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Six Shooter
Saving his best for what may not be his last, the magnificent
Michael Jordan coolly broke Utah's heart and led the Bulls to
another title
by Phil Taylor
Posted: Wed June 17, 1998
Do not hold them to anything they said on this night, not when so
many emotions were crashing around inside them, not when they
were elated and relieved and giddy and sad all at once. The
Chicago Bulls were all misty-eyed, the way champions get, and
through that haze the past is always so much clearer than the
future. Yes, the Bulls spoke with an air of finality on Sunday
night, after they won their sixth NBA title in eight seasons.
They talked about packing up their belongings and about the way
they wanted to be remembered. Even as the championship
celebration was beginning, they seemed to be saying that the
party was over. But save your goodbyes. The Bulls as we know
them may not be finished yet.
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In Game 6 even a phalanx of Jazz defenders couldn't faze a
focused Jordan.
(Walter Iooss Jr.)
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It's only fair that they return for another season. If they were
to leave now, after their thrilling 87-86 victory over the Utah
Jazz in the sixth and final game of the NBA Finals, they would
be like a poker player who gets up from the table after winning
a huge pot. The Bulls at least have to give the rest of the
league one more chance to win a hand, don't they? John Stockton
thinks they will do exactly that. After Sunday's loss Stockton
refused to offer a final tribute to Chicago's wondrous Michael
Jordan, who had played perhaps the final game of his career. "I
don't think it will be his last one," Stockton said. "It's been
a nice story for everybody here, but he's not quitting. He'll be
back, and Scottie [Pippen] will be back and Phil Jackson will be
back. I'm tired of hearing all of that."
Maybe Stockton simply was in no mood to be sentimental about
Jordan, who had just broken the Jazz's heart in the Finals for
the second straight year. In one brief, devastating burst of
brilliance at the end of Game 6, Jordan had secured another
championship. After a Stockton three-pointer with 41.9 seconds
left had given Utah an 86-83 lead, Jordan almost immediately got
the ball at the other end, drove past the Jazz's Bryon Russell
and scored a layup, using up only 4.8 seconds. On the other end
Jordan sneaked up behind Utah's Karl Malone and stripped the
ball from him. Back upcourt, he faked Russell nearly out of his
hightops to free himself for a 17-foot jumper that gave Chicago
the lead with 5.2 seconds left. When Stockton missed a
three-pointer, the Bulls were champions for the third straight
year. Jordan's game-winning sequence, which capped a 45-point
performance, may have surpassed the countless other memorable
moments of his career, even Game 5 of last year's Finals, in
which, despite being sick with a stomach virus, he scored 38
points to lead the Bulls to victory. "I didn't think he could
top that," said Jackson. "But he topped it here tonight."
No one, not even Jordan, knows whether Sunday's heroics will
stand as the perfect ending to his remarkable career or just the
latest in his continuing series of sensational performances.
That will be resolved in the coming weeks and months, when
Jordan, Pippen, Jackson, Dennis Rodman and the two Jerrys, as
they have come to be known in Chicago—Bulls chairman Jerry
Reinsdorf and vice president of basketball operations Jerry
Krause—begin to wrestle in earnest with the possible breakup of
the team. Reinsdorf and Krause have lately managed to be
simultaneously optimistic and noncommittal. ("I can only hope
and pray that Michael and Scottie will come back and defend the
championship one more time," Reinsdorf said after Game 6.) But
during the final days of the series, most of the other
principals sounded as if they were anticipating the end of
Chicago's dynasty.
When Rodman wasn't AWOL or tangling with Malone
(left), he was sparking the Bulls by diving for loose balls or
sinking key free throws.
(John W. McDonough)
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"Hopefully I've put enough memories out there," Jordan said. "I
have another life, and I know I have to get to it at some point
in time. Hopefully the fans can understand that." Jackson packed
up his office before Game 5 because he knew it would be less
emotional than returning to take care of the chore after the
series was through. Pippen, when pressed after Sunday's game,
said, "I think this is probably it. It's pretty much over." Even
center Luc Longley, one of the nine free-agents-to-be on the
playoff roster, admitted he thought the end had come. "I hope
Michael, Scottie and Phil all come back," he said. "But at this
point, I'd be very surprised if they do."
In Krause and Reinsdorf's master plan, they did not envision
keeping the team together beyond this season. With so many
contracts set to expire at the end of this year—guards Ron
Harper and Randy Brown and forward-guard Toni Kukoc are the only
Bulls signed for next season—Krause and Reinsdorf planned as
far back as 1996 to start the rebuilding of the club by this
summer. They anticipated a deep free-agent class, with young
stars like Kevin Garnett, Antonio McDyess and Joe Smith
available. But Garnett has signed a six-year extension with the
Minnesota Timberwolves, McDyess is likely to re-sign with the
Phoenix Suns, and Smith (now with the Philadelphia 76ers) has
been a disappointment. Suddenly the prospect of tearing down a
defending champion and rebuilding it may not be as appealing to
the two Jerrys as it once was.
But there is a great deal of negotiating, posturing and
spin-doctoring left to be done before the fate of the Bulls is
certain. The contracts of Jordan, Pippen, Rodman and Jackson all
expire on July 1—the same day the owners probably will lock out
the players—and the likelihood of the players re-signing with
Chicago depends in large part on the terms of any new agreement
now being negotiated between the owners and the National
Basketball Players Association. "There are a lot of factors,"
says Jackson. "Nobody knows what the rules about signing players
and how much you can offer your own free agents are going to be,
so it's hard to make a prediction on what's going to happen with
Michael and Scottie. Even in my situation, what's going to
happen is not totally in my control."
The situation is not totally in anyone's control, which is what
makes it so hard to read. It is not in Jordan's control, because
his decision depends almost entirely on the fate of Pippen and,
to a lesser extent, Jackson. It is not even entirely up to
Reinsdorf, because it is quite possible that Jackson or Pippen
(or both) will choose to leave even if he makes reasonable
contract offers to them.
But there is no doubt that if one man holds most of the cards,
it is Pippen. "Everybody wants to say it's Michael, but
Scottie's the key," says Rodman. "If he comes back, we all come
back." Sources within the Suns organization say they are ready
to make a long-term contract offer to Pippen as soon as he
officially becomes a free agent, and he did nothing but enhance
his value with his sterling defensive performance during the
playoffs. Pippen is the man with the most options, which may be
why he is also the one who has done the most extreme flip-flops.
While he was on the injured list in November, he said he would
never again play for the Bulls, then he changed his mind and
returned to the team in January, as soon as he was fully
recovered.
Continued
Issue date: June 22, 1998
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NBA Finals
