Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls are practically the same words. You can’t talk about one without mentioning the other since their relationship was so great and worked so good until everything fell apart in 1998. MJ made a huge impact on the team, changing their story and making the franchise one of the most popular in the NBA and the world of sports in general.
Other than the six championships he won with the Bulls, the biggest example of Michael’s impact on the team is how he increased their worth. When he arrived in the Windy City from North Carolina, the Bulls were a struggling team. In February 1985, Jerry Reinsdorf bought the team for $16.2 million.
When 1987 landed and Jordan was surrounded with great players, the Bulls really took off. They didn’t win a championship until 1991, but their sales increased considerably, the jerseys were sold with extreme ease and their fan base grew up a lot.
After winning six titles from 1991 through 1998, the team’s worth was $307 million. Even though things didn’t end up completely well for the Bulls, Jordan had made more than enough for the organization and its value.
After that, they never found the same success. Until 2008, they saw a new Messiah in Derrick Rose. The nostalgia turned into hope and the Bulls believed they were about to enter another great period. D-Rose was ready to lead the team to accomplish big things, but injuries prevented him from completing the task.
They had other good players like Jimmy Butler or Joakim Noah on their roster, but they never won another championship. Rose took them to the ECF in 2011 when the LeBron James-led Miami Heat beat them in 5 games. After that, the Bulls never returned to that stage.
Right now they are a struggling team once again, looking for answers in a league with more and more talent. However, that hasn’t prevented the team from remaining as one of the highest valued franchises in the association. As of February 2020, according to Forbes, the Chicago Bulls are worth $3.2 billion, the fourth-highest amount in the NBA behind only the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, and Golden State Warriors.
Reinsdorf has made 197.53 times more than the $16.2 million that he paid for the franchise in 1985. That’s a pretty good number and you can say MJ is responsible for that.
