The MJ coverage was interesting at times but there weren't many surprising or revealing moments.  (An exception being the end of Episode 7 which I have already mentioned in this thread.)  Since MJ had editorial control over the project, there was no mention of his marriage and very little about his children, siblings, and even mother.  It was difficult to decipher whether this was intended to be a documentary about Jordan or about the Bulls.  The Athletic had a great story about how you could have made a documentary based on MJ's high school years alone.  They told a great story on how MJ was attending the 5-Star summer camp for a week which was all the family could afford.  The second week promised great competition and the camp organizers pleaded with MJ's parents to allow him to stay the second week.  Since the family was on a budget, MJ was able to stay the second week by working as a waiter at the camp, serving many of the same campers who he'd be schooling on the court.

I felt the big takeaway of the series was Jerry Krause's promise to break up the team after the 1998 season, even if the Bulls went 82-0 to use his words.  Krause was a disheveled figure who of course never played or coached the game at a high level.  He craved respect for being a savvy general manager and building a championship team.  Many of the players, notably MJ, did not care for Krause.  They certainly lacked respect for him.  In one of the final scenes, MJ watched a video of Reinsdorf indicating that Krause would undoubtedly build another championship team and MJ's facial expression/eye roll was priceless.

Here's the thing..MJ and others questioned aloud why they were being denied the opportunity to compete for a 7th title.   Two things about this...first Reinsdorf vetoed Krause and offered Phil Jackson another year, citing rather unbelievably that Phil had earned another year (as if the first 5 titles weren't enough but the 6th one really pushed Reinsdorf into the "we really ought to keep Phil camp").  Of course, the damage had been done a while ago and Phil turned down the offer.  Second, what was Krause's motivation to break up the dynasty and start anew?  Just a thought but maybe he grew to resent these guys over how disrespected he was by them?  Am not saying that Krause did not deserve at least some if not most or all of the shit that came his way, but from Krause's perspective, if he had been treated with respect, if he wasn't the ongoing butt of many jokes, don't you think he would have preferred to keep the team together?  Unless he had such an enormous ego which dictated that he try to succeed without MJ and Phil (which is a distinct possibility), I couldn't help but feel that it was the team itself that pushed Krause into this corner.  As MJ wondered aloud why his team was being denied the opportunity to try for a 7th title, his own treatment of Krause (along with Phil's and other players) may very well have had as much to do with why as anything.  As a fan of great basketball, I certainly was not in favor of Krause's decision (which Reinsdorf endorsed).  But, I think I can understand why this went down the way it did. 

Thomas, funny that you mentioned Lefty.  Apparently, MJ was so impressive during this camp that Lefty practically accosted him and insisted that he pay a visit to College Park on his way home to NC.  My guess is that your story is 100% true and was really Lefty's way of forcing the issue.  (Reminds me of how Mike Jarvis played the Wally Szcerbiak hand.)  What was also interesting about this story is that it was MJ's mom who said that their son had to stay the second week of camp while James Jordan was the one who said the family was on a budget.

No doubt that Krause was a very unlikable figure.  I'm just left to wonder if he had been treated the way a typical GM is treated and not abused like he was, whether he would have pulled the plug after the 6th title.  It is entirely possible that he was a big enough jerk that he would have regardless of how he had been treated.

Small consolation but the fact that Reinsdorf offered Phil another year, turning on  his previous commitment to Krause,  might be considered vindication by Phil and the players.  Of course, it was way too late by then. 

Interesting analysis but of course, that's not likely what would have happened.  I suspect one of two scenarios would have taken place.  Either MJ would have taken a pay cut in order to retain Scottie.  No way to know if he would have agreed to this but his off-court revenue was through the roof by then, he knew that Pippen had played under a lesser contract than he should have, and he was all about keeping the team together and winning.  Tom Brady did this for years and years in New England, LeBron has sacrificed money to play with Wade and Bosh as well.   Not as far fetched as it sounds.  Or, they would have had to attempt the 7th title without Scottie.  In this scenario, several other players would likely not have been retained in exchange for cheaper rookie contracts, and the Bulls would have likely signed a free agent or two for a bit less money than Scottie.  For example, they could have signed Derrick Coleman and Terry Porter as free agents that season for a combined salary of about 40% less than what Pippen signed for to play in Houston.

Thomas, an interesting moment in the documentary was when Reinsdorf advised Pippen against signing his contract.  Am fuzzy about the exact details but Pippen signed for two additional years in order to guarantee himself an extra few million dollars.  Reinsdorf says he advised Pippen to take the shorter term deal and in essence, bet on himself for a much bigger payday a few years sooner.  He went on to say that once the contract is signed, he (Reinsdorf) will have no interest in renegotiating until the next contract is due to be negotiated. Pippen took the few extra dollars and then sulked about his contract.  Reinsdorf refused to renegotiate as he said would be the case.  Personally, I wish sports contracts always worked like this.  You sign a contract, you live with that contract.  Nobody asks you to give money back during a bad year.  Conversely, athletes should not be asking to redo their deals after a good year.

Thomas, I've been wondering what you think about something.  If MJ was playing today, do you think he'd have anything to say about what's been happening across the US?  As you know, lot of athletes, both black and white are sharing their thoughts in a public way.  MJ is still a superstar and, to the best of my knowledge, hasn't said anything about what's going on.  I shouldn't be surprised, but I am.  Do you think if MJ was just 4 or 5 years into his professional career today, he'd speak up?

I'd be interested in your thoughts?

Also, I heard Scottie signed the contract because he was worried about his health (back specifically) and also because he wanted financial security for his family.  But the Bulls could have easily ripped up the contract after the new CBA deal was done and salaries skyrocketed.  I'm sure if Scottie knew he'd become a top 5 player in the league he'd never have signed that deal. I wouldn't be surprised if he blamed his agent somewhat, but I think he was rightfully upset with Krause and Reinsdorf.  I think they should have taken care of him because they could have easily renegotiated the deal back then. 

22ndandF wrote:

Thomas, I've been wondering what you think about something.  If MJ was playing today, do you think he'd have anything to say about what's been happening across the US?  As you know, lot of athletes, both black and white are sharing their thoughts in a public way.  MJ is still a superstar and, to the best of my knowledge, hasn't said anything about what's going on.  I shouldn't be surprised, but I am.  Do you think if MJ was just 4 or 5 years into his professional career today, he'd speak up?

I'd be interested in your thoughts?

Also, I heard Scottie signed the contract because he was worried about his health (back specifically) and also because he wanted financial security for his family.  But the Bulls could have easily ripped up the contract after the new CBA deal was done and salaries skyrocketed.  I'm sure if Scottie knew he'd become a top 5 player in the league he'd never have signed that deal. I wouldn't be surprised if he blamed his agent somewhat, but I think he was rightfully upset with Krause and Reinsdorf.  I think they should have taken care of him because they could have easily renegotiated the deal back then. 

I'll start with Pippen, Maybe he thought the Bulls would re-negotiate his deal and give him more out of good faith, but we saw that Bulls management didn't operate that way!! Player contracts in all sports really started to explode in the 80's, so Pippen's rookie contract(he was chosen 5th overall in the '87 draft) had to be worth at least  a few million over 3 or 4 years. It's not as if Pippen came into the NBA making the league minimum, he probably picked up some endorsement deals during his first 3 years as he kept getting better and better. Also, seeing Jordan making millions and millions and millions probably made Pippen feel a sense of desparation so he took the most money he could get. I believe Pippen fired his first agent shortly after signing his rookie contract, so it may have been a second agent who advised him to sign the second deal. 

About Michael Jordan, I think he released a statement on George Floyd through his Nike brand social media site, I guess you can consider that speaking out for Jordan!! As for whether Jordan would speak out if he was a young phenom type of player today, that's a tough question because of how different things are today than they were in 1984. Today with social media, professional players can dictate what they want to put out by just going to their phone, laptop or computer, and expressing themselves, but getting "dragged" on social media for saying the wrong thing can really damage a player as Saints QB Drew Brees has found out today!! LOL. 

I don't think a modern-day Jordan would be as active or vocal as LeBron is, but Jordan probably would have spoken out more on issues because guys like LeBron, Colin Kaepernick, Eric Reid, Richard Sherman, Steve Kerr, Greg Popovich have paved the way for pro athletes/coaches to speak up on social/political issues with no fear. I don't think a big-time modern day pro athlete is going to be controlled by an agent/agency the way Michael Jordan was by Nike and David Faulk.

I'm not sure if you are a football fan, but Bengals QB Joe Burrow, who was the #1 pick in this past NFL draft and arguably one of the most hyped rookie QB's in recent history gave this striking quote about what George Floyd being killed by ..."The black community needs our help. They have been unheard for far too long. Open your ears, listen, and speak. This isn’t politics. This is human rights."  Boston Celtics star guard Jaylen Brown, who is an Atlanta native, drove to Atlanta to march with the protesters!! Minnesota Timberwolves all-star center Karl-Anthony Towns(along with 1 or 2 of his teammates) stood with George Floyd's family at the press conference they held last week. I'm assuming that LeBron publicly speaking out on these issues has influenced all 3 of these guys. I'm encouraged by the fact that we're seeing young stars of all races speaking out, its very important that kids see their favorite players taking action and not staying silent. 
 
https://twitter.com/Joe_Burrow10/status/1266404689203146754  

Last edited by Thomas (6/03/2020 7:18 pm)