesn't want to play, what should I do?" Clemons said angrily: "Fuck him! We can still play without him." Pete Myers came on and let Myers serve the sideline.Kukoc caught the ball head-on, turned around and hit a jumper, and the lore was successful, but Jackson couldn't laugh at all.

Walking from the court to the locker room, Jackson wondered what to do.Pippen has never questioned Jackson's decision before, and Jackson has never doubted that Pippen is a team player. Why is it suddenly like this?Jackson worried that if the punishment was too severe, Pippen would panic for days, so he had to grasp the scale.

Jackson went to the bathroom to remove contact lenses and heard Cartwright sighing and sobbing in the shower. Jackson asked, "Bill, are you okay?" Cartwright said, "I can't believe Scottie did that." A few minutes later, Jackson rounded up the players and let Cartwright do the talking.Cartwright stared at Pippen and said relentlessly: "We've been through so much with this team, this is our chance to do it ourselves without Michael, and you messed it up with your selfishness. I've never been so disappointed in my life."

Cartwright stood in the middle of the locker room with tears in his eyes as everyone else sat quietly.When he finished speaking, Jackson led the team in prayer and then went to the press conference, and the players continued to talk in the locker room.Pippen apologized to everyone, and several other players shared their feelings.Kerr said afterwards: "I really think this cleansed our team ... the crazy thing is that this thing helped us."

The outside world continues to speculate. Some people say that Jackson should punish Pippen severely, and some people say that the Bulls should trade Pippen. But within the team, among the players and coaches, this page has been turned.Pippen told Jackson the next day that he had put the matter behind him, and Jackson also believed that Pippen would not have any major problems from his performance in training.Only when Jordan called to ask about the situation did Jackson say: "He (Pippen) apologized, but he didn't really repent."

"People will never forget what he did," Jordan said.

"I'm not sure, Michael," Jackson replied, "People forgive a lot of things based on a person's true intentions, and Scottie grows through a lot of things."

During the entire process of handling the incident in 1994, Jackson has been very relaxed. He told team press officer Tim Hallam on the first day: "There will be no problems." It can better define what kind of coach Jackson is.

In 1997, Pippen made a fuss about leaving this time. Jackson was convinced that at this time, what they needed was less news about them in the newspapers, so that Pippen would have more time and space to weigh the pros and cons. Pippen can remember: He loved playing basketball for the Chicago Bulls.

Jackson tried to isolate Pippen and Krause, and he told Pippen not to run away with the team during this time.Meanwhile, Harper was given a new role.Harper was originally the person with the closest relationship with Pippen on the team. He was responsible for making Pippen understand: this team trusts him, needs him, and relies on him.

Pippen called Reinsdorf as a way of expressing his anger.In two years, this is the first time they have spoken. "He just wanted to be traded," Reinsdorf said. "He said he hated Krause, he didn't even want to mention his name, and he kept calling him 'your general manager.'" Reinsdorf told Pippen, Klaus didn't want to trade him, he just listened to the offers from other teams.According to Pippen, he chatted with Reinsdorf for about 20 minutes, and Reinsdorf should have called him back, but he never did.

In those few days, the Bulls lost consecutive away games to the Sonics and Pacers, and lost 15 games in the first 7 games of the season.Jackson reminded the players that they had already lost as many games as they had lost in the previous half-season.To make matters worse, they lost to some opponents they should have won, and lost a lot of close games.A championship team can often dominate the opponent in the last few minutes of the game. This should have been the trademark of the Bulls, but now, they have lost this trademark.

(End of this chapter)