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OT- The Last Dance documentary

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Re: OT- The Last Dance documentary 

Post#1321 » by kyrv » Wed May 20, 2020 4:20 am

transplant wrote:What hit me the hardest as a result of the docu-series wasn't even in it:

Jerry Reinsdorf: "When he (Krause) made that comment, 'Phil goes 82-0, he's not coming back,' I told him that was ridiculous, he had no business saying it," Reinsdorf said of Krause. "He realized it. But he couldn't walk it back."

I've been a Reinsdorf fan since he bought the White Sox and have characterized him as clearly the best Chicago sports owner in my lifetime. What I've never said about him is this: I don't believe him.

Reinsdorf has a well-earned reputation for letting his key subordinates do their jobs without undue interference. Still, the idea that Krause made a statement directly to the media (Krause hated the media so it wasn't an accident) that Reinsdorf found ridiculous, was potentially damaging to team morale and didn't represent the thinking of ownership, yet all Reinsdorf can say is that Krause "couldn't walk it back," is in itself patently ridiculous.

Couldn't walk it back? What? When your #1 direct report says something that potentially damaging, you don't ask him to "walk it back." You tell him that he's going to very publicly admit that the statement was wrong and apologize to Jackson, Reinsdorf and the players for having said it. Since Reinsdorf claims that Krause agreed that he was wrong to have said it, you'd think that Krause would have been OK with the apology. If he refused, he's gone.

Sorry, Mr. Reinsdorf, I don't believe it happened the way you described it. You're a better leader/owner than that. I don't know why you're trying to sell this bull now, but I'm very disappointed.


Well said. Now someone in the doc, forget who, said Phil had planned to take a year off after that season, but that doesn't matter. Stupid thing to say by Krause, dumber thing by JR to ignore. I never understood why JR never tried to make peace a bit with the Phil-Krause stuff, but as you said, that one comment required immediate intervention without prejudice.

Even if Krause was repeating something JR had said, you just don't say that in public. Wacky.

JR's 'explanation' of the break-up was also very bad. If I didn't know more background I may have thought, oh wow, they should have been kept together. There were valid reasons for ending the run, JR wasn't very convincing though imo.
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Re: My take away from The Last Dance. 

Post#1322 » by chitownsalesmen » Wed May 20, 2020 4:53 am

Dez wrote:How exactly were Pippen, Phil and Jordan lowballed?



Phil and MJ weren't egregious cases. Pippen however, was low balled hard as f***, twice. People regard Pippen's contract with the bulls as equivalent to Steph Curry's cheap contract that allowed the Warriors to get Durant in 2016, not perfect as the spike happened etc but it's similar and Jerry did it to him twice. I'm going to be forced to disregard your point as the dude wasn't even in top 50 of NBA salaries despite being arguably top 5/top 10 player at times he was unequivocally low-balled.
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Re: OT- The Last Dance documentary 

Post#1323 » by firstDance » Wed May 20, 2020 4:55 am

kyrv wrote:
troza wrote:
firstDance wrote:Strike shortened season
#8 seed made run to the Finals

Tends to fuel belief an aging team with injuries could have pulled it off

Spurs vs Bulls would be immense strength vs weakness matchup. Classic series but I like our chances finding some bodies to bang down low with Robinson/Duncan than the Spurs ability to find someone to guard Jordan. Sean Elliot, Mario Ellie and Avery Johnson were all out of the league within 2 years. Also Kerr is not on the Spurs bench.

2000? Yah we would be toast.


Against who? Phil and Pippen wouldn't be helping other teams to be the best in the league.

In 1999 we actually needed more big men. On 1998 that was a weakness of our team: Longley, Rodman... and then Bill Wennington? And no one else? Ok, Kukoc if you want. That would make the 99 finals very hard for us.

But as you said... Elliot, Ellie and Johnson would be eaten alive by Pippen, Jordan and Harper. The size/strength difference is huge.


kyrv wrote:The sixth title season WAS the one more year.

Should be required reading:

https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/bulls/jerry-krause-explains-why-bulls-dynasty-unraveled-his-words

I've posted here many times on how the Bulls were running on the fumes for the 6th title, and more than one participant used that exact phrasing.

And Scottie waited for YEARS to get his chance to get paid - he was going to take a one year deal? Come on MJ. You know that wasn't going to happen. MJ, who ya crappin'?

Scottie, Rodman, and Longley were not nearly as good after the 6th title. MJ sliced his hand open. That team wasn't sniffing a title.

The optics I agree were not good, and the Bulls didn't seem to care about the PR aspect, but there are no bad guys imo.

Great documentary, great time. Love MJ and Scottie.


I'm still wondering how a team that faced injuries on a started and ended up 62-20 and wins a title is on fumes. Surelly it wasn't the best version of the team and maybe that was really the last year but we will never know.

What is actually shown by the future is that some pieces were still good for some time: Jordan in his Wizards come back was good until the major injury vs Sacramento... now imagine a few years before that. Pippen was good for 2 years. Phil was still the best coach for a long time... Kerr and Harper still did their thing for a while (well... Kerr until 2003), Longley was the starting center of the team that took off the Duncanless Spurs in 2001.

And Rodman... he actually was averaging more than 14 rebounds in Dallas showing that the problem was mental... as it was before he joined the Bulls!

Was the team perfect? No. Was it the best version of our team? No... we would still be able to be a contender for a while even if we ended up without the title. I would say that Pacers and the Spurs would be our opponents in 99 and in 00 maybe the Portland even without Pippen? I doubt the Lakers would get there without Phil Jackson.


Scottie was worse, Rodman was worse, Jordan had a sliced hand and would have missed the regular season. Kukoc and Longley I think were as good the next season, those two aren't enough obviously to win a title. Giving Scottie a huge long-term deal at that time would have been bad, but hey it's not my money.

I won't argue anyone that would have like to have seen them go for it, some people wanted it to keep going until they lost. But there is no realistic argument that they would have likely won. I think some people don't realize how hard it is to win a title let alone two, let alone three, in a row. It's a grind. Jordan retired after both three-repeats.

"I'm still wondering how a team that faced injuries on a started and ended up 62-20 and wins a title is on fumes"

Kerr and others explained this in the doc.

Full disclosure, I didn't want Reggie Miller or someone else having the satisfaction of dethroning us. The Grant Magic thing was bad enough. But to lose as reigning champions to the Knicks or Pacers - hard pass. Things end.

Knicks made the playoffs with 27 wins. Tack on another 16. The title in 1999 could be had with 43 total wins.

I would be most concerned with the learning curve for new acquisitions. The ability to be a part of a 4-peat would surely attract many mercenaries.

Houston and Sprewell averaged a combined 47ppg in a Finals series with games decided in the 80s.
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Re: My take away from The Last Dance. 

Post#1324 » by TheStig » Wed May 20, 2020 5:00 am

chitownsalesmen wrote:
Dez wrote:How exactly were Pippen, Phil and Jordan lowballed?



Phil and MJ weren't egregious cases. Pippen however, was low balled hard as f***, twice. People regard Pippen's contract with the bulls as equivalent to Steph Curry's cheap contract that allowed the Warriors to get Durant in 2016, not perfect as the spike happened etc but it's similar and Jerry did it to him twice. I'm going to be forced to disregard your point as the dude wasn't even in top 50 of NBA salaries despite being arguably top 5/top 10 player at times he was unequivocally low-balled.

At least Steph's deal was only 4 years. Pippen's was nearly twice that and he didn't have anywhere near the endorsements Steph did.

But MJ was on only a slightly better deal but it expired and he was able to cash in the last 2 years and had great endorsements.

I'm also sure Phil was making peanuts till he got his new deal the last 2 years.

I don't think it's low balling per say because they chose the long term security and that was good money at the time they were signed but JR could have given them all extensions a year early since he had them on great deals up until then. That's what led to Pip delaying his surgery and demanding a trade.
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Re: My take away from The Last Dance. 

Post#1325 » by chitownsalesmen » Wed May 20, 2020 5:02 am

MrFortune3 wrote:I don't think he lowballed anyone. They signed contracts to have financial security early on. He was never going to renegotiate a great deal. Who would?


Some of the most successful companies in America/the world, someone with something to lose, a lot of people. Literally the NFL/NBA are going to have to do this after this entire covid situation, and do so every 5-8 years. Its a part of the business world, and sure you can be a cheap p**** and refuse to renegotiate a contract where I'm hugely under valued, and guess what I can just walk day 1 that contract expires.

It's called good faith, it seems you subscribe to the Jerry Reinsdorf school of business of being a cheapskate. Thats fine, you have every right to be like that it just means your no better then the corporations that are destroying this country with cronyism and greed.
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Re: My take away from The Last Dance. 

Post#1326 » by TheStig » Wed May 20, 2020 5:03 am

Don't forget, JR is the bigger winner in this. A lot of the blame he shifted onto Krause. He also banked hundreds of millions in revenue and has gained billions in team value. And so many here call him a championship owner despite little more than lucking into buying the team with the goat. The Bulls were boring and last in the city before MJ got here. He also was able to avoid major pay days for Grant and Pip which would have combined been more than MJ and he broke up the final year because he didn't want to pay the cast and used that to push Phil away. He only had to pay MJ and Phil the last couple of years. MJ was right, if you gave all those guys nice 1 year deals, they come back.
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Re: My take away from The Last Dance. 

Post#1327 » by chitownsalesmen » Wed May 20, 2020 5:06 am

TheStig wrote:
chitownsalesmen wrote:
Dez wrote:How exactly were Pippen, Phil and Jordan lowballed?



Phil and MJ weren't egregious cases. Pippen however, was low balled hard as f***, twice. People regard Pippen's contract with the bulls as equivalent to Steph Curry's cheap contract that allowed the Warriors to get Durant in 2016, not perfect as the spike happened etc but it's similar and Jerry did it to him twice. I'm going to be forced to disregard your point as the dude wasn't even in top 50 of NBA salaries despite being arguably top 5/top 10 player at times he was unequivocally low-balled.

At least Steph's deal was only 4 years. Pippen's was nearly twice that and he didn't have anywhere near the endorsements Steph did.

But MJ was on only a slightly better deal but it expired and he was able to cash in the last 2 years and had great endorsements.

I'm also sure Phil was making peanuts till he got his new deal the last 2 years.

I don't think it's low balling per say because they chose the long term security and that was good money at the time they were signed but JR could have given them all extensions a year early since he had them on great deals up until then. That's what led to Pip delaying his surgery and demanding a trade.


Yeah see we disagree with how we define JR but your acknowledging the reality of what happened, regardless of how you define it. I can see if you say, well, "Reinsdorf wasn't "low-balling." but he was perhaps "price-conscious." Or however you wanna define it.
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Re: My take away from The Last Dance. 

Post#1328 » by Dez » Wed May 20, 2020 5:11 am

chitownsalesmen wrote:
Dez wrote:How exactly were Pippen, Phil and Jordan lowballed?



Phil and MJ weren't egregious cases. Pippen however, was low balled hard as f***, twice. People regard Pippen's contract with the bulls as equivalent to Steph Curry's cheap contract that allowed the Warriors to get Durant in 2016, not perfect as the spike happened etc but it's similar and Jerry did it to him twice. I'm going to be forced to disregard your point as the dude wasn't even in top 50 of NBA salaries despite being arguably top 5/top 10 player at times he was unequivocally low-balled.


Pippen locked himself into that contract, he lowballed himself.
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Re: My take away from The Last Dance. 

Post#1329 » by chitownsalesmen » Wed May 20, 2020 5:14 am

Dez wrote:
chitownsalesmen wrote:
Dez wrote:How exactly were Pippen, Phil and Jordan lowballed?



Phil and MJ weren't egregious cases. Pippen however, was low balled hard as f***, twice. People regard Pippen's contract with the bulls as equivalent to Steph Curry's cheap contract that allowed the Warriors to get Durant in 2016, not perfect as the spike happened etc but it's similar and Jerry did it to him twice. I'm going to be forced to disregard your point as the dude wasn't even in top 50 of NBA salaries despite being arguably top 5/top 10 player at times he was unequivocally low-balled.


Pippen locked himself into that contract, he lowballed himself.



Refer to the post where I destroyed that terrible argument a few posts above.

Also, some how with one sentence you managed to both convey your first argument was invalid AND make a the same argument someone else made, only worse.

Congratulations.
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Re: My take away from The Last Dance. 

Post#1330 » by Dez » Wed May 20, 2020 5:34 am

chitownsalesmen wrote:
Dez wrote:
chitownsalesmen wrote:

Phil and MJ weren't egregious cases. Pippen however, was low balled hard as f***, twice. People regard Pippen's contract with the bulls as equivalent to Steph Curry's cheap contract that allowed the Warriors to get Durant in 2016, not perfect as the spike happened etc but it's similar and Jerry did it to him twice. I'm going to be forced to disregard your point as the dude wasn't even in top 50 of NBA salaries despite being arguably top 5/top 10 player at times he was unequivocally low-balled.


Pippen locked himself into that contract, he lowballed himself.



Refer to the post where I destroyed that terrible argument a few posts above.

Also, some how with one sentence you managed to both convey your first argument was invalid AND make a the same argument someone else made, only worse.

Congratulations.


You didn't destroy anything at all.

Pippen did not need to sign that deal, he did and has nobody to blame but himself.

Let's also not forget that the Bulls gave him a two year 10 million dollar retirement deal when he was 38.

Reinsdorf has his faults but Pippen is responsible for the deal he signed in his prime years.
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Re: My take away from The Last Dance. 

Post#1331 » by chitownsalesmen » Wed May 20, 2020 5:37 am

Dez wrote:
chitownsalesmen wrote:
Dez wrote:
Pippen locked himself into that contract, he lowballed himself.



Refer to the post where I destroyed that terrible argument a few posts above.

Also, some how with one sentence you managed to both convey your first argument was invalid AND make a the same argument someone else made, only worse.

Congratulations.


You didn't destroy anything at all.

Pippen did not need to sign that deal, he did and has nobody to blame but himself.

Let's also not forget that the Bulls gave him a two year 10 million dollar retirement deal when he was 38.

Reinsdorf has his faults but Pippen is responsible for the deal he signed in his prime years.


If I didn't destroy your argument you just embarrassed yourself with your circular logic.

Carry on son, class dismissed.
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Re: My take away from The Last Dance. 

Post#1332 » by Dez » Wed May 20, 2020 5:45 am

chitownsalesmen wrote:
Dez wrote:
chitownsalesmen wrote:

Refer to the post where I destroyed that terrible argument a few posts above.

Also, some how with one sentence you managed to both convey your first argument was invalid AND make a the same argument someone else made, only worse.

Congratulations.


You didn't destroy anything at all.

Pippen did not need to sign that deal, he did and has nobody to blame but himself.

Let's also not forget that the Bulls gave him a two year 10 million dollar retirement deal when he was 38.

Reinsdorf has his faults but Pippen is responsible for the deal he signed in his prime years.


If I didn't destroy your argument you just embarrassed yourself with your circular logic.

Carry on son, class dismissed.


You're amusingly arrogant for absolutely no reason.

Why is Reinsdorf responsible for Pippen signing a deal that underpays him?
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Re: My take away from The Last Dance. 

Post#1333 » by chitownsalesmen » Wed May 20, 2020 5:48 am

Dez wrote:
chitownsalesmen wrote:
Dez wrote:
You didn't destroy anything at all.

Pippen did not need to sign that deal, he did and has nobody to blame but himself.

Let's also not forget that the Bulls gave him a two year 10 million dollar retirement deal when he was 38.

Reinsdorf has his faults but Pippen is responsible for the deal he signed in his prime years.


If I didn't destroy your argument you just embarrassed yourself with your circular logic.

Carry on son, class dismissed.


You're amusingly arrogant for absolutely no reason.

Why is Reinsdorf responsible for Pippen signing a deal that underpays him?


Sorry you need to address the earlier point first then you can progress along the main campaign, side quests become available as you progress.
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Re: OT- The Last Dance documentary 

Post#1334 » by dice » Wed May 20, 2020 6:10 am

kyrv wrote:Full disclosure, I didn't want Reggie Miller or someone else having the satisfaction of dethroning us. The Grant Magic thing was bad enough. But to lose as reigning champions to the Knicks or Pacers - hard pass. Things end.

how 'bout losing to the spurs? 'cause the knicks barely made the playoffs in '98 and again in '99. and the pacers, like the bulls, were past their primes and a year older. no reason to believe that they were going to leapfrog us

personally, i'd have loved one more season of high quality entertainment regardless of how it ended. i sure didn't have any interest in tracking the tim floyd experiment
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Re: My take away from The Last Dance. 

Post#1335 » by MrFortune3 » Wed May 20, 2020 7:09 am

chitownsalesmen wrote:
MrFortune3 wrote:I don't think he lowballed anyone. They signed contracts to have financial security early on. He was never going to renegotiate a great deal. Who would?


Some of the most successful companies in America/the world, someone with something to lose, a lot of people. Literally the NFL/NBA are going to have to do this after this entire covid situation, and do so every 5-8 years. Its a part of the business world, and sure you can be a cheap p**** and refuse to renegotiate a contract where I'm hugely under valued, and guess what I can just walk day 1 that contract expires.

It's called good faith, it seems you subscribe to the Jerry Reinsdorf school of business of being a cheapskate. Thats fine, you have every right to be like that it just means your no better then the corporations that are destroying this country with cronyism and greed.


Reinsdorf is a cheap ****. That's never been in debate. I don't agree with his methods but let's not pretend as though what he did was uncommon among sports owners.

You are talking about players who signed long term contracts in a era before the massive explosion of salaries and values of NBA teams.

There are very few sports teams that renegotiate contracts with terms still remaining on the deals unless it's a window of eligible extensions or something along those lines.

The Warriors didn't run to pay Steph Curry even though he was underpaid after his MVP seasons.
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Re: My take away from The Last Dance. 

Post#1336 » by Dez » Wed May 20, 2020 7:31 am

chitownsalesmen wrote:
Dez wrote:
chitownsalesmen wrote:
If I didn't destroy your argument you just embarrassed yourself with your circular logic.

Carry on son, class dismissed.


You're amusingly arrogant for absolutely no reason.

Why is Reinsdorf responsible for Pippen signing a deal that underpays him?


Sorry you need to address the earlier point first then you can progress along the main campaign, side quests become available as you progress.


So basically you don't have an answer? The answer is, Reinsdorf isn't responsible for Pippen locking himself into a contract below his value.
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Re: My take away from The Last Dance. 

Post#1337 » by troza » Wed May 20, 2020 8:09 am

I already said on other post that, besides his reputation, this might not be a real thing back at the time.

Did he offer Jordan a contract that was way above everyone else for 2 years? How is that for cheap?
Did he offer a great contract that Jackson refused for one mroe year' How is that for cheap?
Did he paid Pippen (and others like BJ Armstrong) to end the career on Bulls or be connected with the organization? How is that for cheap?

About Pippen, a player with injury history... he decided, against all advices, to sign a long term contract. He decided that he rather get long term security and risk being underpaid than being able to sign a new deal after a few years. At that time, the Bulls took the risk to have Pippen becoming injured, loosing value and still having to pay. The contract history is only seen how it happened after because the contracts went up and Pippen got better.

But why do people keep forgetting that the Bulls took risks with that contract... would Pippen ask to be release and give up his money if he got injured and became a scrub?

Yes, Reinsendorf could have given him a new contract. But why? Both accepted the risks... and the Bulls were the winners while Pippen made a bad decision.


About everything else... yes, he should have spent more in the future. About Pippen... I think that the people that have worked can feel his frustration but can also relate that he was the one that took a bad contract.

Also... Jordan also had a long term contract and never asked for more money until the contract ended... and then he got paid.
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Re: OT- The Last Dance documentary 

Post#1338 » by troza » Wed May 20, 2020 8:19 am

kyrv wrote:Scottie was worse, Rodman was worse, Jordan had a sliced hand and would have missed the regular season. Kukoc and Longley I think were as good the next season, those two aren't enough obviously to win a title. Giving Scottie a huge long-term deal at that time would have been bad, but hey it's not my money.

I won't argue anyone that would have like to have seen them go for it, some people wanted it to keep going until they lost. But there is no realistic argument that they would have likely won. I think some people don't realize how hard it is to win a title let alone two, let alone three, in a row. It's a grind. Jordan retired after both three-repeats.

"I'm still wondering how a team that faced injuries on a started and ended up 62-20 and wins a title is on fumes"

Kerr and others explained this in the doc.

Full disclosure, I didn't want Reggie Miller or someone else having the satisfaction of dethroning us. The Grant Magic thing was bad enough. But to lose as reigning champions to the Knicks or Pacers - hard pass. Things end.


I keep saying that it is not that simple. Scottie was worse on the Rockets with a bad offense but still was an all defense. Rodman was worse outside the Bulls as he was with the Spurs before the Bulls... his numbers show that the skill was there, the problem was mental/lack of structure. Jordan missing the regular season... would that be a sure thing if Phil got another year right before the lockdown?

I know that it is one what if scenario but it is not as simple as saying everyone was worse. And story told us that very few champions go from champions to nothing in one season. The worst are maybe the 2011 Lakers (2nd round exit). The other bad cases (Heat 2007, 76ers in 84) aren't comparable - they didn't win as much as we did - and the Spurs in 2015 (1st round exit) still came back with good playoff runs in 2016.

And I consider one more year with Phil Jackson. Not with some random coach and I know that he was the first piece to leave (and actually the point that ended the dynasty)

And I will still watch the documentary to see how everyone says it. But a team that was on a 67 wins pace once Pippen got back is still an historical good team, with home court advantage in the majority of the seasons that happened.


About everything else: I kind of agree that the magic of them never being defeated makes this team a bit more special.
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Re: OT- The Last Dance documentary 

Post#1339 » by unicron5 » Wed May 20, 2020 10:53 am

I think in hindsight, trading Kukoc would have probably been the correct move. Trade Toni, sign Pippen, bring back Jordan and Phil.

Rodman was declining so you needed a PF/C, and trading Kukoc probably lands you that, but I'm guessing that was a non-start from Krause.

But I think the hard, bitter lesson of the Bulls for the last 20+ years is that when you have a chance to win a title ... you go for it. You don't take it for granted that such an opportunity will come along again like a regular bus.
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Re: OT- The Last Dance documentary 

Post#1340 » by dougthonus » Wed May 20, 2020 11:25 am

Here's teh article on Grant's quotes:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29195428/horace-grant-says-michael-jordan-lied-last-dance-calls-snitch

"Lie, lie, lie. ... If MJ had a grudge with me, let's settle this like men," Grant said during the interview. "Let's talk about it. Or we can settle it another way. But yet and still, he goes out and puts this lie out that I was the source behind [the book]. Sam and I have always been great friends. We're still great friends. But the sanctity of that locker room, I would never put anything personal out there. The mere fact that Sam Smith was an investigative reporter. That he had to have two sources, two, to write a book, I guess. Why would MJ just point me out?

"It's only a grudge, man. I'm telling you, it was only a grudge. And I think he proved that during this so-called documentary. When if you say something about him, he's going to cut you off, he's going to try to destroy your character."

EDITOR'S PICKS

The untold story of what fuels Michael Jordan's legendary fire

How 'The Last Dance' changed the way we think about Michael Jordan

The last night, the last season, the last shot: Stars react to 'The Last Dance' finale
Grant, who helped Jordan and the Bulls win three NBA championships from 1991 to '93, noted that some of Jordan's closest relationships have deteriorated over the years because of critical comments made about him.

"Charles Barkley, they've been friends for over 20, 30 years," Grant said. "And he said something about Michael's management with the Charlotte Bobcats or the Charlotte Hornets, and then they haven't spoken since then. And my point is, he said that I was the snitch, but yet and still after 35 years he brings up his rookie year going into one of his teammates' rooms and seeing coke, and weed and women. My point is: Why the hell did he want to bring that up? What's that got to do with anything? I mean, if you want to call somebody a snitch, that's a damn snitch right there."

Like other former teammates, Grant was unhappy with the portrayal of various players and situations throughout the documentary.

play
1:01
MJ blames Horace Grant for information leakMichael Jordan places blame on Horace Grant for leaking team information to the media.
"I would say [it was] entertaining, but we know, who was there as teammates, that about 90% of it -- I don't know if I can say it on air, but B.S. in terms of the realness of it," Grant said. "It wasn't real -- because a lot of things [Jordan] said to some of his teammates, that his teammates went back at him. But all of that was kind of edited out of the documentary, if you want to call it a documentary."

One of the storylines throughout the documentary centered on Jordan's bullying of his teammates. Grant said Jordan's behavior sometimes crossed the line.

"He felt that he could dominate me, but that was sadly mistaken," Grant said. "Because whenever he went at me, I went at him right back. But in terms of Will Perdue, Steve Kerr and the young man, Scott Burrell, that was heartbreaking [to watch]. To see a guy, a leader, to go at those guys like that. I understand in terms of practicing, you have a push and shove here and there, but outright punching and things of that nature. And calling them the B's and the H's; that wasn't called for."

In a separate interview earlier this month on KNBR in San Francisco, Smith relayed a story about Jordan telling flight attendants not to serve Grant food on the plane after a bad game. Grant said Tuesday that the story is true, but also said he always went right back at Jordan after the criticism.

"Anybody [who] knows me, as a rookie, if anybody comes up and tries to snatch my food away, I'm going to do my best to beat their ass," Grant said. "And believe me, back then, I could have took MJ in a heartbeat. Yes, it's true that he told the flight attendant, 'Well, don't give him anything because he played like crap.' And I went right back at him. I said some choice words that I won't repeat here. But I said some choice words and stood up. 'If you want it, you come and get it.' And of course, he didn't move. He was just barking. But that was the story. But anybody [who] knows me, where I come from and what I stand for, come on, man. There's nobody in this earth would ever come and try to take food off my plate and not get their rear ends beaten."

Grant added this in a separate Zoom call he did with Betonline.AG on Monday in which former Bulls Ron Harper, Bill Cartwright, Craig Hodges also participated.

"Let me clear something up about this food thing, that he tried to take my food," Grant said. "I would have beat his ass, guys ... you come back and try to take my food? I would have whipped his ass. [There] wouldn't be no Air Jordans right now. It wouldn't be no six championships, I guarantee you that."

Grant said on Kap and Co. that the last time he spoke with Jordan was about three years ago in a series of text messages about golf. Grant said he thinks they would be respectful toward each other if they saw each other, but he isn't concerned about whether the relationship has run its course.

"The crazy thing, for one of my charities he sent me an autographed pair of shoes," Grant said. "I don't understand it. If he had some difference with me, he could have text me, he could have called me, the whole nine yards. But if I see him today, we would hopefully pay our respects to each other because we went through three championships together. But if not, believe me, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it."

Grant also defended former teammate Scottie Pippen, who has not spoken publicly since the documentary began to air last month. As ESPN's Jackie MacMullan wrote earlier this month, Pippen has been stung by his portrayal in the documentary.

"I have never seen a quote unquote No. 2 guy, as decorated as Scottie Pippen, portrayed so badly," Grant said when asked whether he thinks Pippen was portrayed fairly in the documentary, which detailed his decision not to play the final seconds of a 1994 playoff game.

"In terms of the migraine, in terms of the 1.[8] seconds, [Jordan calling him] selfish. I have never seen this in all of my life. ... Pip was out there in Game 6 [of the '98 Finals], could barely walk, getting knocked down on his back. Tried to do whatever he could to help that team. My point is, why was that 1.[8] seconds in the documentary, so-called documentary, about Pip?

"MJ wasn't even on the team. Why was that in there? We handled that that year really well as a team. Pip knows that he was wrong for doing it. ... Bill Cartwright stood up and said what he had to say, and then we handled it. It was over. It was over. We go on to take the Knicks to seven games. It was over. Why bring that up? That's my question to everybody out there who's listening."

The interview concluded with Grant being asked why he repeatedly referred to "The Last Dance" as a "so-called documentary." Some have pointed to the fact that two of Jordan's closest confidantes, Estee Portnoy and Curtis Polk, were executive producers on the docuseries as an indication that Jordan had final say and creative control over the project. Director Jason Hehir has pushed back against that criticism, but Grant didn't hesitate to discuss what he believes to be a biased point of view in favor of Jordan.

"When that so-called documentary is about one person, basically, and he has the last word on what's going to be put out there ... it's not a documentary," Grant said. "It's his narrative of what happens in the last, quote-unquote, dance. That's not a documentary, because a whole bunch of things was cut out, edited out. So that's why I call it a so-called documentary."


Can totally understand why Grant is salty, and he makes some very fair points. As I've said, this documentary was white washed to be a very Jordan centric perspective. That said, seems like Grant is just super fired up over things that the rest of the public will view as little things or insignificant things in the documentary.

It would have been criminal to leave out the 1.8 seconds thing with Pippen. It's hilarious to even suggest it. I also don't think Pippen came off poorly in the documentary as a whole either.
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