After winning their third straight title (their sixth in eight years), the famous and invincible Chicago Bulls dynasty came crumbling down. Phil Jackson was fired, Scottie Pippen was traded, and Dennis Rodman was sent to L.A. to close out the final years of his career.
But, thanks to “The Last Dance,” people have been wondering what might have happened had the band stayed together after that summer, especially Michael Jordan who retired for the second time that year.
In a chat with ESPN, former team owner Jerry Reinsdorf recalled his final conversations with Jordan as a member of the Bulls. At first, he told of his attempt to get MJ to stick around.
“Don’t say anything now,” Reinsdorf told Jordan. “We’re in a lockout. We don’t know how long this lockout is going to go. Let’s get to the end, and maybe I can talk Phil [Jackson] back into it. Maybe after … maybe he’ll change his mind. So don’t say anything.”
Of course, there’s another (much simpler) reason why their run couldn’t continue. As Reinsdorf explained after “The Last Dance,” Jordan would have needed surgery on his finger.
“The thing nobody wants to remember,” Reinsdorf said, “during lockout, Michael was screwing around with a cigar cutter, and he cut his finger. He couldn’t have played that year. He had to have surgery on the finger, so even if we could’ve brought everybody back, it wouldn’t have made any sense.”
It seems like it was the perfect time for Jordan to go, Phil was gone, they had just finished their run, and Mike had some injury troubles that would have kept him out for months.
It’s fun to think and wonder what might’ve been had they spent a couple more years together but, in the end, it just wasn’t meant to be.
