Dennis Rodman

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HAVING A BUD WITH STACEY KING AND HORACE GRANT

Which Bulls championship was your favorite? We sat down Stacey King and Horace Grant together to share some stories from
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Bulls photographer Bill Smith shares some behind-the-scenes stories behind his
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Bulls photographer Bill Smith shares some behind-the-scenes stories behind his
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Bulls photographer Bill Smith shares some behind-the-scenes stories behind his
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Inside Stories of The 90's Bulls

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Through The Lens With Bill Smith: 1998 Championship

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Take a trip down memory lane with Bulls photographer Bill Smith as he recalls capturing some of the best photographic moments in Bulls History

Bulls photographer Bill Smith shares some behind-the-scenes stories behind his photos from 1998.

Bulls photographer Bill Smith shares some behind-the-scenes stories behind his photos from 1996.

Bulls photographer Bill Smith shares some behind-the-scenes stories behind his photos from 1991 and 1992.

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Through the Lens with Bill Smith

Sam Smith

Sam Smith reflects on the story of Dennis Rodman and how an outcast was accepted as a beloved figure in Chicago.

Being known as the Worm had nothing to do with behaving like an ugly, slimy, bothersome creature. It was because Dennis Rodman wiggled around so much when he was playing pinball machines.

This is the story, to me, that best defined and represents Rodman, whose turn comes Sunday with ESPN's continuing Last Dance tableau of the championship Bulls. Following a famously infamous and dysfunctional adolescence, the son of the eponymous Philander who supposedly fathered more than two dozen children with more than a dozen mothers, Dennis went to work cleaning cars in an Oldsmobile dealership and then as a janitor in the mammoth Dallas/Ft. Worth airport. It's why it was a 25-year-old Dennis finally being drafted in the second round by the Detroit Pistons in 1986.

Dennis' actual household wasn't very much, a mother who'd eventually toss him out and two athletically gifted sisters who played collegiate basketball. Dennis was awkward and unappreciated, cut from the football team, unable to dribble a basketball with any aptitude. He was clumsy and scrawny in poverty surrounded by relative successes. You know he was always hearing, "Can't you be like…." Dennis was barely 5-8 in high school with only an unexpected growth sport later sending him to his destiny.

The Detroit Pistons drafted Rodman in 1986.

It's fairly simple to envision someone forever seeking acceptance, security and attention. However he could get it. With an attention deficit disorder that apparently was so obvious I'd get unsolicited letters virtually every week when Dennis was with the Bulls from psychologists explaining the classic symptoms they recognized in his various outrages.

"I spent my whole childhood looking for an escape," he once said.

So Dennis got arrested while he was working at the airport.

Though I was something of a conservative scold toward Dennis when he was with the Bulls in my self assigned protection of the so called integrity of the game, Dennis asked me to write his biography when he was being inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2011. I walked with him the three blocks from the reception, social distancing before it was de rigueur, in certainly the most unusual entrance to the Symphony Hall ceremony. He was wearing a feather lined cowboy hat and large sunglasses before an adoring and cheering crowd lining the street. As Rodman wrote, as bad as he was, he was beloved. I believe people did see him for his innocence and naivety despite his numerous offenses.

That post high school airport offense was robbery. But there was a question of pressing charges. Could Dennis just return the stolen merchandise? So Dennis went around to his friends. He had given away all the watches he stole to his friends. He hadn't kept anything for himself.

It's also why during all those years with the Bulls, Dennis was closest with the ball boys and clubhouse workers, the people who rarely got a second glance and yearned for something better, something more. That's always who Dennis has been, just a kid straining for attention and acceptance, so anxious to please with that mischievous nature. Most of us are able to repress those urges into adulthood. Dennis eventually figured out with the inspiration of his mentor and girlfriend Madonna that to his delight this combination of insouciance and imp-like whimsey was both profitable and filled the void of love and attention.

Though it also shouldn't be confused with a lack of commitment despite the many times Dennis' hyperactivity distracted him. Dennis was a manic worker, strong and in condition at his wire 6-8. Despite a lack of academic interests, he was something of a basketball savant capable of absorbing the complex triangle offense principles with ease and analyzing the flight of the basketball so innately as to make him in one eight-year stretch the game's most prolific rebounder since Wilt Chamberlain.

Dennis was as competitive as Michael Jordan in his own way. Jordan yearned to a maniacal level for success and victory. Dennis did so perhaps more for acceptance.

Few people understood Dennis Rodman like Phil Jackson.

Dennis broke down almost immediately when he walked onto that stage in Springfield, grasping for presenter Phil Jackson for support as he would have for his previous guide, the late Pistons coach Chuck Daly. When the Pistons wanted to retire Dennis' jersey, he protested about attending without Chuck, the first father he believed he ever had. Chuck and the Pistons understood. They accepted Dennis for who he was. Just as the Bulls and Phil Jackson would years later. Who imagined it was Dennis the two bitter rivals would have in common.

So perhaps Dennis Rodman was the role model.

After all, what better rags-to-riches, success-from-rejection story is there than Rodman's rise from poverty and rejection to acclaim and fame? If not exactly the way you'd hope for all your children.

After all, Rodman has had his share of substance issues. Jackson even once participated in an intervention for Rodman. Which considering the issues in society at large also places Dennis in the unusual position of some normalcy.

Another delicious irony of the Bulls championship dynasty, especially in those last three seasons leading to the Last Dance, was that one of the guys in the Pistons' black and blue hat was the same guy with the rainbow hairstyle who was so enthusiastically and colorfully embraced during those last three championship years. Dennis was the guy who harassed Scottie Pippen to distraction to support Bill Laimbeer's cheap shot tactics and eventually viciously threw Pippen into the stands late in the Game 4 sweep in the 1991 conference finals. Little recalled about that famous Pistons walk off late in that concluding game was Michael Jordan's provocative media comments the previous day at practice, declaring the Pistons frauds and unworthy champions because of their tactics. Rodman became a co-instigator of the quick exit. And then a Chicago icon.

Dennis was just another rookie when he came to the Pistons in 1986, not playing much, about 15 minutes per game in the playoffs. And even a scorer. He averaged his most points per game within his first two years in the NBA. But his vulnerability was on display immediately. The path to his heart and trust was clear, if dangerous, and first Isiah Thomas and then Phil Jackson succumbed. When you commit to Dennis, he commits in return. That humiliating 1987 playoffs was when Thomas made the ill-fated inbounds pass Larry Bird stole. After the Pistons lost Game 7, Rodman blathered about Bird only being MVP because he was white. Thomas sitting nearby and sensing Rodman's error jumped in front of the bullet and agreed with Dennis. The NBA would eventually force Thomas to go to the Finals in LA and make a public apology. Even as he knew he was merely falling on the sword aimed at Rodman.

Similarly, when Rodman made his insulting comments about Mormons in 1997 and was fined heavily by the NBA, Jackson said: "To Dennis, a Mormon may just be a nickname for people from Utah. He may not even know it's a religious cult or sect or whatever it is."

Another guy to push Dennis out of the way and take the hit. It never was there for Dennis growing up, and it wasn't in San Antonio. Dennis could smile again. People cared.

I remember the fury among Chicago fans when Rodman head butted referee Ted Bernhardt during a game in the 1995-96 season. Rodman was suspended six games, which the Bulls and Chicago fans protested as inordinately severe. After all, wrestlers do stuff like that all the time. And then the Bulls merely continued on their way to win 72 games.

That perhaps more than anything was the strength of that second threepeat team. It had this remarkable ability despite the tumult of the games's greatest player, the game's most famous coach and the game's most outrageous player to march through the hail of distractions that would have leveled any other team. We're breaking you up! Sure, see if we care!

Rodman's atrocities may have been in some respects additional help rather than hindrance. Like Michael's legendary harsh demands and challenges during games and practices, there were Dennis' behavioral volatility that further helped anneal the group for the intense cauldron of the playoffs.

Condemnation of Mormons in Salt Lake City, kicking the sideline photographer, punching Joe Wolf in the groin, head butting Stacey King, then in Miami, suspended by the Bulls for profanities in a post game interview, sent home after missing practice after a night partying in Atlantic City. Rodman left the Bulls various times for Las Vegas getaways, even in the 1998 Finals.

"Dennis needs to dissipate energy sometimes," Jackson explained. "It builds up in him and he has to get rid of it. Whether it's on the dance floor or whatever. Sometimes Dennis plays a 40-minute game and then goes out and plays a 48-minute game afterward. He's got a perfect ability. I don't know what kind of biological clock he has in his system to do that kind of thing and bounce back and feel better."

Rodman was one of the best rebounders of all time.

Jackson once asked Steve Kerr and a few players to take Dennis to Atlantic City for a needed escape when the team was playing in Philadelphia. They only arrived back to Philadelphia the next morning straight to practice. It wasn't a very good practice.

That was part of the Dennis Rodman experience.

He was the ultimate underdog finally being, if not fully accepted, certainly appreciated by the big dogs.

Dennis didn't go out with Jordan or Scottie Pippen. He wasn't part of their famous workout Breakfast Club that last season with Jordan, Pippen and Ron Harper. Jordan would often say when he had to speak with Rodman he'd try to get him to focus like he did with his kids, stare into his eyes and reiterate, "Dennis, do you understand what I am saying!"

Dennis never really looked you in the eyes. When his dress wasn't spectacular, like when he wore a wedding gown walking Michigan Avenue to declare his intention to marry himself to promote a book, he often came to games wearing the logo shirt of a sanitation worker, security guard or truck driver. They were Dennis' people and he walked with them because they best knew his life on the inside despite what he showed on the outside.

Finally comfortable in the armor the Bulls' embrace provided, Rodman was an invaluable, irrepressible and irreplaceable part of those last three championships. Not that it was expected. General Manager Jerry Krause detested Rodman's behavior and was opposed to his signing. So was Phil Jackson, who was lobbying for Derrick Coleman because of his more versatile offensive game. But credit Krause for that buck stopping there. Krause approved, Jackson, Jordan and Pippen agreed to be patient, and Dennis was given the space he needed.

Suspensions and injuries cost Rodman 45 games those first two Bulls seasons. During the Last Dance, Dennis' attendance was nearly perfect while Pippen stewed. Dennis seemed to lose interest when Pippen returned in January, though likely he was more hurt as Michael's embrace returned to Scottie. But Dennis didn't disappoint when needed on the court, his amazing defense against Shaquille O'Neal and Karl Malone in the playoffs crucial to the Bulls success in that era. Rodman became such a skilled defender, he was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year in Detroit despite still coming off the bench.

Rodman's defensive versatility enabled Jackson to be the first to successfully employ that ultimate five-player switching lineup that the Golden State Warriors popularized in recent years. Rodman averaged more than 15 rebounds per game his three Bulls seasons and more than 11 in the playoffs. In the 1996 Finals even though Jordan was MVP, Seattle coach George Karl said Rodman won two games virtually on his own.

Dennis has had his problems since leaving basketball with arrests, reality shows and the fantasy of international diplomacy in North Korea. "There's one thing people don't understand," he once said, "I like my character." Dennis has been in many ways pierced and tattooed in a multicolored life. That also has wormed its way into so many hearts.

the-last-dance-isnt-complete-without-the-colorful-story-of-dennis-rodman

The Last Dance isn't complete without the colorful story of Dennis Rodman

Sam Smith explains how conflict between management, players, and coaches helped motivate that final championship season

Was it Jerry Krause who saved Michael Jordan's legacy as a winner? Stay with me here. That's probably not the narrative we're going to see in ESPN's much anticipated 10-part Last Dance documentary that begins Sunday night. Certainly a major arc of the story is going to be Phil Jackson's famous "Last Dance" designation for what became the inevitable end of the Bulls championship dynasty. "If you go 82-0 you're not coming back," Krause had told Jackson. "I'm not playing if Phil Jackson is not coach," Michael Jordan declared. And away everyone went through a season of constrained delight in their quest and despair about their future.

It seems like it's going to be a story well told, hagiography in which Jordan despite some apparent trepidation about his image finally will get to tell his story his way to his adoring public. It should make for a rollicking tale and perhaps the perfect final bow for a legend who appeared like he was taking that finale that season in Salt Lake City.

Kick back, kick up your heels and put your dancing shoes on.

It's time to save the Last Dance for Michael. And the rest of us.

But there's so much more to be over into this intricate patchwork.

Because Jordan and Phil Jackson probably understood better than any that to extend that dynasty another season beyond No. 6 probably meant Jordan going out a loser.

Would Michael have come back with the Wizards in 2001 if he left the Bulls being knocked out of the playoffs early? OK, maybe Michael.

Phil, the son of Pentecostal ministers, understood the attention span of a congregation. One of his greatest strengths was how he dealt with his players as an underrated strategist and spiritual guide, as well. Seven years was an exclamation point in his view for a group and its leader. The message would begin to blur. It was now going into year nine. Phil's internal alarm clock had rung. Scottie Pippen's commitment had reached its limit over perceived insecurities and the lack of financial security. He would even go AWOL for about three months. And Dennis Rodman's self medicating regimen finally seemed to become irreversible.

Perhaps the real phenomenon of all this — and maybe Jordan's greatest magic act — was turning this dysfunctional spectacle into a coherent convoy that requires the greatest of commitment, patience and perseverance.

That's how you truly earn the greatest designation. Not only by doing what is special, but by doing what should have been impossible.

The story of the 1997-98 Bulls began at the party for the 1996-97 champion Bulls, the conclusion of that singular two-year run of 72 and 69-win seasons, the latter in which Jackson pulled on the reins and lost three of the last four regular season games. Neither team got to a seventh game in any playoff series, a stunning 30-7 in the playoffs without ever trailing in any series.

But rumors were becoming murmurs, that with Jordan, Pippen and Rodman free agents among several others, management might short circuit their electric impact on the basketball world.

When the Bulls celebrated their now annual NBA title at lakeside Grant Park, team executives weren't introduced. Jackson spoke for about 20 seconds before players were introduced amid chants of "One more year!" and "Bring him back!"

"Hopefully in 1998 you guys can go out and celebrate and say we won No. 6," Jordan offered in brief remarks.

So Krause was planning, or at least considering when asked. The Celtics with coach M.L. Carr comfortably lost the most games for the Tim Duncan sweepstakes. The lottery balls came up tilt and the Celtics got the No. 3 pick in a one-player draft. So incoming coach Rick Pitino panicked. He needed to hit the ground running, so he reached out to the Bulls about Pippen. Boston had two of the top six picks and veterans to spare. Krause saw the future. He believed with Pippen needing yet another surgery, it was a rare opportunity to cash in a big name without that same big game anymore for the foundation for the future, Tracy McGrady as the lead figure. Plus, Krause believed the Bulls still could strain out another title with a veteran thrown into the deal. After all, the Bulls still had Jordan, Rodman, Toni Kukoc and a deep, hardened bench. Actually pretty smart. But managing partner Jerry Reinsdorf interceded. They should have the chance to defend. No deal.

Then comes the part where Krause, invariably, gets in his own way. Krause waned to be the guy to kick butt, which was difficult with his foot in his mouth.

Krause's daughter was married that summer. Jackson and his wife, June, heard about the wedding the Bulls staff was invited to when a friend asked what she was wearing to the wedding. "What wedding?" June responded. Iowa State coach Tim Floyd, whom Jackson came to call "Pinky," was a guest with his wife.

Jackson by now was, to paraphrase the rock band, comfortably numb. He'd hit his wall.

Krause and Jackson had become estranged as seasons wore on. But Krause also knew Jackson had enough. Reinsdorf made the rare trip to Montana to Phil's summer home to negotiate the new deal between just them. Reinsdorf talked about a multi-year extension. Phil said he wanted no part of a rebuilding program, which the Bulls obviously were close to given the ages. It was time for his sabbatical much as it was for Jordan after nine years in 1993. It was nine years for Phil after 1997-98.

Krause, as was his bumbling way, much too eagerly carried this information to the extreme in declaring Jackson done as they met before the opening media day session. Even 82-0 for emphasis! There was an unnecessary press release for further emphasis. And then Krause's infamous interview in which he, as usual, channeled our famous mayor Richard Daley who was known to never come out of the same sentence he entered. So organizations win championships. Krause was trying to give some credit to the others in the love affair with the players, and likely also to soothe his bruised ego with the credit he so demanded that was so much denied because it was so often demanded.

Jackson smiled wryly and said that sounded like Jerry.

Michael preferred big entrances. So he typically skipped media day and delivered his solo performance the next day.

Typical of Krause, the team deserved a chance to finish, he wasn't playing without Phil.

Phil's wry smile signaled much more. He had his theme for the season. What a gift! Though Phil's success was often excused and unappreciated because of the team's talent, no one other than Red Auerbach with talent like that ever saw it succeed for so long. Pat Riley wrote books and called it the Disease of Me. His only threepeat was from his copyright residuals.

Jackson knew this one would be the most difficult, just as it was in 1992-93 with the Bulls stretched that third time and Jordan talking openly to teammates during the playoffs of retiring from the strain. No one believed him.

But the fabric of this fine Bulls garment was not only showing internal wear, its threads were being stretched to breaking. Forever dissatisfied with his contract and then with the aborted trade, Pippen went on strike. He postponed his ankle surgery scheduled for June to September so he could enjoy the summer and then sit out the first half of the season following the surgery. So tit for tat, Krause denied Pippen permission to play in his own charity game that September. No one but Jordan had the Love of the Game play anytime clause. Two months later in an early season road trip even though he wasn't playing, Pippen announced he was never again playing for the Bulls because of the organization's mistreatment.

Rodman was a holdout asking the Bulls for a then huge $9 million deal. He'd missed 27 games the previous season with sundry suspensions and injuries and got a technical in every playoff game. His three-minute egg of a reprieve was cracking open.

Jordan's allegiance to Jackson was sincere even if they weren't exactly late night phone call confidantes. Phil understood early the daily demands on Jordan. So he made it a point never to ask Jordan for anything. No autographs for his kids or the neighbor. No pictures. No introductions. He was there to coach Michael. Michael, similarly, often felt he was being used, that so many were trying to get something from him. He realized Phil wasn't among them. Whereas early in their relationship Michael doubted the so called equal opportunity offense, he became a champion as much because of Phil's sincerity. Players more than anything want a way for you to help them improve and get what they want, be it money or fame. Michael saw Phil could do that with his sacrifice and sincerity.

Phil also understood better than most coaches the value of the group. It often was a theme and symbol of his coaching that was mocked by some because of the Native American and Eastern religion references. There weren't many Kipling readers on the team, but they knew, The strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.

But at its core was the congregational aspects learned from his parents.

Phil's team was his congregation, his flock. Those collections of individuals had varying personalities, strengths and weaknesses. And so they had to be treated special, similar and different. Horace Grant, whose goal it was as a kid to join the Marines, could handle drill sergeants. Pippen thought AWOL. So when Jackson sough to make a point to Pippen he chastised Grant. Later Kukoc. Which is why Pippen's infamous 1.8 seconds holdout in the 1994 playoffs was a distraction for about three hours. Jackson turned the matter over to the platoon knowing Pippen would only retreat from corporal punishment. Similarly, Jackson understood he had to allow Pippen to ease back on his own. Which Pippen would do in January, though his impact then unsettled Rodman.

Rodman, who never was close with Jordan or pretty much anyone on the team. From his broken childhood, he long sought that acceptance and father figure like he had in Detroit with Chuck Daly. With Scottie gone, it could be Michael. Dennis became as committed as he ever was with the Bulls. But when Scottie returned in January, Dennis felt abandoned once again, drifting in and out of his obligations. All those adolescent fears of betrayal seemed realized again. This was not a group of people with a long term promise of amity.

You sensed both Michael and Phil understood that the best.

So Phil had a theme he could use to bond the team and Michael had his motivation to drive him. It always had to be something for Michael, real or imagined. Cut from the high school team, Dean Smith keeping him off the cover of Sports Illustrated as a freshman, the All-Star freezeout, Jeff Van Gundy saying he was a conman, trash talked by Bryon Russell, unable to defend LaBradford Smith.

They're trying to break us up! We'll show them!

Sure, Michael was dedicated to Phil. But here was a guy who could change his mind like someone does their Air Jordans. I'm not playing in the 1992 Olympics. I'm never playing basketball again with the 1993 championship. I'm 99.9 percent sure with the Last Dance.

Jordan was close with Bulls assistant Frank Hamblein, a longtime Jackson aide and triangle acolyte. Tex Winter remained on the staff. Michael could pick his next coach and he knew that. If he wanted to he'd get another 10 percent raise on his $33 million contract and similar offers would be made to everyone else. After all, you're not giving multiyear deals if Jordan won't take one. But Pippen wanted his big deal at a time back issues kept him out of the end of the 1998 Finals and forced surgery after that season. The explosive athletic brilliance was gone after that. Pippen became a free agent burden with the Rockets. Rodman immediately became a destructive liability with the Lakers.

Michael went on to seriously injure a finger on his right hand with a cigar cutter during that 1998 lockout. It was questionable whether he'd even been able to play if he returned that season. Though no one knew all of that in the fall of 1997. But what Phil and Michael did likely sense was perhaps this was an unusual gift from Jerry Krause that might help lift them from the drudgery and ennui of a third championship slog once again. They knew how difficult it had been before.

The NBA locked its doors at the end of June after that 1998 Finals. It would be the longest labor action in league history that would last until January 1999. There was to be no team/player meetings. But David Stern was not about to push away Michael Jordan. So Jordan and Reinsdorf surreptitiously met in early July in downtown Chicago. Jordan said he was done. Reinsdorf counseled patience. It was a lockout after all. He didn't have to make a decision until it was over. No, Jordan said, that was it.

No more song and dance or fancy footwork. That was the Last Dance. It was a wonderful show and worth repeating. At least during the next several weeks.

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Kick up your heels and put your dancing shoes on for "The Last Dance"

Coming off of a record-breaking 1995-96 season, what could the Chicago Bulls do for an encore? How about 69 wins and a second consecutive NBA title, the fifth for the Bulls in seven years? That's exactly what the Bulls accomplished in 1996-97, posting a 69-13 record and winning the championship with a memorable six-game triumph over the Utah Jazz in the NBA Finals.

Despite the gaudy record, defending the title wasn't easy. Led by the dynamic duo of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, the Bulls were able to overcome injuries to Toni Kukoc and Luc Longley, suspensions and injuries to rebounding specialist Dennis Rodman and constant public and media scrutiny to win the Central Division by 13 games over the Atlanta Hawks.

Jordan made more NBA history along the way, becoming the first player in league history to record a triple-double at the All-Star Game (14 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists). Teammate Steve Kerr reigned on All-Star Saturday as the winner of the AT&amp;T Shootout.

The Bulls finished one game shy of recording back-to-back 70 win seasons by losing three of their final four games. Jordan led the league in scoring (29.6 ppg) and set an NBA record with 2,000 points for the 10th time in his career.

Despite that late "slump," the Bulls were ready come playoff time. They held off a tenacious Washington Bullets team to record a first-round sweep, then disposed of the Atlanta Hawks and the Miami Heat in five games apiece, setting up the series with the Jazz.

In the Finals, Jordan took center stage once again. He won Game 1 with a buzzer-beater, then posted 38 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists to give the Bulls a 2-0 series lead. After the Jazz won twice at home to tie the series at 2-2, Jordan added another epic to his legacy; playing despite a stomach virus, Jordan poured in 38 points, including a three-pointer in the final minute to give the Bulls a 90-88 win in Game 5. He added 39 more points in the Game 6 clincher and fed Kerr for the game-winning shot with only five seconds to play. For the fifth time in five championship seasons, Jordan was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player. At season's end, Jordan and coach Phil Jackson signed new one-year contracts, providing the Bulls an opportunity to ‘three-peat' for the second time in the decade.

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1996-97: Five Times a Champion

The greatest decade in Bulls franchise history began with a headache.

It came to an end perhaps with some head scratching. But if you give it some thought, it ranks as perhaps the second greatest era in NBA history behind the Boston Celtics nine titles in 11 seasons.

And it probably was all worth it the way it left the Detroit Pistons and the rest of the NBA in pain over the torment of watching the Bulls dominate sports arguably worldwide to become one of the great teams of all time.

It was Scottie Pippen's famous migraine headache in Game 7 of the 1990 Eastern Conference finals that many believed might be the enduring photograph of franchise misery, Pippen in excruciating pain before the game, a towel draped over his head and rival Pistons players mocking him and the Bulls.

It could have been an end, but it was a beginning even with the desperate loss to the eventual champion Pistons.

After that game, Michael Jordan was as committed and determined as he was during any fourth quarter of his career. Jordan generally displayed some acceptance after previous Bulls playoff disappointments. He'd say the team had progressed from the previous season, which they basically always did, going farther in each playoffs. It was progress. But Jordan sensed previously the Bulls were not more talented, as difficult as it was for him to admit.

The Bulls had won their three home games against the Pistons in that 1990 conference finals, the last one by 18 points. Each time, the Bulls scored more than 100 points. Phil Jackson had counseled that was the Bulls formula: Get the score over 100 and the Bulls would win because their athletic talent was superior. That Game 7 would be Pistons 93-74.

Jordan was fuming afterward, telling every player never again; never again would they lose like this, and lose to the Pistons. It was Jordan's strongest message and met willingly. Instead of scattering for the summer, as usual, almost every player was back in the Multiplex training facility within days working toward the 1990-91 season.

So take a journey with me of my recollections of the 90s and those great Bulls seasons.

That 1990-91 season was all about beating the Pistons. Really, hardly anyone was talking title. The unofficial formula for ultimate success in the NBA was get to the Finals, lose—thus learn like the Pistons did, the 76ers—and now it was the Trailblazers turn. And when Portland started the 1990-91 season at 19-1, it made sense. This would be Portland's turn and maybe the Bulls after that.

The Bulls had a huge setback in December, losing badly in Detroit. Jackson afterward said this group might not be good enough. The talk was if they didn't make it this season it was time to start again, perhaps make those trades Jordan was suggesting of Pippen and Grant. Though Isiah Thomas was out injured, the key game of that season was just before the All-Star break in Auburn Hills. The Bulls won with B.J. Armstrong making big shots down the stretch. Though Thomas was injured and didn't play, the players felt it was a turning point to win in Auburn Hills. The Pistons scoffed at it and would win in Auburn Hills later that season. But the Bulls would with the two playoff wins there, win 10 of the next 12 games in Detroit. The Evil Empire would be no more. The wicked witch was dead.

The Bulls would sweep the Knicks to open the 1991 playoffs, creating the opening for Pat Riley to become coach. Then it would be 4-1 over the 76ers and Charles Barkley and then the sweep of the Pistons. After three quarters in Game 1 of the conference finals, the Bulls barely led. It was time for Jordan's break. A group of Bulls reserves regained almost a double digit lead; Jordan came back to finish it and the phrase, "My supporting cast" was born.

The Bulls went to Detroit for Game 3, got their score over 100 points and the Pistons were done. On the off day leading 3-0, Jordan let it all out, telling media the Pistons were undeserving champions because of their cheap shot, dirty tactics and an embarrassment to basketball. Not so politically correct. The Pistons heard about it the next day in the newspapers, which was how things worked then, and decided to sort of boycott the ending. They did their famous walk off with about seven seconds left, essentially validating Jordan's view.

Suddenly the Bulls were in the Finals, and the Lakers and Magic Johnson were there after a surprise win over Portland. "If we're going," Jordan declared, "we may as well win," Really, there was little title talk until then.

The Bulls lost Game 1 at home when Sam Perkins forgot he was supposed to try a two to tie and made a three to win. The Bulls then dominated the Lakers in Game 2 and with the game long decided, Jordan made his famous switch hand layup that is much shown in clips. Jordan pulled out Game 3, the pivotal game many Bulls felt they needed to win to get the series, by going full court in the last seconds to tie the game with a jumper. And then the Bulls won in overtime as John Paxson hardly missed anything. Jackson had Pippen and Jordan harassing Magic Johnson out of the backcourt—hello, anyone, that's how you play the Warriors this season—and the Bulls blew out the Lakers in Game 4. One game away from the Bulls' first title.

The Lakers held on until late in Game 5 when Jackson famously demanded of Jordan, "Who's open?"

Five Paxson baskets later the Bulls were dancing, Jordan and his dad were crying and a dynasty was emerging.

The defending championship season started amidst controversy, Jordan skipping the traditional White House visit (the Bulls only went two of six times) in what later was disclosed to be a gambling weekend. There was my "Jordan Rules" book and cries it was the end. So the Bulls went on to win 67 games in one of the most dominant seasons in NBA history. They won 14 straight almost to start the season and were 36-5 at home.

The Pistons were dead and the Cavaliers, a lesser version with Ron Harper gone, were closest, 10 games behind and little true threat. The Bulls were at least 10 games ahead of everyone in the league.

But after a routine first round sweep over Miami, the Bulls faced only their second seven-game playoff series in their title years.

Riley had built a team of borderline thugs with John Starks, Anthony Mason and Xavier McDaniel to beat them up if you didn't have the talent to beat them. McDaniel famously brutalized Pippen until Jordan literally challenged McDaniel to a fight during one of the games. The Knicks surprised the Bulls in winning the opener in Chicago, and the Bulls were fighting up hill the rest of the way, then facing Game 7 at home. A one year fluke?

Jordan's father, James, counseled a frustrated Jordan before the game to be aggressive. Jordan usually came on strong later in games, preferring to watch how opponents were playing him early to develop his response. This time it was scoring from the start with Jordan scoring 42 points and 12 of 13 at the free throw line and the Knicks basically never having a chance.

The Bulls then took out an overmatched Cavs team in six and Jordan opened the Finals with his famous shrug making six three pointers. It was also the message to Trailblazers star Clyde Drexler, whom many in Portland were insisting should be the league MVP. Jordan's Game 1 dominance made Drexler a mental wreck much of the series. Still, the Bulls were facing another seventh game back home with Portland leading by 15 entering the fourth quarter of Game 6. Reserve Bobby Hansen made the shot of his life to get the Bulls going on a run, pressure burst the fragile ‘Blazers' ballhandlers and the Bulls pulled away for the back to back title.

It would be the first title win back in Chicago and such an intense and raucous celebration that it shut down North Michigan Avenue for hours after the game and caused enough destruction that city officials begged for civility the next year during the Finals when the Bulls at home had a 3-1 series lead over the Phoenix Suns.

It would be a lot more difficult in 1992-93 after Jordan and Pippen came back from the exalted Dream Team experience. Riley had ramped up those Knicks even more, and they got playoff home court advantage with a better regular season record. The Bulls won 57 games, three behind the Knicks, setting up the much anticipated hostilities.

The Bulls cruised through the first two rounds with sweeps, Jordan finally ending the Cavs' run with a game winning buzzer beater in the Game 4 sweep game. Then came the Knicks.

The Knicks won the first two, Starks punctuating the Game 2 win with a dunk over Jordan. The New York Times also became breathless and hysterical, reporting Jordan had gone to Atlantic City to gamble between Games 1 and 2, suggesting it cost the Bulls Game 2. Jordan was furious and engaged in a media boycott as the Knicks committed the ultimate mistake. They said they only needed to win one. They were talking like losers. Riley was furious. The Bulls swept the two games, and then it was back to New York for the infamous Game 5. It looked like the Knicks would close it, but Jordan, Pippen and Horace Grant denied Charles Smith at the rim of what could have been the game winner. The Bulls prevailed and went home and knocked the Knicks out easily in Game 6.

Then it was on to Phoenix, where Barkley's addition enabled the Suns to win a league best 62 games. But Jordan, freed from the evil physical East play, had one of the great Finals in history, averaging 41 points, 8.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists in 46 minutes per game and even shooting 40 percent on threes. The Bulls won the first two in Phoenix, lost a ridiculous triple overtime in Chicago, then made it 3-1. The Suns players, finally relaxing, joked they needed to save the city after all the public service announcement about not rioting after the win. The Suns won by 10 in what would be Jordan's final game in the Chicago Stadium.

As he walked onto the bus for the trip to the airport and back to Phoenix, smoking a cigar he famously greeted his teammates, "Hello, World Champions."

Though it would take a Paxson three pointer for the win and Grant's saving block in the last seconds to preserve the 99-98 threepeat.

Then came the shock of the decade, first the murder of Jordan's father and then Jordan announcing in October that he would retire from basketball. Jordan would enhance the bombshell by further deciding to take up professional baseball and play for the Chicago White Sox double A minor league team in Alabama.

The Bulls would have a surprising and amazingly good season with Pippen at his best, first MVP of the All-Star game and a 55-win season without Jordan, just two fewer than the previous season. It was the most remarkable followup season to a star's departure.

But after—yet again—knocking out the Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs, the Bulls endured what many consider one of the greatest officiating gaffes ever as Pippen after the shot went was called for a foul on a Hubert Davis miss that should have ended Game 5 with a Bulls win and 3-2 series lead. The Bulls would return home to win Game 6, but lose down the stretch in Game 7 of the conference semifinals. The Knicks would go on to get to the Finals after defeating an Indiana team against whom the Bulls were 4-1 that season. It has long been argued that one call perhaps prevented the greatest ever followup to a franchise personnel departure.

But with Jordan still pursuing baseball, the 1994-95 season didn't go as well. Horace Grant left as a free agent for what many believed would be the next dynasty in Orlando with Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway.

The Bulls were bumping along barely above .500 when the baseball lockout/strike prevented Jordan from being involved with the major league team in spring training. He left and soon returned with the most famous two words in NBA history, "I'm back!"

Jordan's return to the NBA March 19 in Indiana was one of the biggest stories in the world. The Bulls would go on to close the season winning 13 of 17 with Jordan putting up his famous double nickel 55 points in Madison Square Garden.

After a first round series win over Charlotte, the Bulls fell in six to Orlando. Though not before Jordan went back to his old uniform No. 23 from No. 45 after Nick Anderson chided that 45 wasn't as good as 23.

The Bulls needed a power forward and Jordan needed a break.

They got it in historic fashion as Jordan made the Space Jam movie and played basketball every day on the movie lot and the Bulls signed the controversial Dennis Rodman, whose presence with Jordan, Pippen, Jackson and the Bulls produced the most famous, notorious and successful basketball team in history.

The 1995-96 Bulls were 72-10 with a domination virtually unheard of in pro sports. They won virtually every major award after a 41-3 start and even more so with Rodman's antics, changing hair colors and his band of misfits along for the ride that created one of the most unusual cultural oddities ever in sports.

The Bulls went on to streak through the playoffs 11-1 in the first three rounds, sweeping the Magic in the conference finals and breaking up the Magic and chasing O'Neal out of the conference and to the Lakers. The Bulls then won the first three games in the Finals for a 14-1 start before relaxing with two off days, losing two and then wrapping up the fourth title back in Chicago.

It became just get me to Grant Park in 1996-97 as the opposition melted away. Miami won 61 games and wasn't even considered a serious threat. Little discussed about that Bulls season was they simply got tired of dominating the regular season. They started out 12-0 and this time were 42-5 as the race was pretty much over by then. They easily had back to back 70s when they pulled up, losing three of the last four games to finish with 69 wins to tie for the second best season of all time.

Then it was mostly another romp through the playoffs, this time 11-2 going into the Finals and winning the first two, as Jordan began it by showing up the latest MVP contender, Karl Malone. Rodman insulted Mormons for a while and then Jordan willed himself through the flu/food poisoning in the famous Game 5 before the Bulls again closed it out back home.

Then Jackson labeled the 1997-98 season, "The Last Dance," as all good and even great things must come to an end. Jackson said he wouldn't agree to another contract whether the Bulls won a title or not. Jordan said he wouldn't play again for another coach and Pippen said he would sign elsewhere as a free agent even if Jackson and Jordan returned. Welcome to the good feelings for another threepeat.

Yet, they would impress in an uneven season that still netted 62 wins. Pippen missed the first half with injury and the Jazz had the tiebreaker for Finals home court, which only set the stage even better for Jordan's posed winner in Game 6, the ultimate farewell to the ultimate career before a shocked Salt Lake City home crowd. Those Eastern Conference finals against Larry Bird's Pacers with Reggie Miller went to a seventh game and to this day Bird still talks about a jump ball lost with five minutes to go he believes changed the outcome and prevented the Pacers from pulling the upset. So the Bulls had six titles in eight seasons and it was over.

The 1998-99 season would not begin until February after a labor dispute and the Bulls would not be back in the playoffs for seven years. Jordan did retire, though we know briefly again for a lamentable return in Washington. The Bulls had a new coach in Tim Floyd. They got through the 50-game season with 13 wins and several holdovers, headlined by Toni Kukoc, soon to be cashed in for yet more draft picks and free agent Brent Barry here and gone.

Things looked bright for the new millennium with the lottery balls coming up for the Bulls and the No. 1 pick in the 1999 draft. The decade of good feelings was done. It was a sweet memory and not soon to be repeated.

1990s-and-the-chicago-bulls

1990s and the Chicago Bulls

Phil Jackson said his Los Angeles Lakers team that won a pair of championships with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant and was in three consecutive NBA Finals always talked about it.

"My teams in the Lakers years would always say, ‘We want to break that record,'" Jackson recalled. "I was, ‘Good luck.'"

Because 1995-96 for the Bulls was the Perfect Rainbow of an NBA season, even with some rainbow colored hair. So many incredible and incomprehensible factors came together to form the most beautiful basketball sign, a reflection of the brilliance of Michael Jordan, the refraction with Dennis Rodman and dispersion of unique and varied talents among a committed group of individuals to form this tremendous spectrum of brilliant achievement that lit up the NBA for one special and shining season.

It was the 72-10 Bulls season of 1995-96, that memorable time when these amazing elements came together to form for a sporting moment the most perfect of basketball teams.

The Bulls that season set the all time NBA record with 72 wins, the first team ever to break the 70-win mark. The Bulls would go on to have the best two and three-year records in league history thanks to that 72-10 start. And that 72-10 record was with their last three losses that season all by a single point and in often in dispute.

The Bulls won a record 44 games at home and 37 to start the season, both league records, along with 33 road wins. Their margin of victory of 12.3 per game tied for the best ever. Their 39-2 home record was the second best. Jordan led the league in scoring and was regular season and Finals MVP and all-defensive first team along with Rodman and Scottie Pippen. Jordan and Pippen were all-NBA first team. Toni Kukoc was Sixth Man winner, Jackson was Coach of the Year and Jerry Krause was Executive of the Year. Rodman led the league in rebounding and Steve Kerr was No. 2 in three-point shooting. Jordan and Pippen tied an all-time record when they both scored at least 40 points in a game. There has never been a team sports domination quite like the 1995-96 Bulls.

"It was one of those years where everything went right," recalled Kerr, now the coach of the Golden State Warriors, who last season won 67 games. "There was incredible motivation; and everything clicked. As motivated as Michael always was, that year was another few degrees higher based on what he had been through, the absence from the game, the loss the previous year to Orlando. The motivation was just incredible. It carried on the entire season and that's want made it so remarkable. That was all part of it in training camp and the mode he set, the competition level in the scrimmages and the practices; he set the bar really high and he was ferocious. That was just a byproduct of the tone he set right from the beginning.

"Any sort of big game that had anything special about it brought out the best in us," said Kerr. "I remember the Houston game and they had Barkley and Hakeem and Drexler (and were defending champions) and they were going to be our equivalent in the Western Conference. We went to Houston and really took it to them (double digit win). The Lakers game when Magic came back to play and in the Forum and we hammered them (by 15), the four game sweep of Orlando (in the playoffs). That was supposed to be the clash of titans; we sweep them. It seemed like the bigger the challenge, the better that team played.

"I tell people all the time that record will never be broken," insists Kerr. "It's just impossible. That's going to be like DiMaggio's hit streak; it's just not going to happen. Everything has to go right and even then it doesn't matter. Everything went right for us last season and we won 67 games. Five games is a pretty big difference when you are talking about an 82-game season. Everything went right for us with the Bulls and we had Michael. That's the thing; if we ever got to a point where we were going to lose or we looked like we were going to lose, he would just take over. And there aren't guys like that anymore; guys like that don't exist anymore. Kobe was pretty close; he probably came the closest. LeBron's not like that. He's phenomenal in his own right. But Michael was so unique, so gifted, so motivated, so talented that he sort of transcended everything and I just don't see that happening again."

It really all started the previous May in the playoffs when the Bulls lost to the Orlando Magic, advertised as the next great NBA dynasty, in a six-game playoff series, the clinching loss at home. Horace Grant from the first three Bulls title teams had defected to the Magic as a free agent and had a big series. Nick Anderson had mocked Jordan after Orlando stole the first game on a Jordan turnover with Jordan wearing his new No. 45 jersey–"No. 45 doesn't explode like No. 23 used to. No. 45 is not No. 23. I couldn't have done that to No. 23–on his return to the NBA the previous March from baseball.

Jordan changed back to his No. 23 jersey. The NBA fined Jordan for the uniform change. But the Bulls' lack of a power forward to replace Grant combined with the strength and depth of the young Magic team proved too much for Jordan and the Bulls. Orlando won and went to the NBA Finals, eventually losing to the Houston Rockets.

"After that last game against Orlando the whole mood was we underachieved, that we're a way better team; we were not ready," said Toni Kukoc. "Michael admitted he wasn't basketball ready and he's going to take just a little time off and start preparing for the next season. And then everybody assumed if he is going to do that everybody else should do the same thing. Everybody came to camp in really good basketball shape. (Ron) Harper was one in really good shape and he got the role of the point guard. That atmosphere was: We are a better team than this, be physically ready and start playing from the start and see what happens."

Though Jackson admits he was initially worried about Jordan's preparation.

It was almost two years away from the game after retiring after the 1993 championship and beginning a quixotic adventure in professional baseball after the murder of his father. Jordan returned to the Bulls in March, 1995 to much acclaim, if not outright excellence. And now Jordan had gone Hollywood.

He was filming the Space Jam movie. And Jackson wondered how that was appropriate for a player who came back at less than his best with career low shooting and scoring other than in his 1985-86 injury season when he had playing time limits.

"I was concerned about Michael being in Hollywood," Jackson admitted. "Everyone was telling me, ‘No no, he's on it, basketball is his priority even though he's doing Space Jam. Everybody is out there in L.A. and this has become the place to be, in Michael's games if you are invited.'"

With Grant's departure, the Bulls were overpowered at power forward. Bulls managing partner Jerry Reindorf said he recalled Jackson saying often, "We need someone to fetch the ball."

Jackson submitted a list with five top power forwards who might be available in trade or as free agents, players like Derrick Coleman and Jayson Williams. There were complications, but assistant general manager Jim Stack was lobbying heavily for Dennis Rodman. The erratic former Pistons provocateur was in San Antonio and seemingly melting down in the playoffs with bizarre behavior. He was deemed around the NBA too toxic. But with just a year left on his contract, Bulls general manager Krause was persuaded by Stack to take a chance.

"It became with the team, ‘Would you accept this guy?'" Jackson said. "I interviewed him the day before camp started; then I addressed the team. I talked about the addition of Dennis: ‘Guys are going to have to be tolerant; it's not going to be a jealousy situation.' I've always tried to make the rules to work for everybody; but he's a guy who's not going to shoot for an hour and a half because he doesn't shoot. He rides a bike and will be ready. I told him I will fine him for every game late, but not the three-strike rule. It didn't start well. I came in. He wouldn't stand (or shake hands). Then he's saying, ‘I deserve more money, I'm a better player, I'm not getting my due.' and I'm telling him, ‘If you play, this is about a team reward, this isn't about potential. This team pays on productivity. You'll be compensated for what you do.' He met me the next morning at the training center and we went through the building. Upstairs he was very interested in my Native American stuff in the team room. We seemed to have a Native American kind of connection."

It was more than power forward, though. The Bulls had subtly been in decline in the third title year and endured only through the determination of Jordan, barely escaping the Knicks in the conference finals. The Bulls had a magical season of sorts in 1993-94 without Jordan, a controversial foul call in the conference semifinals against the Knicks, many believe, keeping the Bulls out of the Finals again.

But the Bulls were convinced Jordan would not return to basketball. Scottie Pippen, who had impressively led the Bulls that season in probably the best season of his career, also was convinced Jordan would not return. He badgered Jackson and management for help in the form of a shooting guard, the top free agent available and his close friend, Ron Harper. Harper was a transcendent athlete coming out of Miami U., and one reason the Cleveland Cavaliers of the late 1980s were rated higher than the Bulls. Harper wasn't as good as Jordan, but Harper was so athletic Jordan couldn't dominate his position like he did against so many other teams. But Harper would be traded to the Clippers and tore his ACL in January 1990. Harper returned to be a top scorer, but not the athlete he was. Still, he had averaged about 20 points per game. But Harper could not adjust to the offense and in his first season with the Bulls and he regressed more than any player in the NBA, averaging 6.9 points and playing behind Pete Myers despite receiving one of the richest contracts in team history.

"Jerry Reinsdorf always said guys in basketball maintain their averages year to year, but in baseball you can't depend on a guy," said Jackson. "He said a guy can hit .300 and then be .240. There weren't the swings in basketball. But Harper did. I had seen what we could be after the Orlando series. We (also) needed a big guard at that time; rotations were important. Tall guards to get after (Anfernee) Hardaway and (Nick) Anderson. They had Brian Shaw. We needed a big guard corps, so we allowed BJ (Armstrong) to be exposed (in the expansion draft). I asked Michael (to start) to play point guard; not until later that year did we realize any of those three guys, Pippen, Harper or Michael, could take on a guard (defensively) and we were very effective. Michael probably struggled more than those two did defensively playing at the top of the floor. He was more comfortable playing on the wing."

So the pieces for a team were coming into place, if not certain. There was Rodman to replace the rebounding, Harper to help defend against the big backcourts. And there were the holdovers who mostly showed up after Jordan's first retirement in 1993, disappointed and under siege. They had eyed the Bulls as a place to collect championship rings from the periphery. Now they were in the spotlight. But they learned.

"Everybody matured from a basketball standpoint and understood the game, understood what was needed to be done," said Kukoc. "The new guys were going into their third years, Steve and Bill (Wennington) and myself and Luc (Longley) and other guys. So I think we got that triangle offense down, understood how it functions and, obviously, when you have guys like Michael, Scottie, Dennis, Harper you feel really good playing on the defensive end as well."

So the elements were coming together to complete a great team on paper. But there's that indefinable quality that so few can bring, the relentless nature. Sure, Jordan was always competitive to a fault. But this was something they'd never seen before.

"We understood from the start Michael was upset losing in the playoffs the year before," said Wennington, now a Bulls radio broadcaster. "I think it was within the first week or couple of days of practice and I'm talking to Steve Kerr and he's saying ‘Mike is playing with a big chip on his shoulder.'"

(Kerr, by the way, had a big bruise under his eye as that was when Jordan punched him in the face during a rough practice session.)

"We looked at each other and said, ‘This could be a real interesting year.' We didn't know how interesting," recalled Wennington. "But you could tell right away it was going to be a different kind of year."

How different no one could imagine, though it wasn't completely clear early in the season.

Yes, the Bulls won their first five games, but against weaker teams. The first big test was regular season Game 6 in Orlando against the defending Eastern champion Magic with Shaq and the dynamic Hardaway, the latter becoming the new model for the best backcourt player. Hardaway was spectacular with 36 points, outplaying Jordan as the Magic won in Orlando.

The Bulls returned home and the NBA world had made up it's mind: It was Hardaway's World now. Remember the L'il Penny alter ego character? Air Jordan was now to be a thing of the past. There was a new star. Jordan, predictably, was determined. And a pattern would develop.

"I remember losing to Orlando early," said Kerr. "Then we rattled off a run of maybe 10 in a row."

Actually, it was five, a loss and then 13 straight wins.

"After the first month of the season we realized how good we were," said Kerr. ‘It was just sort of a shock if we did lose. And then automatically when we did lose, we'd soon just come out the next game with an anger that came from Michael. He didn't ever want to lose.

Losing one game would spur the next 10-game streak and we'd keep going from there."

The Bulls went out on their Western Conference circus trip, winning five of six as they lost in Seattle. That would be the other major contender with Orlando. It was a wearying trip and the Bulls headed into Vancouver at the end of the trip 11-2. Jordan, in one of those rare not in the air occasions, was dragging as well. The lowly, 15-win Grizzlies that season were leading the Bulls late when a backup guard named Darrick Martin, who had played in some of those summer games in Hollywood, ran by Jordan on the Bulls bench yelling at Jordan that he knew they were going to win. Yes, you know what comes next.

Jordan went back into the game, scored 19 points in the last six minutes (he had just 10 before) and the Bulls won going away. "I told you not to trash talk me, little man," Jordan chided as the game ended.

"By Christmas, New Year's we found ourselves seven, eight, 10 games in front of second place," recalled Kukoc. "So we just kind of started focusing on our basketball, our game, the way we played. Heard a couple times, ‘Let's go through the next month without a loss.' Stuff like that. It wasn't important that much the team we were playing against; the main focus was on our game, the way we played, the way we needed to execute, the way we needed to understand what is happening on the court more than, ‘Oh, we are playing New York, we are playing Orlando.' It was all about the way we played."

Now the Bulls were really rolling, 23-2 before a narrow loss in Indiana and then 18 straight wins for a 41-3 start as they rolled into Los Angeles amidst the hype of Magic Johnson's return and then dominated the Lakers. The conference race was basically over even with Orlando winning 60 games that season.

"People started talking about (70 wins)," recalled Wennington. "I remember talking to a guy, him saying we can do it. But it was mostly early and it was, ‘Let's play and see what happens.' I know in the media everyone was denying it when we were 30-3, but at that point guys were thinking about it. Like. ‘Heck, something could happen here, let's try to make it happen.' That was before All Star break.

"With Phil another goal was the amount of wins doesn't matter; our goal is to get to the playoffs and win the playoffs," said Wennington. "He said, ‘We are not going to worry about numbers. We are going to worry about where we need to be in the division and place ourselves for the playoffs.' He was always deflecting and distracting us from specific numbers. It was Jason Caffey's rookie year and I remember walking in the locker room one time and Jason was looking at me and shaking his head and saying, "Is it always like this?" I turned and looked at him and said, ‘Jason you need to pay attention to what is going on with this team because it is never like this. This is freaking amazing what is going on now; it freakin' doesn't happen.'"