In the last episode of ‘The Last Dance’, Michael Jordan said he firmly believed that the Chicago Bulls could have defended their title after their second three-peat.
“It’s maddening because I felt like we could have won seven,” Jordan opined. “I really believe that. We may not have, but man, just not to be able to try, that’s just something that I can’t accept, for whatever reason. I just can’t accept it.”
“Would I sign for one year? Yes, I would sign for one year,” Jordan said. “I had been signing one year up to that. Would Phil [Jackson] have done it? Yes. Now Scottie [Pippen], you would have had to do some convincing. But if Phil was going to be there. If Dennis [Rodman] was going to be there. If MJ was going to be there to win our seventh, Pip was not going to miss out on that.”
This was in response to team owner Jerry Reinsdorf who said that the rebuild of the team after the 1998 season came on its own.
“Their market value individually was going to be too high,” Reinsdorf said. “They weren’t going to be worth the money they were going to get in the market. …
“That was the end. It just came to an end on its own,” Reinsdorf said. “Had Michael been healthy and wanted to come back, I don’t doubt that Krause could’ve rebuilt a championship team in a couple of years. But it wasn’t going to happen instantly.”
It was GM Krause who set the murky tone at the start of the season that it would be Phil Jackson’s last year as the coach of the Bulls, even if he went 82-0, and that was the call for the curtains to come down on the Bulls dynasty that reigned supreme.
The next season after MJ’s threepeat with the Bulls was shortened due to a players’ lockout. Along with his retirement, Pippen was traded, Luc Longley went to Phoenix Suns, Rodman signed with the Los Angeles Lakers and Jackson took a year off. Other prominent players from the core, such as Steve Kerr and Jud Buechler, signed with different teams.
The Chicago Bulls Have Not Won An NBA Championship Since 1998
Despite their best efforts, the Bulls have not won a championship since the big three of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman were disbanded.
In their 56 seasons in the NBA, the Bulls have gone to the NBA Finals six times, winning all six titles, with Jordan leading from the front. Chicago amassed two three-peats in Jordan’s career, winning titles in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, and 1998.
Since then, Chicago is yet to make the NBA Finals. The closest they came to was in 2010-11 when they lost the Eastern Conference Finals to the Miami Heat. Derrick Rose was awarded MVP.
Now, all eyes will be on the trio of DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, and Nikola Vucevic to see if they can lead the Bulls to glory.
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