On the way to 70 victories, Michael Jordan falls, Scottie Pippen aches, Dennis Rodman continues to be older than either of them and the Bulls could lose every other game from here and would likely still have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. So why bother?
For ego, for one thing.
This is not a bad thing, ego. It is what drives champions. Ego is the soul of all sports, to be the best, to be the best ever.
For later, for another thing.
When these Bulls are a memory, as are the 1972 Lakers and the ’67 76ers and the ’72 Dolphins and the ’27 Yankees and the ’77 Canadiens, as are all the great teams that set the bar for those who follow, then is when it will mean the most.
Today’s petty worries will not travel in time.
Blessed are the achievements that link sports through generations. If the Bulls’ resurrection of Happy Hairston is not quite the same as was Cal Ripken’s renewal of Lou Gehrig, the thing that matters is one day Ron Harper will be Hairston.
The Bulls know what the prize is, there at the end, somewhere beyond Orlando and Seattle or whomever.
But they have done that before, as have 16 other NBA teams, several of which several times, several of which do not even exist anymore.
This is not to argue that winning 70 or more is more important than another world title, but the two ambitions have now become one. It is too late for the Bulls to aim at anything but both.
And it is a rare and welcome thing, the chance to win one for now and one for forever.
Because of the Bulls’ age, this concern was going to come up. How to endure the long season and still be fresh for the real season later?
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Since the Bulls cannot win four titles in a row–or this would be six had Jordan not wandered for a while among minor-league outfields, and even then the Bulls would still be a pair behind the Celtics–since nothing can be done about what could have been, the focus should be on what is possible.
Is this worth risking Jordan late in games, or Pippen on nights when his body might be better off on the couch? Should the Bulls emphasize the superfluous at the risk of the indelible?
A local hockey comparison, if you will. Mike Keenan pushed the Blackhawks to the best record in the NHL a few years back, set club records, took dead aim at Lord Stanley’s cup and then staggered out of the division semis against Minnesota, just another loser.
Here’s an even more ancient example, the 1906 Cubs. They still hold the record for most victories in a baseball season, 116, and they lost to the White Sox in the World Series.
Parenthetically, speaking of the ’06 Cubs, when the Bulls win their 70th, Chicago will have three of the four major sports records for most wins in a regular season–the Cubs in baseball, the Bulls in basketball and the Bears in football.
The Bears won 15 in 1985, matched by the ’84 49ers. Montreal has the best hockey pedigree, 60 wins, a more remarkable achievement in a sport where a tie is a tolerable ambition.
And it is not as if the Bulls can really avoid catching immortality. They would have to lose eight of the next 24 to miss it altogether. They play only 10 games against teams with winning records, and only four on the road against winning teams.
The earliest the Bulls can win 70 is April 11 at New Jersey, and the window for it to happen would fall somewhere within that week. For maximum drama, it should be at Cleveland, in a Sunday TV game, April 14.
Phil Jackson is judicious enough not to sacrifice the playoffs frivolously, and Jordan and Pippen and Rodman know their bodies well enough to be sensible.
But never doubt that this is worth doing. This is worth saving.
I say go for it. Go for it all. History lasts a long time.