Like airline luggage, the rule in playoff basketball is last in, first out. So, take a quick look at the Washington Whatevers, recently seen dampening each other with tears of wonder.
Never have so few been so happy to do so little.
The Bulls, on the other hand, show not the least sign of pleasure, treating what comes next as unavoidable drudgery.
“Each playoff presents certain death or success to this team,” said Phil Jackson, a dire notion with no indication which he thinks it will be.
There is a third choice, of course. Enjoyment. This is where Washington is. Happy to be here. Happier not to be there, there in the pile of failures, which is where they usually are, and have been since, well, here’s the perspective on that. The Cubs have been in the playoffs since Washington.
The Bulls are way beyond doing this for the fun of it, taking the quote championship season unquote as anything other than a test of their souls.
“We’re targets,” said Michael Jordan, “and we’ll just have to deal with that.”
Grumpy targets too. Worried? Probably not. In the best of times, as these should be, the Bulls avoid the frivolous, ignoring the press, the public and even one another.
There’s more camaraderie in a yogurt queue.
Tired of the tedium? That’s for certain. Civil questions bring snippy answers, if any.
“I don’t want to talk about Washington,” Jackson said. “They are a fine team. They made the playoffs. I congratulate them.”
This is not a bunker mentality as much as unconscious condescension. No one is dissing Washington. The Bulls were there once, but so long ago compassion is a frill.
This is the residue of being on top for so long. The fall is so much farther for the Bulls than anyone else.
“Defending is the hardest thing to do in sports,” Jordan said. “Only Scottie, Dennis and myself have defended anything.”
Only Jordan has defended every championship successfully. And the last time he did it, Jordan was so drained, he quit basketball.
The suggestions of vulnerability are there. The Bulls did lose three of their last four. Nearly a fourth of the season’s losses came in the last 10 games.
The Bulls did look weary and disinterested, did overuse Jordan and Scottie Pippen in the halfhearted drive for 70 wins.
Washington will not beat the Bulls, should not take a game. The Bulls have lost two first-round games this decade and have not lost a first-round series for 10 years.
But the Bulls are not likely to match Washington in animation or in eagerness. One is full of ambition and curiosity; the other is full of obligation and purpose.
The burden of the Bulls is to finish it right, this last patrol of the three most exalted figures in Chicago basketball history–Jordan, Pippen, Jackson.
This is not designed to be done laughing. Duty never is.
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No Toni Kukoc. No Dennis Rodman. Alibis to be used then. Necessities to be used now. Mysteries behind covered windows.
“Toni and Dennis looked good and played well enough,” Jackson reported after Wednesday’s practice.
One wears a leg brace and one wears a limp, although Kukoc’s hobble was because he had one shoe off. None of Jackson’s rhythm and sync there.
Doubt exists until doubt is dashed.
“My job is not to go into any situation worried,” Jordan said. “We have to go with what we have and we can win with what we have.”
Questions will not be answered until Friday night, in the game, by Rodman and Kukoc, by Jordan and Pippen.
“I can’t say what I expect,” said Jackson.
Except not to enjoy any of this.