Jordan Says The Sixth Title Was a “difficult Year”

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina, USA (AP) – Michael Jordan described his last NBA season as a “difficult year” in which he won the title with the Chicago Bulls.

“We all wanted to enjoy that year, we knew we were coming to the end,” Jordan said Thursday in an interview with the Good Morning America television program.

Jordan appeared via video conference from his Florida home to promote the documentary “The Last Dance,” a 10-part series, focused on the last year of the Chicago Bulls dynasty, which won six NBA titles in eight years during The 1990s.

“The season started when (general manager) Jerry Krause told (coach) Phil Jackson that he could end with an 82-0 record and not even have a chance to keep going,” said Jordan. “Knowing the bond I had with him, and if he wasn’t going to continue as a coach, then obviously I wasn’t going to play anymore. So Phil started the season by saying that this was the last dance and we played that way. “

The series premieres Sunday night on ESPN for the United States and on Netflix internationally for five consecutive Sundays through May 17. There will be long two-hour episodes every night.

Jordan related Thursday that after Jackson told the team it would be their last season together, the Bulls set about completing what would be a second three-time championship. Chicago also linked titles in 1991, 1992, and 1993.

“It was mentally irritating to think it would come to an end, but it also helped focus our attention on making sure we finished it the right way,” Jordan said. “As sad as it seemed at the beginning, we tried to rejoice and enjoy the year and end correctly.”

The documentary was originally slated to air in June during the NBA final series, but ESPN made the decision to move forward with its release due to a lack of live sports programming due to the coronavirus pandemic. The series includes never-before-seen footage of that season in which the team fought for its sixth championship of the decade.

But the documentary covers more than just that last campaign.

The series shows Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf and Jordan arguing about a foot injury he suffered during his second NBA season.

Jordan wanted to keep playing, despite the injury, after doctors told the team there was a 90% chance that he would not recover.

However, Reinsdorf did not want his star to play for fear of ruining his career.

“I said to Michael, you’re not thinking about the risk-reward ratio,” Reinsdorf said in a short broadcast on GMA. “If you had a bad headache and I gave you a bottle of pills and nine of those pills would heal you and one of these would kill you, would you take a pill?”

Jordan replied that “it depended on how bad (rude) the headache was.”

Reinsdorf finally won. Jordan missed 64 games of the season before returning in the postseason.