?Didn?t Know Anything About Basketball?: Michael Jordan?s Fate Might?ve Fared Differently if Not for Bulls Boss? Stern Opinion

Michael Jordan was a pivotal part of the Chicago Bulls’ era of domination in the NBA. However, it took him nearly seven years to bring the franchise its first championship in the NBA. Things could have been quite different for the six-time NBA champ without the absence of a crucial piece of the championship-winning puzzle in the team. And that piece of the puzzle was the Bulls’ then-boss. In other words, Michael Jordan’s fate could have possibly turned out differently if not for the Bulls boss’ stern opinion about a team he had represented as a player.

Michael Jordan’s brilliance on the court gave way to two three-peat wins for the Bulls in the 1990s. However, the planning and execution of the consistent championship-winning journey were laid out by the former Bulls head coach Phil Jackson, who remained associated with the franchise from 1987-1998. Phil Jackson was that piece of the puzzle that made way for the Jordan-led Bulls’ greatness. However, the Bulls would possibly have missed out on Jackson if he did not have a disappointing history with his former team.

Michael Jordan could have missed out on Jackson’s coaching

Phil Jackson had never coached in the NBA before he was hired by the Chicago Bulls as an assistant coach in 1987. The 11-time NBA champion coach offered his services to a bunch of teams in the CBA (Continental Basketball Association) before that. However, he still managed to make a positive impact on the Bulls’ ownership, who promoted him to the head coach’s position in 1988.

As per Sam Smith’s The Jordan Rules, Jackson had a chance to return to the New York Knicks as an assistant when Rick Pitino was hired by the team as the head coach in 1987. Pitino offered Jackson the job when he was still in the CBA. But Jackson was reluctant to join the team because of the Knicks management’s blindsided approach to basketball.

Gulf + Western bought the New York Knicks in 1977 when Jackson was a player on the team. Incidentally, Phil Jackson was unhappy about the instability in personnel moves at the Knicks under Gulf + Western.

Further, the former Bulls coach once gave his stern opinion on the Knicks’ corporate ownership. Phil Jackson said, “These guys didn’t know anything about basketball, about men coming together and bonding their talents. They’d say, ‘Let’s go get us Spencer Hollywood. U-Oh, he’s not working. So we’ll get ourselves a Bob McAdoo.”

Jackson did not believe in the efficiency of the decision-making related to the Knicks team under corporate ownership. Therefore, he decided to choose the Chicago Bulls instead. Hence, if Phil Jackson would have chosen the Knicks, Michael Jordan might have found it harder to be so successful with the Bulls in the former coach’s absence, given his history with New York.

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Phil Jackson’s history with the Knicks

Jackson made his NBA debut with the Knicks in 1967. He was picked as the 17th overall pick in Round 2. Jackson won two championships in 1970 and 1973 while playing for the New York Knicks. In addition, he remained with the franchise until 1978.

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Moreover, Jackson made a return to the Knicks when he was hired as the president in 2014. Eventually, his tenure came to an end in 2017.