The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 627 General
On the last day of January, in the evening, there was an hour and a half before the Chicago Bulls vs. San Antonio Spurs game was scheduled to begin.

Michael Jordan sat in the cramped visiting team's locker room, looking somewhat dejected.

He was wearing headphones connected to the latest Sony CD player, and he looked like he was sleeping, though it was hard to say because he was wearing dark sunglasses.

Normally at this time, Jordan would be on the court doing shooting warm-up drills, instead of sitting in the locker room listening to music and pretending to sleep like he is now.

"What's wrong with the general?" Hodges asked Horace Grant, the two of them observing Jordan from a distance. "He's been sulking all day."

"Who knows? Maybe something went wrong at home, or maybe he got humiliated by Forrest Gump again. In the All-Star voting, Forrest Gump got more votes than him," Grant said.

"It's wrong for kids to gossip, we're not the women's basketball team," Buck Williams, who was changing clothes nearby, said.

When Williams joined the Bulls, he set a great example for the young players. He was experienced, played unselfishly, and unlike Bill Cartwright, Jordan admired him.

Horace Grant learned a lot from Williams, but that doesn't change their rivalry.

Because of Williams' arrival, Grant's playing time has been drastically reduced, and Grant believes that he is no worse than Williams.

He is younger, faster, and taller than Williams. He has an advantage in speed and stamina, but lacks experience, which can be made up for through games and training.

Grant worked harder than ever before, but his playing time decreased, and Phil Jackson and Jordan placed more trust in the veteran.

Jordan's apparent unhappiness also stemmed from the issue of veteran players: Jordan believed the team had room for further improvement and hoped the management could sign Walter Davis.

Jordan's idea was simple: he believed the team needed to bring in a scorer who could partially replace him when he was off the court in order to maintain the Bulls' offensive firepower.

In recent games, the Bulls have faced a problem: when Jordan is resting and the second unit comes on, they experience a scoring drought.

Especially in the fourth quarter, when Jordan was off the court at the start of the game, they were often caught up by their opponents, so when Jordan returned to the court, their great advantage had been completely lost, and he had to go all out to attack the basket again to win.

Besides Jordan, the Bulls didn't have another true perimeter ball-handling and isolation specialist, and Jordan believed that acquiring Davis would solve this problem well.

Jerry Krause, however, disagreed. He was wary of Walter Davis's drug and health issues, and Krause believed that the team had already made a good deal by acquiring Buck Williams in the summer, which added age and experience to the team. There was no reason to acquire a past-his-prime veteran.

Jordan thought the opposite. He felt that he had long wanted to get Buck, and now that Buck had arrived, it proved that he was right. So why not get Walter Davis as well?

Jordan had always admired Walter Davis, a senior at the University of North Carolina. Jordan played with Davis in the summer at school, and they faced off on the court in the 80s. He was eager to play with Davis.

Regarding Davis's drug and age issues, Jordan has always said: "The Trail Blazers would bring in Bill Walton and Gilmore for Forrest Gump, and draft Sabonis, while I never had a reliable backup, a good veteran! When we play together, everything will be fine. Weren't there plenty of drug addicts on the Bulls in the past?"

Jordan's words have some merit, but Krause doesn't think Jordan's judgment is correct. With his strong personality, he doesn't like being told by players to make trades or be drafted.

He has his own ideas. He believes that building a team is the manager's job, and the players should just focus on playing and not complain.

The relationship between the two has so deteriorated that they won't even greet each other when they pass by face. Jordan believes Krause should step down.

“I think I’ll try to put pressure on the boss to do something to Klaus. This isn’t over between us, and I’ll get that guy out of there.”

After the team returned from New Jersey at the end of January, Jordan made a statement saying that his eyes were cold and firm when he spoke, which was almost a declaration of war against Jerry Krause.

Very few players would declare war on management like this, and so openly, by sharing their thoughts with the media.

From this perspective, Jordan is not a politically astute person. If Forrest Gump wanted the management to step down, he would never have done it so openly.

He has a million ways to get rid of the general manager. Of course, Gan Guoyang is better at quietly controlling and influencing the management. Nowadays, most of the Trail Blazers' trades and drafts require Gan's approval.

Bulls owner Reinsdorf, however, did not side with Michael Jordan.

He values ​​Jordan highly, but that doesn't mean he blindly obeys him, much less fire the general manager he personally selected for him.

Jordan's attempt to pressure the owner to fire Krause was a naive idea, because Krause was the owner's man.

One of his purposes in choosing Krause as manager was to have him play the bad cop, suppressing the players, while he himself would play the good cop, making it easier to lower prices and control the team.

So Reinsdorf was happy to see Jordan and Krause at odds; how could he possibly fire Krause?

Of course, Reinsdorf definitely needed to appease Jordan, as he was his number one cash cow.

Before the team departed for San Antonio, Reinsdorf called Jordan and invited him to his home.

This was the first time Reinsdorf had invited players to his home, clearly indicating his desire to ease tensions between Jordan and Krause.

Reinsdorf told Jordan that he knew Krause had flaws, but he believed Krause had done a great job.

"We're currently at the top of the standings, and Jerry has done a lot of the right things. He drafted Scottie and Horrys, brought us Cartwright, and traded for Buck Williams. It was a great trade."

Reinsdorf knew that Klaus was secretive and that some of his behaviors were annoying. He also knew that Klaus was not the ideal person to represent the team in public, but he still admired Klaus's wisdom and decisiveness.

"Besides, we are currently ranked first in the East, and no team ranked first in the East would change its general manager."

The Bulls recently surpassed the Boston Celtics to claim the top spot in the Eastern Conference, a first in Bulls history.

Therefore, Reinsdorf could not understand why Jordan still had so much dissatisfaction and wanted to "ruthlessly eliminate" Krause.

Jordan, however, insisted that Krause had no ability to make good trades other than drafting rookies.

He's an outsider and can't add championship-caliber role players to a team like Jerry West.

Jordan believed that the team should ideally select a player with professional experience to manage the organization.

"So what do you think of Elgin Baylor?" Reinsdorf asked.

Baylor is a great player and a great partner for Jerry West.

He currently works for the Clippers, but the Clippers are struggling under his leadership, and their high draft picks have failed to live up to their potential.

Jordan couldn't refute it, so he could only change the subject.

“I played golf with the general managers all summer, and they all told me they didn’t want to deal with Krause because he was always looking to take advantage and get something for nothing, so we were always quiet in the trading market.”

"Basketball is a business, and businesses are all about making money. Of course, those general managers don't like Krause; they prefer someone who lets them profit. But do you think someone like that can make the Bulls thrive?" Reinsdorf added.

Reinsdorf's point is valid, but Jordan countered, "But our goal isn't simply to develop, it's to win a championship! Our opponent is the Portland Trail Blazers! Their roster is stronger than ours, and their planning is better."

Jordan said this, and Reinsdorf did not refute it. Jordan was right. If the Portland Trail Blazers were considered as a potential opponent, the Bulls were indeed lacking.

Seeing Reinsdorf remain silent, Jordan launched into a long tirade of his dissatisfaction.

He believes that Purdue and Armstrong, who were selected in the first round of the draft, will not play a significant role.

Grant played well, but he's not trustworthy; Buck Williams is clearly better, and that's the player he needs.

Pippen is also unreliable, Jordan pointed out, noting that he consistently disappears for various reasons during crucial games—referring to Pippen's injury and migraine during the key playoff game against Detroit. Jordan also said that he had already compromised on the Hopson situation, even reducing his salary as requested, so why should Krause choose Toni Kukoc and waste so much time and energy on this Croatian who is temporarily unable to play in the US?

Jordan believed the Bulls didn't need Kukoc, and that he wouldn't become any better.

"If you want to diversify the nationalities in the locker room, why not just pick Petrovic? He's playing very well with the Trail Blazers."

Jordan grew increasingly angry as he spoke, insisting that the management's idea that Walter Davis was unnecessary was a mistake.

The Bulls need scorers off the bench, and everyone will notice that in the playoffs.

Reinsdorf sat on the soft leather sofa watching Jordan vent his frustrations and point fingers at the team's lineup.

In his opinion, the entire Chicago Bulls were utterly worthless, with no decent talent from starters to bench players. Did the Bulls' Eastern Conference leadership really come about solely because of Jordan?
Reinsdorf thought to himself, "God is indeed fair. He gave Michael such great basketball talent, but as a balance, he gave him terrible judgment of people."

After Jordan had vented his anger, Reinsdorf handed him a cigar and said casually:
Do you want people to start seeing you the way they see Isaiah Thomas?

This sentence silenced Jordan. He didn't speak for a long time, his cigar in his hand, motionless.

Thomas has been heavily criticized for the trade involving Adrian Dantley and Mark Aguirre, and to this day Dantley complains, "Thomas stole my championship ring."

In the media, Thomas was portrayed as a spoiled, meddlesome player, which is exactly what Michael Jordan hated most.

He hated Thomas, and he hated being treated as a second Thomas even more.

Reinsdorf's words were effective; he knew Jordan's feelings for Thomas and that Jordan clearly saw how Thomas was being attacked.

Jordan backed down.

"Imagine you were another Bulls player, and the team leader was always unhappy with you and wanted to trade you. How would you feel? Would you work hard, play well, and improve?"

"As far as I know, the Portland Trail Blazers really wanted to trade Kiki Vandeweghe because his defense was terrible. But Agan stopped the trade, believing that if Vandeweghe wasn't good enough, he could find a way to improve him instead of replacing him. That year was... 1985, and they won the championship in 1986."

When it came to Forrest Gump, Jordan was speechless. He understood that Reinsdorf was right, but he didn't know what to say.

He still thought Krause was an idiot, and that the Bulls could have done better, but Reinsdorf's words made sense.
At one point, Jordan felt very small, like a child being reprimanded by the principal, who told him, "Look at how the top student in the grade is."

The conversation eventually turned to light topics, and Jordan soon went home afterward. His outburst was just that—an outburst—and had no real impact.

Everything will remain the same; the Bulls will not make any roster changes, nor will they trade or sign Walter Davis.

After Jordan declared war, Krause was terrified, fearing he would lose his job. He hid behind Reinsdorf, and now he was safe.

This made Jordan very, very unhappy, and he was naturally very frustrated.

"Michael, get ready to go on stage!"

Phil Jackson reminded Jordan that everyone should get ready to go on the court and warm up, but Jordan hadn't changed his clothes yet.

Jordan took off his headphones, changed into his jersey, and went onto the court with his teammates to prepare for the game against the San Antonio Spurs.

In a tough away game, Cartwright was unable to stop David Robinson, who was tall and fast, making Cartwright look like a giant sloth in front of him.

But the Bulls' advantage lies in their overall speed. They are good at double-teaming the opponent's best player from different directions, and their defense is very aggressive.

The Bulls double-teamed Robinson from all sides, taking a 7-point lead at the end of the third quarter, 82-75.

Then, at the start of the fourth quarter, Jordan went to the bench to rest, and Jackson arranged a rotation, letting the substitutes play in the fourth quarter.

This is Jackson's way of testing the other players.

However, after the substitutes came on, David Robinson remained on the court, leading the Spurs on a 13-2 run to take the lead.

Jordan was furious on the bench; he couldn't remember how many times the Bulls had encountered this situation this season.

"We took the lead, then they handed it back, and then we had to work hard to take it back!"

"Phil, it's my turn to play!" Jordan roared like a general, donning his armor once again.

When Jordan returned, the Bulls trailed the Spurs 84-88 by 4 points.

Jordan scored on three consecutive possessions, tying the game for the Bulls.

Rod Strickland's key drive was blocked by Buck Williams.

Jordan scored a beautiful spin layup on the fast break to take the lead and drew a foul from David Robinson!

After scoring, Jordan punched the ball forcefully, venting his inner frustration.

As he took the free throw, he looked towards the stands, and Jerry Krause was not behind the team's bench.

This fat guy followed the team, but he didn't come to watch the game. I don't know where he went.

At that moment, Jerry Krause was in Dallas, not far from San Antonio, watching the Dallas Mavericks' game live.

His target was Dallas Mavericks guard Derrick Harper, whom he hoped to acquire in a trade to become Jordan's backcourt assistant.

Harper is a good player, but the Mavericks' asking price is too high. The Bulls' offer of BJ Armstrong, Hodges, and a future first-round draft pick is not enough to attract the Mavericks.

They want Horace Grant, and Jordan would be very happy if Krause did so.

They acquired Harper, a near All-Star caliber defensive stalwart, giving them more help in the backcourt. They also traded away Grant, who didn't get along with Jordan, since they already had Buck Williams. Besides, BJ Armstrong really wanted to leave; he wanted to go to a team where he could start, not play second fiddle to Jordan.

It all seemed perfect, but Krause thought it over and over again, and even after the Mavericks' game ended, he still couldn't make up his mind to trade Grant for Harper.

He acknowledged Grant's potential, noting that Buck Williams was 30 years old and had played in the league for 10 years, and his peak was nearing its end.

Grant's peak had not yet arrived, and Krause felt that if he traded Grant away, he would admit defeat and be completely controlled by Jordan.

Moreover, the Bulls need depth in the frontcourt to deal with the Detroit Pistons and Portland Trail Blazers, and Grant is indispensable.

"Let's wait a little longer, until the end of this season, let's wait a little longer."

Klaus decided to wait and abandoned the deal.

If Jordan knew, he would be even more furious.

They missed the opportunity to build a super defensive backcourt.

(End of this chapter)