Michael Jordan is perhaps, the biggest legend in the history of the NBA. Jordan is considered by many people as the greatest player to ever play the game of basketball. MJ is an icon, a superstar that any team would love to have had on their team. But one of his former assistant coaches once advised Phil Jackson to take him out of a game during the NBA Finals.
In the 1992 NBA Finals, the defending champions Chicago Bulls were facing the Portland Trail Blazers, led by Clyde Drexler. During Game 6, the deciding game for the Bulls to win their NBA championship, there were doubts over Jordan’s play among the coaching staff.
According to Scottie Pippen, as he wrote in his new book, Chicago Bulls assistant coach Tex Winter advised Phil Jackson to remove Michael Jordan from the game because he was being too ball-dominant and costing the Bulls the game, which could have sent them to their first (and only) Game 7.
“Michael, meanwhile, was trying to do too much. And it was backfiring. ‘You have to get him out of there,’ Tex Winter, one of our assistant coaches, pleaded to Phil. ‘He’s holding the ball too long, destroying the action.’”
Via: Sportscasting
Jordan was taken out of the game, on Tex’s advice, when the Bulls were down by 14 points. During his time on the bench, the Bulls went on a 14-2 run led by Scottie Pippen. Jordan returned to the game when the score was 81-78, and the Bulls went on to win the 97-93.
Jordan did have a decent performance against the Trail Blazers in Game 6, scoring 33 points. But his slump in the fourth quarter could have cost the Bulls the chance to win their second consecutive NBA championship. While Jordan may have been unhappy with the decision, Tex Winter helped him and the Bulls win the championship.
Scottie Pippen made many other comments in his book, where he accused Jordan of using him and the Bulls to further his image through ‘The Last Dance’. These comments took fans aback, especially given how complimentary Jordan had been of Pippen across his career. The relationship between the two quickly fell apart because of the comments that Pippen made.
