One of the best teams ever, the Dallas Mavericks? They have a shot at 70 wins, after all, and they’ve already set an all-time record for winning streaks of at least a dozen games in one season with three. With Erick Dampier and DeSagana Diop at center and Devin Harris, Jason Terry and, occasionally, Devean George starting in the backcourt? I don’t think so. So maybe Dirk Nowitzki should be MVP and coach Avery Johnson was no fluke.
This got me thinking some when Scottie Pippen recently began talking about a comeback. Pippen was surrounded by reporters at the All-Star Game when someone wondered which was his favorite season. Pippen played on what many say was the greatest team, the 72-win 1995-96 Bulls, was on six championship teams, the Dream Team and enjoyed a heck of a run in Portland.
“The 1990-91 team,” Pippen said. “The first one.”
It’s my favorite as well. I think it’s the best, but that’s a matter of opinion. That was the one that was the most fun, the only one without expectations or demands, truly without real pressure. After that the Bulls had to live up to their past and play against history. That season it was mostly innocence and hope. But they may have been the best, when Pippen, Michael Jordan and Horace Grant were young and athletic and could fill the court with their insouciance and desire.
They overwhelmed the two-time defending champion Pistons in a sweep. They knocked out the legendary Lakers and Magic Johnson after one hiccup, the first game on a prayer of a three-pointer from Sam Perkins. It’s as dominant as they ever truly were, the true John Bach Dobermans on defense and uninhibited on offense.
It was when “My supporting cast” was born, Jordan complimenting his team after it opened the fourth quarter of Game 1 of the conference finals without him (he was taking his usual rest) and broke open a close game to pull away from the Pistons. It became part of the stars’ lexicon.
It also was when Jordan engaged in the boldest trash talk ever, on the eve of Game 4 against the Pistons, sitting just off the court after practice and telling reporters the Pistons were undeserving champions for the way they played. It’s the untold story of what inspired the Pistons’ infamous walkoff at the end of Game 4.
Then the Bulls thwarted and frustrated Johnson and the Lakers with young legs and long arms like no one ever had before.
After that would come White House boycotts and gambling, inside looks in books (yes, I had one, “The Jordan Rules”), retirements, comebacks, wedding dresses and red hair, tragedy and eventual triumph. By the end, with Jordan waving goodbye in Salt Lake City, it was obligation more than enthusiasm.
But 1990-91 was the one I’ll never forget, so I was thinking about just what they all have been up to:
Michael Jordan
We know–sort of. After a flirtation on the playing floor and in the executive office with the Washington Wizards, he’s now something of basketball chief in absentia for the Charlotte Bobcats. We’ve seen Jordan at his sons’ basketball games, and they seem to be two marvelous, well-adjusted kids for having grown up the sons of one of the world’s most famous people. Once the center of the Bulls’ universe, Jordan still seems on the move, spotted regularly out of the media eye but with celebrities, gambling and on an adventure.
Scottie Pippen
He never truly got over handing off the baton to let Jordan cross the finish line. His talk of a comeback this season likely has something to do with that, getting that seventh ring somewhere he can play a role. Pippen worked a year for ESPN and did reasonably well but was shuffled out as they still can’t figure out how to compete with TNT. (Two words: Charles Barkley.) Pippen has homes in Chicago and Ft. Lauderdale and has become a competent golfer while fighting off some bad investments that have kept him in legal news.
Horace Grant
Maybe the most grounded of the Big One And Other Two. After playing for the Magic, SuperSonics and Lakers and winning another championship, he’s living quietly in northern California. He’s invested well and is building a home near the Pacific. He is remarried and has a 2-year-old who he says is “Daddy’s girl.” He recently returned from another week at Disneyland and volunteers as a youth coach. “Things are great, just relaxing,” Grant says. “I couldn’t be happier.”
John Paxson
He’s the longest-serving Bull, these days wearing his 20-year pin from the organization. After his playing career ended in 1994, he was an assistant for Phil Jackson and a radio announcer for the team before replacing Jerry Krause as general manager.
Bill Cartwright
Paxson had to fire him as coach and the two haven’t spoken much since. Cartwright is an assistant with the New Jersey Nets and hopes to get another head coaching opportunity. But he’s involved in numerous business ventures, including partnerships in several car dealerships, a trendy North Shore restaurant and a new startup firm for corporate consulting.
B.J. Armstrong
After being left unprotected by the Bulls in the 1995 expansion draft, he played for the Warriors, Hornets and Magic and finished with the Bulls in 2000. He worked in the Bulls’ front office before a falling-out when Paxson became general manager. But he and Paxson met last summer and worked out their differences and have become reasonably close. Armstrong has developed a player advisory role in conjunction with agent Arn Tellem and has homes in Chicago and Los Angeles. “Things are going great,” he says.
Scott Williams
He was one of many to benefit from making a few baskets on national TV in the Finals. Like Luc Longley, Jud Buechler, Jason Caffey and Steve Kerr, he got a big contract after leaving the Bulls, fighting through injuries with the 76ers, Bucks, Nuggets, Suns, Mavericks and Cavaliers. He settled in Phoenix and broadcasts road games for the Cavs.
Cliff Levingston
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He had the best part of his career with the exciting Dominique Wilkins-led Atlanta Hawks teams of the 1980s before coming to the Bulls and played for one season in Denver after leaving the Bulls in 1992. A flashy, on-the-town kind of guy, Levingston pursed his dream to open a nightclub, but it didn’t go well. “It was a lot of work and it’s hard to watch the money when you are not there,” said Levingston, who also dabbled in the movie business. Levingston is now coach of the Gary Steelheads of the USBL. He said 1990-91 “was a magic season. Everything at first didn’t look good and then all of a sudden the tumblers clicked and it was like, `Wow.'”
Dennis Hopson
A solid scorer with the Nets, he struggled with the Bulls and played one more season with the Kings before going overseas. He’s back in Columbus, Ohio, where he finished his degree in social work last year. He is involved in an auto dealership and coached with Stacey King in the CBA in Sioux Falls, S.D., and Rockford and in the ABA in Columbus. He also has scouted for the 76ers and has interviewed for a college coaching position. “I love working with kids and helping them get somewhere,” he says. “That’s been my greatest reward.”
Stacey King
The former No. 6 overall pick in the 1989 draft bounced around to Minnesota, Miami, Boston and Dallas after leaving the Bulls in the Longley deal in 1994. He coached in the CBA and has become a fixture of the Bulls’ TV broadcast team.
Will Perdue
He turned in an impressive 13-year career after being doubted as a Bulls’ draft pick. He was traded for Dennis Rodman in 1995 and won a championship with the Spurs before returning to the Bulls and finishing with the Trail Blazers. He lives in Louisville but has become active in golf and retains a membership at a north suburban club. He had a talk radio show in Louisville and now juggles a schedule calling NBA games on ESPN Radio and road games for the Orlando Magic. “All those interviews were good practice,” Perdue says.
Craig Hodges
The sharpshooter moved back to Long Beach, where he attended college and played for Tex Winter. He’d been with the Clippers, Bucks and Suns before coming to the Bulls and gaining fame in the All-Star three-point shooting contests. He is a part-time shooting coach for the Lakers, generally still outshooting the team’s guards at practice. “When the team goes on the road, I head for the golf course,” says Hodges, whose remarkable hand-eye coordination helped him succeed at golf quickly.
Phil Jackson
Perhaps most regularly celebrated as one of the all-time greatest coaches and now with the Lakers, with whom he won three more titles. He’s a lock for the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, dates the Playboy-featured owner’s daughter and plays with his grandchildren at his beachfront home.
Jerry Krause
The controversial general manager is back to his roots as a baseball scout for the New York Mets. He has reconciled with Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and the two have shared lunch on occasion in Phoenix. Many of Krause’s most criticized moves, like the drafting of Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler, have begun to show results and Krause’s true expertise as an evaluator of talent.
John Bach
He ended his coaching career, spanning more than 50 years, after last season with the Bulls as one of the great defensive minds of the century. He has become an accomplished artist working with water colors and remains in remarkable physical condition with a daily workout routine into his 80s. He also does occasional TV work.
Tex Winter
The fellow octogenarian is a part-time assistant on Jackson’s Lakers staff. He turned 85 last week but works regularly with the team and is a highly regarded commentator and analyst of the game.
Jim Cleamons
After a brief stint as the Dallas Mavericks’ head coach before he was replaced by Don Nelson, he was an assistant with the Hornets and now is back with Jackson in Los Angeles.
Jim Stack
Krause’s assistant general manager spent time on the bench in Indiana with Isiah Thomas and now is assistant general manager of the Timberwolves.
Clarence Gaines
The main scout for the team, he moved near Pasadena and is in private business.
Chip Schaefer
He was the trainer for Jackson in Chicago and has stayed on with Jackson with the Lakers as a strength coach and physical therapist.
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