Classless Chicago Fans Tarnish Bulls' Inaugural Ring of Honor Ceremony by Booing Jerry Krause
On Friday night, the Chicago Bulls held their inaugural Ring of Honor ceremony, inducting Artis Gilmore, Johnny "Red" Kerr, Dick Klein (the team's first owner and general manager), Bob "Butterbean" Love, Jerry Sloan, Chet "The Jet" Walker, Jerry Krause, Tex Winter, Phil Jackson, Toni Kukoc, Dennis Rodman, Scottie Pippen, and Michael Jordan. What should have been an event brimming with joyful nostalgia was tarnished when Chicago fans booed lustily after Krause's name was announced. Krause's widow Thelma, in attendance to accept the honor, cried at the disrespect, and was immediately comforted by other honorees and retired Bulls players.
There is a proper time and place to express displeasure regarding Krause's role in ending the Bulls' dynasty, but a ceremony honoring him for his significant contributions to building the Bulls' dynasty is not that time or place, particularly considering that Krause died several years ago and thus his widow felt the brunt of the fans' senseless hatred. I don't want to hear excuses about fans being too young to remember Krause, or fans booing without knowing why just because other fans booed. If other people jumped off of a cliff would you follow them, or would you assess the situation and draw conclusions? Of course, that question presumes that the people who booed have functioning brains, which is far from certain.
When your team honors the people who gave their blood, sweat, and tears to make your team great, you cheer. This is not complicated.
I have written about Krause many times. I am not his biggest fan, but I respect what he accomplished--and anyone who has any knowledge of basketball history respects what he accomplished. An objective, detached take on Krause's legacy is that he deserves a lot of credit for building the Bulls' dynasty, and a lot of blame for breaking up the Bulls' dynasty, as I explained in my obituary for Krause:
In 1998, I was furious at Krause for destroying something so beautifully artistic and so competitively fierce.
Nearly 20 years later, I am still puzzled and saddened by what Krause
did but I also appreciate what he accomplished--not just with the Bulls
but over the span of his life. Those who knew him well say that he was a
loyal friend with a good heart. Ultimately, that is how he should be
remembered--and, despite his gruff demeanor at times and despite his
mistake in breaking up the Bulls, there is no doubt that Krause belongs
in the Basketball Hall of Fame. It is a shame that if he ever is
inducted he will not be around to enjoy that most deserved honor.
After Krause was inducted posthumously in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017, I assessed his legacy:
I was as baffled and upset as anyone by Krause's haste and glee to
break up the Bulls so that he could try to build another championship
team from scratch but Krause deserves a lot of credit for hiring Phil
Jackson as coach and for acquiring key players Scottie Pippen, Horace
Grant, B.J. Armstrong, Bill Cartwright, Toni Kukoc, Ron Harper and
Dennis Rodman. An NBA executive's job is to win games and championships;
by that standard, Krause is one of the most accomplished executives in
pro basketball history.
"The Last Dance" told the story of the Chicago Bulls' dynasty from Michael Jordan's perspective, and to a large extent made Krause a villain for a generation of fans too young to remember the 1990s. Krause resigned from the Bulls in 2003 after his post-dynasty plan failed woefully, but it should never be diminished or forgotten that Krause's Chicago teams won six NBA titles (1991-93, 1996-98). Jordan did not win a playoff series as a player before Krause arrived in Chicago, and Jordan did not win a playoff series in his two years playing for the Washington Wizards; in 18 years as an owner/executive, Jordan's teams only made the playoffs three times, and did not win a single series. Jordan's 2011-12 Hornets went 7-59, setting the NBA record for worst single season winning percentage. Obviously, being a successful NBA executive is not quite as easy as Jordan thought when he mocked Krause during the Bulls' glory years. Krause's critics say that anyone could have built a championship team around Jordan, but Jordan himself proved for nearly two decades that he was neither capable of finding a great player nor capable of even putting together a team that consistently qualified for the playoffs.
The Bulls' classless fans should be ashamed of booing Krause and tarnishing what should have been a great moment.
Labels: Artis Gilmore, Bob Love, Chet Walker, Chicago Bulls, Dennis Rodman, Dick Klein, Jerry Krause, Jerry Sloan, Johnny "Red" Kerr, Michael Jordan, Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen, Tex Winter, Toni Kukoc
posted by David Friedman @ 11:17 PM
Reflections on the Passing of Tex Winter
Legendary basketball coach Tex Winter passed away yesterday at the age of 96. Winter played basketball at USC, where his Coach Sam Barry first developed what is now known as the Triangle Offense--but Winter refined and expanded that concept when he became a coach. Winter enjoyed an outstanding career as a collegiate head coach--most notably at Kansas State, a program that he twice led to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament--and he was inducted in the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.
Winter's NBA coaching career began with a brief stint as Houston's head coach in the early 1970s but Elvin Hayes and company did not respond well to the Triangle. However, earlier in his career Winter had caught the eye of Jerry Krause, who vowed to hire Winter if he ever got the chance to do so.
That chance happened after Krause became the General Manager of the Chicago Bulls. Krause hired Winter to be an assistant coach under Doug Collins and the rest is history: Phil Jackson ascended to the head coaching position in 1989 and he promptly implemented the Triangle Offense under Winter's watchful eye. The Triangle Offense played a major role in Chicago's subsequent run of six championships during an eight year span in the 1990s and all of the key figures--including Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen--have said that they would not have won without Winter. Jackson brought Winter back to the bench when Jackson joined the L.A. Lakers and Winter was an assistant coach for four of the Lakers' next five championship teams (poor health forced Winter to retire prior to the Lakers winning the 2010 title).
Here is part of what I wrote about Winter after he was finally selected for induction into the
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame :
"Every star that I've ever had on a team--except Scottie Pippen,
basically--he had trouble with parts of their game," (Phil) Jackson said.
Pippen embraced Winter's intricate Triangle and mastered all of its
subtleties; when Michael Jordan took a hiatus from the NBA to play minor
league baseball, many people wrongly assumed that Pippen would try to
average 30 ppg and that the Bulls would be a mediocre team sans
Jordan--but Pippen knew his strengths and limitations, so instead of
trying to become a scoring champion he used his playmaking skills to
enhance his teammates' performances, helping B.J. Armstrong and Horace
Grant to each earn their first (and only) All-Star appearances as the
Bulls surprised observers by going 55-27 and pushing the New York Knicks
to seven games in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Winter's Triangle
provided a structure and framework not so much for Jordan, Pippen,
Shaquille O'Neal or Kobe Bryant but rather for their less talented
teammates...
Roland Lazenby was the Boswell to Winter's Johnson and Lazenby provided much insight for the general public regarding Winter's thought process. In 2007, Lazenby wrote an article that contained Winter's comparison of Kobe Bryant to Michael Jordan and I
quoted from that article in a 20 Second Timeout article:
Roland Lazenby, the fine editor of Lindy's Pro Basketball--for
which I have written several articles during the past two
years--recently posted an interview with Triangle Offense guru Tex
Winter on the subject of the similarities between Kobe Bryant and
Michael Jordan. You can read the complete interview here.
Winter concludes, "I tend to think how very much they're alike. They
both display tremendous reaction, quickness and jumping ability. Both
have a good shooting touch. Some people say Kobe is a better shooter,
but Michael really developed as a shooter as he went along. I don't know
if Kobe is a better shooter than Michael was at his best." He also
dismisses the idea that Bryant took bad shots during his recent scoring
binge: "We study the tapes. Actually, for the most part, he's not
forcing up a lot of bad shots. When he gets hot, he does take shots that
would be questionable for other players. But a lot of the shots he’s
taken go in. He'll take shots that not many other players are going to
be able to hit, and he hits them." These statements come from the person
who invented the Triangle Offense and helped Phil Jackson implement it
as Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen led the Chicago Bulls to six
titles; then, Jackson utilized the same Triangle Offense to win three
more titles in L.A. with Shaq and Kobe--and Winter says that Jordan and
Bryant are "very much alike." The one caveat that Winter offers is that
Jordan held his ground on the post better, while Bryant sometimes allows
himself to get pushed off of the block and toward the three point line
on offense.
Winter later
told Lazenby that he doubted that Jordan would have fit in well with Shaquille O'Neal, who of course won three championships with the Lakers while playing alongside Bryant. As noted above, Winter's analysis of Bryant's shot selection differed from the superficial and biased mainstream media portrayals of Bryant.
O'Neal often clashed with Winter--though O'Neal was among the many who praised Winter in the wake of the news of Winter's passing--but Bryant and Winter bonded from the start. During the 2005 NBA All-Star Weekend,
Bryant told me, "I love Tex. If it weren't for Tex, I wouldn't
look at the game or interpret the game the way that I do. The way that
he teaches the game is different than any other coach that I've ever
been around. He looks at the game in a different way. He actually teaches
momentums--how to build momentums and how to break momentums. He looks
at the
total concept of the game and then plays it like chess. It's amazing to
sit there and learn. When he teaches you something, you go out on the
court and you apply that knowledge and it actually works. You start
looking at him like he's Yoda. I'm telling you, it's just incredible."
After word of Winter's death was announced, Scottie Pippen tweeted, "Tex Winter was my biggest critic. He was also my biggest fan. A few words about the legendary coach who lived his 96 years as well as anyone could have..." Pippen later added, "Tex was tough on me early in my career. But he believed in me and gave
me the confidence I needed to make the triangle work. He'd say, 'I'm not
criticizing, I'm coaching'" and Pippen concluded, "Student of the game. Hall of Famer. 9 NBA championships as a coach. He
taught me how to become a better offensive player. How to be patient on
the floor. How to take criticism. How to win. Thank you, Tex. Rest In
Peace."
Labels: Chicago Bulls, Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers, Michael Jordan, Phil Jackson, Roland Lazenby, Scottie Pippen, Shaquille O'Neal, Tex Winter
posted by David Friedman @ 10:38 PM
2005 NBA All-Star Game Media Availability Session With Kobe Bryant: "The Truth Always Comes Out"
Many Kobe Bryant interview sessions get sidetracked by non-basketball issues. This is not one of them. During the 2005 NBA All-Star Weekend media availability periods, Kobe Bryant offered his thoughts on many basketball related subjects. This transcript was originally published on March 1, 2005 at HoopsHype.com but the link no longer works, so I have reprinted it in its entirety below.
In the game in Cleveland (Bryant's first game back on February 13, 2005 after missing 14 games because of a severely sprained ankle) you were still getting your legs under you in terms of jumping and finishing. How much better did you feel in
the game in Utah (February 15, 2005) when you went out and got 40 points?
Kobe Bryant: Oh, man, it was night and day. The game in Cleveland, that was only the second time that I had played in like a month. So I missed a lot of easy shots, a lot of layups. Defensively I had to get my rhythm.
Against Utah my legs felt great. It felt like it just came back. We've
done such a good job throughout the injury-training, lifting weights,
doing rehab.
What kind of exercises are you doing?
KB: It's a myriad of things. We have a great staff. Obviously, we have (trainer) Gary Vitti, who treats the injury; we have (physiotherapist) Alex McKechnie, who does a lot of physical rehabilitation work; we have Joe Carbone, our strength coach. Between the three of them--and (director of athletic performance) Chip Schaefer-- we have been able to devise a scheme for me to get back to full throttle.
Do you still have to ice the ankle and treat it post game more than you did before the injury?
KB:
Yes. I pack it in ice and continue to keep it moving so it doesn't
stiffen up. So, for example, when I'm out of the game, you'll see me
constantly moving it around so it stays loose.
Do you do the exercise in which you spell out the letters of the alphabet with that foot?
KB: (eyes widen a bit in recognition) Yes. That's what I do. When I sit on the bench, that's what I do. Spell out the alphabet.
That's a great exercise for sprained ankles.
KB: Yeah. I'm glad I know my ABCs. (laughs)
What's your favorite dunk from the 1976 Slam Dunk Contest?
KB: Wow. There are so many of them. The one that gets replayed over and over is obviously Julius' dunk from the free throw line. I think that is the most memorable one just because it revolutionized the dunk contest. It was just the momentum of it, of who Dr. J was and who he became, that now
when you go back in time and you see that free throw line dunk it makes
it that much grander.
He milked the drama of it, because he took those long strides to the other side of the court before the dunk.
KB: He worked the crowd there. He was an actor. He built up the drama and then took off, which just culminated it.
Have you seen Thompson's 360 from the left baseline?
KB: Oh, of course. Of course.
What do you think of that?
KB: I think it was sick.
What was the best advice that you received when you made the jump from high school to the NBA?
KB: KG just told me to have fun. Just enjoy yourself. People are going to be
pulling at you from all sides and placing expectations on you. Just
block that out. Go out there and have fun.
How have you embraced the challenge of a new era in Los Angeles and the burden that has been put on your shoulders?
KB:
I think that we have embraced it and we look forward to this challenge.
At first it took a little while for the people of Los Angeles to get
used to it because they are used to being on top for so long. But there
is something about starting down at the bottom again and working your
way back to the top that is really appealing to people. You put on your
hard hat and go to work. I think that it is refreshing.
Is it as much of a challenge to fight for the final playoff spot as it was to fight for the championship?
KB:
The challenges are in essence the same. Once you get to the top, the
hard work becomes staying on top. But you have to work to get there.
Sometimes it is really, really tough to get over that hump. You saw Minnesota last year was able to get over that hump and this year it is a struggle for them. It is a work in progress. You always have to be on edge. You
always have to take every practice, every game, like it is your last.
It's tough. If we weren't so optimistic, we'd think that the second half of
the season is going to be the absolute pits. But we look forward to this
challenge. When your back is against the wall, you have no other option
but to come out swinging. We have to approach every practice in an
extremely detailed and extremely methodical manner.
Your team is increasingly using a little more of the triangle all the time.
How do you feel about the constitution of this team to run the triangle?
KB: We're
doing a good job. It's tough because we're trying to learn it on the
fly. You know how hard it is to learn it when you have training camp.
We're doing a good job, though. Got a call from Tex (Winter) and he told us that we're doing well. That's the biggest compliment in the world, when you get a compliment from Tex. Tex is such a great basketball mind.
When he gives you a compliment it really warms up your heart.
Do you ever call him?
KB:
He came down early in the season and then he came again recently, maybe
it was two and a half weeks ago. We exchanged numbers. I've called him
several times since then. I love Tex. If it weren't for Tex, I wouldn't
look at the game or interpret the game the way that I do. The way that
he teaches the game is different than any other coach that I've ever
been around.
What specifically is different about it?
KB:
He looks at the game in a different way. He actually teaches momentums--how to build momentums and how to break momentums. He looks at the
total concept of the game and then plays it like chess. It's amazing to
sit there and learn. When he teaches you something, you go out on the
court and you apply that knowledge and it actually works. You start
looking at him like he's Yoda.
A Jedi master.
KB: I'm telling you, it's just incredible.
Tex
has always had testy exchanges with the people he's coached. When you
had your testy exchanges with him people didn't quite understand that.
Why is that?
KB:
I don't know. It doesn't really matter what they think. It's obvious to
see that when we had those exchanges, people just really blew it out of
proportion. If it were true (that there is friction), Tex and I would
not be as close as we are today
So the press somehow got that distorted?
KB:
Yeah, it usually shakes out that way. The truth always comes out, so I
don't worry about it. I don't think about it. It's going to shake out.
People who talk about me in a negative manner don't know me. They don't
know me. If they had a chance to be around me and kick it with me and
get to know me, then they can judge. I think that will come out as years
go by. People will see how I truly am and what I'm truly about and
everything will be all right.
Labels: 2005 NBA All-Star Weekend, Julius Erving, Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers, Tex Winter
posted by David Friedman @ 3:11 AM
Basketball Hall of Fame Finally Welcomes Artis Gilmore and Tex Winter
Jerry Colangelo, the Chairman of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Board, has fulfilled his promise to make the induction process more fair, more inclusive and more representative of the sport's entire history. Last year, the Hall of Fame
welcomed 10 new members--the largest class since the Hall's third year of existence (1961)--and corrected some longstanding injustices by finally opening its doors to Dennis Johnson and Gus Johnson; the
2011 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class also numbers 10 and belatedly honors two of the biggest snubs in the organization's history: Artis Gilmore and Tex Winter.
When I
spoke with Colangelo during the 2010 All-Star Weekend, he vowed to take measures to grant proper recognition to people who have "slipped through the cracks" and the past two Hall of Fame classes represent a major positive step in that direction. I specifically asked Colangelo about creating an ABA committee and though he was initially noncommittal that is in fact exactly what ultimately happened and as a result
Artis Gilmore--easily the greatest eligible player who was not a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame--has finally received an honor that he should have been granted many, many years ago.
I have been one of the most outspoken advocates declaring that
ABA Numbers Should Also Count and that great players like Artis Gilmore, Roger Brown and Mel Daniels--who (along with Indiana Coach Bobby "Slick" Leonard)--are among
The ABA's Unsung Heroes--deserve to be members of the Basketball Hall of Fame. Gilmore excelled in college, the ABA and the NBA and it will always be a mystery why the Basketball Hall of Fame spent nearly two decades ignoring his accomplishments. Gilmore is one of only five Division I players who posted career averages of at least 20 ppg and at least 20 rpg and he led Jacksonville to the 1970 NCAA Championship Game, where the Dolphins lost to one of UCLA's dynasty teams (the Bruins were in the midst of a run that included seven straight NCAA titles). Gilmore won both the 1971-72 ABA Rookie of the Year and regular season MVP awards (beating out--among others--
Pantheon member Julius Erving); the only other players who have pulled off the RoY/MVP double are Wilt Chamberlain (1960, NBA), Wes Unseld (1969, NBA) and Spencer Haywood (1970, ABA). Gilmore led the Kentucky Colonels to the 1975 ABA Championship before enjoying a long, very productive NBA career spent mainly with the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs.
Gilmore ranks second in ABA/NBA career field goal percentage (.5819, just behind Shaquille O'Neal's .5823), fourth in ABA/NBA career blocked shots* (3178, surpassed only by Hakeem Olajuwon, Dikembe Mutombo and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and fifth in ABA/NBA career total rebounds (16,330, trailing only Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Moses Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar); Gilmore is actually the NBA's all-time field goal percentage leader (.599) but he shot a lower percentage during his ABA career.
Tex Winter, a brilliant basketball strategist and a purist who did not shy away from bluntly criticizing some of the sport's greatest players, enjoyed a very successful career as a collegiate head coach before serving as an NBA assistant coach under Phil Jackson. Winter's Triangle Offense has been employed by all of Jackson's NBA teams as Jackson won a record 11 titles, six with the Chicago Bulls and five with the L. A. Lakers. Jackson has long campaigned for Winter to be elected by the Basketball Hall of Fame and after receiving word that Winter had finally been voted in Jackson made an interesting observation about Winter: "Every star that I've ever had on a team--except
Scottie Pippen, basically--he had trouble with parts of their game," Jackson said. Pippen embraced Winter's intricate Triangle and mastered all of its subtleties; when Michael Jordan took a hiatus from the NBA to play minor league baseball, many people wrongly assumed that Pippen would try to average 30 ppg and that the Bulls would be a mediocre team sans Jordan--but Pippen knew his strengths and limitations, so instead of trying to become a scoring champion he used his playmaking skills to enhance his teammates' performances, helping B.J. Armstrong and Horace Grant to each earn their first (and only) All-Star appearances as the Bulls surprised observers by going 55-27 and pushing the New York Knicks to seven games in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Winter's Triangle provided a structure and framework not so much for Jordan, Pippen, Shaquille O'Neal or Kobe Bryant but rather for their less talented teammates (part of the reason that the Miami Heat have struggled at times this season--particularly in terms of late game execution--is that the Heat have yet to establish such a structure and/or their star players are reluctant to operate within such a structure, preferring to pound holes in the court with their dribbling).
It is also refreshing that the Hall of Fame voters did not allow any potential personal biases regarding Dennis Rodman's off court antics to prevent his much deserved election; Rodman is one of the greatest rebounders in pro basketball history and the greatest defensive power forward spanning the period between Kevin McHale's peak years in the mid to late 1980s and the emergence of Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett in the late 1990s/early 2000s. Rodman played a crucial role on five championship teams (1989-90 Detroit, 1996-98 Chicago) and won a record seven straight rebounding titles (1992-98), second only to Chamberlain's 11 total rebounding titles (Chamberlain had two four year streaks, plus a three year streak). Rodman was a natural small forward who spent most of his career battling against power forwards and even centers; he used intelligence, leverage, tenacity and superior conditioning to outduel opponents who were much bigger and stronger: I once
described Rodman as "a Phi Beta Kappa student of basketball who seemingly wants everyone to believe that he is the class clown."
The other members of the 2011 Basketball Hall of Fame class are Teresa Edwards, Herb Magee, Chris Mullin, Arvydas Sabonis, Tom "Satch" Sanders, Reece Tatum and Tara VanDerveer--a group that represents the NBA game, the international game, the college game, the sport's early pioneers and the women's game.
------
* Blocked shots were not tracked when Chamberlain and Russell played, otherwise those two would undoubtedly rank first and second in that category.
Labels: Artis Gilmore, Dennis Rodman, Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen, Tex Winter
posted by David Friedman @ 5:50 PM
Dream Team, Top 50 Players Malone and Pippen Among 19 Hall of Fame Finalists
The 19 Finalists for the Basketball Hall of Fame's Class of 2010 include three members of the fabled 1992 Dream Team, plus that team collectively (only six teams have been inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame); Karl Malone and Scottie Pippen--who were both selected to the
NBA's 50 Greatest Players List--join fellow Dream Teamer Chris Mullin in a star-studded group that also features NBA players Richie Guerin, Gus Johnson (who had many
legendary battles with Hall of Famer Dave DeBusschere),
Dennis Johnson, Bernard King and Jamaal Wilkes. The other Finalists are WNBA player Cynthia Cooper, women's coach Harley Redin, the All-American Red Heads (a women's team founded in 1936), international coach Vladimir Kondrashin (best known for leading the Soviet team that controversially beat Team USA in the 1972 Olympic Gold Medal game), Brazilian player Maciel "Ubiratan" Pereira, Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss, high school coach Robert Hurley, Sr., NBA coach Don Nelson, Triangle Offense innovator Tex Winter (who also was the 1958 NCAA Coach of the Year, becoming the youngest person to win that honor) and the 1960 U.S. Olympic Team, which is arguably the greatest amateur squad ever assembled. None of the Finalists came to the press conference, a departure from years past but perhaps not surprising considering the inclement weather and also the fact that some of the honorees who have previously been Finalists may not relish having to go through the process again only to possibly face disappointment.
After the 19 Finalists were announced by NBA TV's Marc Fein, Magic Johnson (Hall of Fame Class of 2002 and a member of the Dream Team) made some brief remarks. Johnson said that the passing of
Chuck Daly last year makes it a "bittersweet moment" for the Dream Team to be a Hall of Fame Finalist but Johnson is sure that Daly is smiling in heaven. Johnson contended that some people initially "underestimated" the Dream Team because they thought that several of the players would feud over shot attempts or minutes. Johnson insisted that this was never an issue because the players had only one goal: dominate the opposition. He said that they felt like if they did not have at least a 30 point halftime lead in each game then they were not doing their job. Johnson also reminded everyone that Charles Barkley was the "best player" on that team (Barkley led the Dream Team in scoring), while Michael Jordan and Larry Bird provided great leadership. Johnson said that he still savors the relationships and bonds that he and other players formed off of the court during that time, noting that Bird and Patrick Ewing went everywhere together and that he (Johnson) played countless games of cards with Jordan, someone who he previously did not know that well.
Johnson said that it was a "blessing and honor" to represent the United States in international play, that he was very pleased to see last year's Team USA earn respect not just for the United States but for the game of basketball itself by playing the right way and that he hopes that all future members of Team USA maintain that kind of mindset.
Johnson answered questions for a large media throng well after the press conference ended, much like
Julius Erving did last year. He said that while he was playing for the Dream Team he and the other members of the team did not really think about the historical ramifications of what they were doing, reiterating his earlier comment about dominating the opposition: "We didn't really talk about history. What we talked about was dominating. Because we dominated it became historic. You can't really talk about it. You have to be about it. We were about showing the world that this team was great and that this collection of All-Stars would come out and play together and would blow out every team in the world--and we did that, but we did it with style and class and so I think that is why the world enjoyed this team. We just kept coming at them but we did it with style and class; we never talked trash. We just played basketball at a high level."
Even though
Scottie Pippen has received a lot of accolades, I have contended for many years that he is
overlooked and underrated. I asked Johnson, "What sticks out in your mind about playing against Scottie Pippen and, particularly, what are your memories of the 1991 NBA Finals when he matched up against you defensively?" Johnson answered, "Playing against Scottie was tough because he was fast, quick, long and tough-minded. He was a guy who didn't let you get to the spot you wanted to get to. He always put pressure on you. He was pressuring me full court; from baseline to baseline he had an advantage with his quickness and his length. So, I give him a lot of credit--and he did that against everybody. That is the one thing I would say about Scottie: he was probably the most versatile player to ever play. He could play guard, he could play forward, he could defend any of those type of guys--and he did it well."
I asked Johnson if Pippen is underrated and before I could even get the words completely out of my mouth, Johnson flashed his trademark megawatt smile and declared, "Oh, of course, of course. Of course he's underrated. When you have a super, super, super star like Michael (Jordan) that overshadows you, you are going to be underrated." Then Johnson chuckled, looked right at me and concluded, "But us basketball players, we know how great Scottie Pippen was and how great he played every single night."
When Kobe Bryant was a young player he faced an older Pippen who had already been through multiple surgeries on his back and feet. People constantly talk about Jordan versus Bryant but I always thought that Bryant had a certain glint in his eye and bounce to his step when he played against Pippen, as if Bryant were really trying to prove something and that he considered the matchup to be a personal challenge or measuring stick. I asked Bryant about those matchups with Pippen and Bryant acknowledged that my perceptions of how he viewed those battles were quite correct: "Had to be (a personal challenge); I had to have another bounce in my step, because if not there was no way that I was going to get around him. He was one of those guys who was ultra-competitive, as Michael was, and he wanted to win, would do everything to win. So when you played against him you had to make sure that you were on your 'A' game."
Labels: 1992 Dream Team, Chris Mullin, Gus Johnson, Karl Malone, Magic Johnson, Scottie Pippen, Tex Winter
posted by David Friedman @ 4:30 PM
Michael Jordan and Tex Winter Discuss the MJ-Kobe Comparisons
Lindy's Pro Basketball 2008-09 is on the market now. If it is not sold in a bookstore near you, you can order a copy online--choosing from among nine different regional covers--at
the Lindy's website.
For this year's edition, I wrote the Sacramento Kings preview for the third year in a row, the Phoenix Suns preview for the second year in a row and I wrote the Cleveland Cavaliers preview for the first time, ending my run of writing three straight previews about the Denver Nuggets. For the sidebar stories that accompany each preview, I wrote about Ron Artest, Shaquille O'Neal and the Cavaliers' underrated defense respectively.
Editor Roland Lazenby contributed a very interesting story about Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant titled, "In Michael's Image." Lazenby has long had a very close working relationship with Tex Winter, the inventor of the Triangle Offense who coached both Jordan (with the Chicago Bulls) and Bryant (with the Lakers, for whom Winter is still a consultant). Lazenby's excellent article is well worth reading. Here are a few bullet points:
1) Jerry West, the man who originally drafted Bryant, believes that Bryant's greatness is not appreciated or understood by the general public: "The people who write and say things, they know nothing about him," West said during the 2008 NBA Finals, according to Lazenby.
2) Lazenby indicated that the Jordan-Bryant comparisons do not bother Jordan as much as they bother others: "Frankly, Jordan doesn't see what all the big fuss is about. After all, human behavior is mimetic. That's what humans do. They copy and ape another." Jordan acknowledged that Bryant has patterned aspects of his game after Jordan's but does not see this as a bad thing at all: "But how many people lighted the path for me? That's the evolution of basketball. There's no way I could have played the way I played if I didn't watch David Thompson and guys prior to me. There's no way Kobe could have played the way he's played without watching me play. So, you know, that's the evolution of basketball. You cannot change that."
3) Lazenby added, "In conversation, it becomes quickly obvious that Jordan respects Bryant, without even a hint of condescension. After all, Jordan respects anyone who does the work, who has the mental toughness, to climb the heights. Bryant's done the work and displayed the toughness, he says."
4) Winter has repeatedly emphasized that Scottie Pippen's role in the success of the Bulls cannot be overestimated; on the flip side, Winter and West both criticized the lack of mental toughness of Bryant's current supporting cast, a weakness that became glaringly apparent during the 2008 NBA Finals. "The Lakers just are not mentally tough," West said point blank, while Winter agreed and added, "We had some tough guys in Chicago, guys like John Paxson and Steve Kerr who could hit those open shots."
In a sidebar piece, Lazenby pointed out that several years ago the Lakers coaching staff--which of course contained several people who also coached Jordan in Chicago--"concluded Bryant and Jordan were much alike, almost eerie, in fact, when it came to the alpha male qualities of their competitive natures. Kobe and Michael were ruthless when it came to winning, everyone agreed. And their skills were similar. Except Michael's hands were larger. The major difference between the two came with college experience. Jordan had played in a basketball system for Dean Smith at North Carolina, thus he was better prepared to play within a team concept."
In a statement that may surprise a lot of people, Winter told Lazenby that he doubted that Jordan would have been a good fit playing alongside Shaquille O'Neal. It will probably surprise Bryant's critics even more to learn that Winter said that his critical examination of game tape shows that Bryant's shot selection is quite good: "Actually, for the most part, he's not forcing up a lot of bad shots. When he gets hot, he does take shots that would be questionable for other players. But a lot of the shots he's taken go in." After all, while some aspects of shot selection are universal--running the shot clock down at the end of the quarter to get the last shot and deny the other team a scoring opportunity--other aspects of shot selection depend on the skill set of the player who is taking the shot (and the skill sets of the players who he would be passing to if he did not shoot).
Winter concluded, "I tend to think how very much they're alike. They both display tremendous reaction, quickness and jumping ability. Both have a good shooting touch. Some people say Kobe is a better shooter but Michael really developed as a shooter as he went along. I don't know if Kobe is a better shooter than Michael was at his best."
Labels: Cleveland Cavaliers, Jerry West, Kobe Bryant, Lindy's Pro Basketball, Michael Jordan, Phoenix Suns, Roland Lazenby, Sacramento Kings, Tex Winter
posted by David Friedman @ 4:21 AM
