BL

"I covered their (butts) when they got tight at the end of games and I had to overcome fourth-quarter deficits all by myself. It bothered my father a lot, just as it bothered me, to hear them (complaining) about not getting enough credit, or not getting enough shots, or squawking about the supposed preferential treatment I was getting from (Coach) Phil (Jackson).

"They had no idea how much pressure and grief I had to put up with off the court while carrying them on the court.

"Scottie found out the hard way what it's like to be under the microscope 24 hours a day. For the first half of the season he did great carrying the team; the second half not so great."
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Not a real good supporting piece for an argument that he DID 'get it', if you ask me.

Jordan Gets His First Good Cuts of the Season

Basketball: He rips Pippen and Grant but says he won't come back.

July 30, 1994|From Associated Press

NEW YORK — Michael Jordan ripped former Chicago Bull teammates Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant and said he could average 32 points after only two weeks of preparation if he decided to come back to the NBA.

In an interview published Friday by the New York Post, Jordan said pride prevents him from even considering an NBA comeback, though, because "I'd never want the media to think they were right."

The three-time most valuable player, who retired from the Bulls before last season to pursue a professional baseball career, spoke after his Birmingham Barons lost, 3-2, in 10 innings to the Orlando Cubs on Tuesday night.

Jordan, whose father, James, was murdered on July 23, 1993, said his father's death had no bearing on his retirement.

"I had totally lost interest," he said, adding he told teammates of his plans in the second half of his last season. "I knew I had to give it up."

Then, speaking about Pippen and Grant, Jordan said his father encouraged him "all that season" to retire because "he felt my teammates didn't appreciate what I was doing for them.

"I covered their (butts) when they got tight at the end of games and I had to overcome fourth-quarter deficits all by myself. It bothered my father a lot, just as it bothered me, to hear them (complaining) about not getting enough credit, or not getting enough shots, or squawking about the supposed preferential treatment I was getting from (Coach) Phil (Jackson).

"They had no idea how much pressure and grief I had to put up with off the court while carrying them on the court.

"Scottie found out the hard way what it's like to be under the microscope 24 hours a day. For the first half of the season he did great carrying the team; the second half not so great."

Then, referring to Pippen's refusal to play the final seconds of a playoff game against the New York Knicks because he was to be a decoy on the play while Tony Kukoc took the final shot, Jordan said Pippen made a big mistake.

"I don't think he'll ever live that down," Jordan said.

Although Jordan has a .188 batting average and 10 errors in right field for Birmingham, he said he still "can't come up with a single reason to change my mind" about returning to basketball.

Then he came up with one.

Noting that Reggie Miller said recently that Dream Team II is better than the first Dream Team of Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, Jordan said he would love to play a charity game matching the teams.

"Those guys are on the right team, because they're definitely dreaming," he said. "Not only was Dream Team I better, but we could beat them right now."
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This just doesn't sound like a guy who 'got it' regarding TEAM... as least not as of the date of this interview in 1994. So when DID he 'get it'?

1996? That's a little S----L----O----W......... if you ask me. That's covering like 3 different Presidential administrations.

Bird called his teamates (and he may have included himself in there) as sissies back in the 1984 Finals to motivate them. They responded. Jordan was retired. For a year. He was still talking about how he bailed the Bulls out and how he carried them-----who was he motivating during what series with that?

Regardless, the point was to illustrate that even as late as 1994------it was still HIM and THEM for Jordan.

And is it ALL actual ability, Jason? Really? There aren't guys who tend to teamates better and get them better/ easier shots?

Also I'll add that McHale shot .604 with 2.5 off reb/ game in 1988 with Bird... and .546 with 2.9 off reb/ game in 1989 without Bird. No Bird/ more off rebs/ shot worse in 1989. And McHale was healthier in 1989. Bird not being there have ANY effect on McHale's FG%? Nah.... it's all about McHale's ability and not at all about anything Bird did. These fluctuations with Bird and Jordan are just crazy coincidences.

I'm just still differing on the criteria of GOAT and some of the specifics I'm seeing used to say why Jordan, whom teammates like BJ Armstrong, Ron Harper, Scottie Pippen, and Steve Kerr all considered a great leader and the best ever, didn't understand how to win team basketball.>>>>>>>>>

Jordan at least as late as 1994 was still referring to what he did on the Bulls as 'carrying them' and 'bailing them out'.... these are HIS words. In 1994, im Jordan's mind-----it was still HIM and THEM.

"He was saying he was tired of teamates complaining of his preferential treatment and how the other guys on the team didn't appreciate all that he was doing for them and all the times he had to carry them and come from behind for them... he said something like Pippen was doing a good job carrying the team earlier in the 1994 season, but then he wasn't at the end of the season... and now Scottie knows how hard it is, etc. Didn't the Bulls, with Pete Myers in the starting lineup instead of Jordan just win 55 games that year?"
Jason J said:
sounds like an athlete who considered it his job to turn around a franchise, who always wanted to win more than his teammates and had to push everyone to work as hard as he did, who was in touch with a few Bulls that season, one of whom was Pippen, was probably just saying what he felt and making an ass out of himself because he's not the least bit tactful, particularly when filtered through the memory of someone trying to find a way to denigrate him.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

You're misunderstanding. The LA Times printed that column on July 30th, 1994. These were quotes made by Jordan about the season that had JUST ENDED for a team he wasn't even on anymore. He wasn't turning around a franchise anymore on a team full of guys who didn't want to win. The team just won 55 games without him. It wasn't 1985 or even 1988 when he said this------and nobody had a memory that was fuzzy. The AP quoted him from a recent interview.

Let's not sugar coat it. It wasn't that Jordan wasn't 'quite getting it right away'..... you wrote "I'd say by 1990, he had learned that lesson to some extent". That's 6 years in. SIX.