As NBA players are viewing “The Last Dance” documentary for motivation in their own careers, front offices can apply some valuable lessons in their quest for basketball dominance.
On Sundays, we are all treated to an opportunity to relive Michael Jordan’s final season with the Chicago Bulls. Current players can take this opportunity to study one of the greats. But it’s the general managers across the league who should really take notes.
From the very start of ESPN’s “The Last Dance” documentary, we see that there are certain things required for a team to win it all at the highest level. They must be ingrained in the DNA of your squad if you stand a chance at winning. You must have a star player willing to win at all costs.
May Michael Jordan have been a bit extreme? Sure. But if you’re building a team, the superstar has to have a certain chip on his shoulder despite the accolades that he receives over the years. All of the greats have it.
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Secondly, you need to surround that superstar player with some really strong talent. I’m talking about the type of talent that could lead a franchise in his own right, or lock down the opposing team’s best player. The 1997-98 Bulls had just that in Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman.
Countless times during episode three of “The Last Dance,” Michael Jordan mentioned the importance of knowing that Scottie Pippen was going to go to war with him every night.
With Scottie’s absence to start the 1997 season, it was clear that Dennis Rodman was needed to pick up the slack. Defenses were being constructed to stop the world’s greatest basketball player, and Michael Jordan could rely on these guys to ease the workload.
We’ve seen it in several championship teams to follow. Although Kevin Durant was the NBA Finals MVP twice with the Golden State Warriors, we know that Stephen Curry is more than capable of carrying that squad and Draymond Green can be the durable defender that saves the day. The Los Angeles Lakers had the same formula in 2010, as did the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013.
You need someone to make sure that a talented roster can operate efficiently as a unit. That’s where the head coach comes into play. Phil Jackson managed the most talent with the biggest egos. Getting Dennis Rodman to coexist with Scottie Pippen is a rare talent in itself. Selling Michael Jordan on the idea that he would score the ball less is even a greater feat. Despite all of the physical abilities on the Chicago Bulls roster, Phil Jackson was the nucleus for six NBA championships.
But none of these crucial contributors are possible without the role of one person. The general manager is where it all begins, and unfortunately for the Chicago Bulls, it’s where the dynasty came crumbling down. You need someone like Jerry Krause to have foresight. Bringing in Phil Jackson to coach, knowing he would adopt the Triangle Offense of Tex Winters, was genius.
It’s bizarre to me that Scottie Pippen would have signed a long-term contract that made him the 122nd highest-paid player in the NBA during his prime. But kudos to Jerry Krause for structuring that deal, because it allowed his team to pay Jordan his $33 million for the 1997-98 season and kept guys like Pippen, Dennis Rodman and Toni Kukoc on the roster.
The Bulls could have kept this dynasty rolling for years to come, but the ego of Jerry Krause got in the way. That’s the only explanation for publicly pushing Phil Jackson out of the door. Jackson was getting a ton of the credit for orchestrating arguably the greatest basketball team ever. Six championship rings and two NBA Executive of the Year Awards weren’t enough for Krause.
Once Jordan made it clear that he wouldn’t return to the Bulls without Phil Jackson as his coach, it was obvious that Krause was out to prove that he could do this all over again from scratch. It appeared that in his mind, not even Michael Jordan was more valuable than his system of putting talent together on the court.
"“Performance and loyalty by the coaches and players are being thrown out the window,” shared NBA legend Hubie Brown during a telecast of a Bulls game during the 1997-1998 season."
It seems like everyone understood that except for the one person who has the power to make or break that team.
No one is saying it’s easy to take the backseat. But that’s part of the job description for a general manager. Jerry Krause didn’t get that part, and it cost the Chicago Bulls the opportunity to continue its dominance over the NBA. Hopefully, today’s front office execs will learn one of the most valuable lessons that “The Last Dance” documentary has offered us so far.