Here’s what’s known about what the Bulls’ schedule will look like.
The team will open on the road Feb. 5 and then perhaps have the presentation of the championship rings at home Feb. 9.
The NBA’s proposed 50-game schedule will begin Feb. 5, the league announced Thursday, with the emphasis on using the arena dates teams already have set aside.
“That means you can probably count on going to the game you have a ticket for, but it probably will be a different opponent,” deputy commissioner Russ Granik said.
The United Center has an ice show through Feb. 7, with the next Bulls home game set for Feb. 9. The next weekend was to be All-Star weekend, so it’s possible a game could be squeezed in then.
The Bulls’ initial slate had 37 games left as of Feb. 5 so, for the revised 14-week season, they will have to add about a game a week to a schedule that had three and four-game weeks.
What will Michael Jordan do? It’s asked of everyone, it seems, and Commissioner David Stern addressed it Thursday at his news conference.
“One of these days,” Stern said, “(He’s) going to retire. It is sad, but inevitable. Whether it’s this year or next or in 10 years. The fact of the matter is the reason he is acknowledged to be the greatest player in the world, if not in history, is he gets the opportunity to demonstrate that day in and day out over the rest of the best players in the world. That’s how you establish yourself. The rest of those players in the world are itching to get the opportunity to get onto that stage and demonstrate to you they, by virtue of their talents, are prepared to carry on and take this league to the heights we think it’s going to reach.”
That, perhaps, was Stern’s way of saying no player is ever bigger than any league, even Jordan, so quit asking.
On the back burner: Jordan doesn’t just have the Bulls and their fans in limbo. He also has the rest of the team’s free agents holding their breath.
Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said if Jordan doesn’t return, it will signal the end of the Bulls as we know them. Scottie Pippen likely will be gone too. Jordan and Pippen obviously are priorities as the front office scrambles to assemble a squad for what’s left of the season.
What about the rest of the team’s 10 free agents?
Chicago-based agent Mark Bartelstein, who represents free agents Steve Kerr and Jud Buechler, is holding out hope that Bulls General Manager Jerry Krause will want to bring back as many of the defending champions as possible, making Tim Floyd’s first season as head coach an easier transition from Phil Jackson’s tenure.
“Clearly there’s a domino effect, so we understand that Steve and Jud are not the priorities,” Bartelstein said. “But they are integral pieces to a winning team. By the same token, we have to talk to every other team in the league.”
Bartelstein said there is interest in Kerr, who is the NBA’s all-time three-point percentage leader (47 percent), and Buechler, now a proven bench player on three championship teams.
“I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback just in the last 24 hours,” Bartelstein said. “My feeling (is) that the Bulls are going to do everything they can to be loyal to Steve and Jud.”
Pippen’s predicament: Though Pippen’s future with the Bulls could hinge on Jordan’s future, Pippen’s agent wasn’t commenting about Pippen’s situation Thursday.
A spokesman for Jimmy Sexton, who represents Pippen, said Sexton will review the new collective-bargaining agreement before he discusses Pippen’s future. Under terms of the agreement, no team–including the Bulls–can offer Pippen more than $14 million a year. And the Bulls are likely the only team that will come up with that amount.
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Sexton has a lot to think about. If Jordan returns, does Pippen sign for one year? Pippen, who is almost fully recovered from back surgery, prefers a three-year deal. The Phoenix Suns and Houston Rockets are the front-runners in the Pippen derby.