The Jordan Rules by Sam Smith

Author:Sam Smith [Smith, Sam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: (¯`'•.¸//(*_*)\\¸.•'´¯), SPORTS & RECREATION/Basketball
Publisher: Diversion Books
Published: 2012-07-24T14:00:00+00:00

March 1991

3/1 v. Dallas; 3/2 at Indiana; 3/5 v. Milwaukee; 3/8 v. Utah; 3/10 at Atlanta; 3/12 v. Minnesota; 3/13 at Milwaukee; 3/15 at Charlotte; 3/16 at Cleveland; 3/18 v. Denver; 3/20 v. Atlanta; 3/22 at Philadelphia; 3/23 v. Indiana; 3/25 v. Houston; 3/28 at New Jersey; 3/29 at Washington; 3/31 at Boston

PRACTICE ENDED THE LAST DAY OF FEBRUARY WITH AS MUCH OF A punctuation mark as the Bulls’ victory over the Celtics a few days earlier.

The Bulls were just two short of the all-time franchise record for consecutive wins, but Jackson warned the players as they prepared for a March 1 game with Dallas—and certainly an eleventh straight win—that they were not 30 points better than Boston and shouldn’t get too cocky. Jackson had grown into his job well. Bach, who was close to Collins, had developed deep respect for Jackson. He marveled at Jackson’s ease in handling Krause with a joke or a deflected statement. “Don’t take life too seriously, Jerry,” Jackson would say. “You’ll never get out of it alive.” And Jackson was equally adept at the delicate balancing act of broncobusting the Bulls’ young stallions while keeping them eager to run.

Jackson liked to test the players, and Jordan as well. Sometimes what was mistaken as an inability to recognize time-out situations was an intentional effort by Jackson to challenge the players to work through a difficult time. So many of the games the Bulls were playing were not close that he could afford to experiment in games with fatigued players or when the momentum was working against his team.

This day at practice, he decided upon a special challenge for Jordan: He stopped keeping score in the scrimmage.

Jordan hated this as much as anything. He only played to win. What was the point of playing, he believed, if you didn’t keep score? A winner had to be determined and Jordan insisted upon winning. He’d make bets with players and assistants throughout practice on free throws, shots from odd positions, just about anything. Sometimes, before games, he’d sit on the bench and attempt shots sitting for $5 each. And he’d always collect. “Sometimes he’ll come to me,” says Bach, “and he’ll say, ‘Coach, you know you still owe me two dollars.’ And it would be from some free throws he’d hit in practice a month ago.”

Jackson was willing to draw Jordan’s anger if it would keep him motivated. Any emotion, even fury at his coach, was better than the listlessness he’d shown in Texas. And Jordan cooperated. As practice was about to end, he grabbed the ball, ran toward the basket and launched a vicious tomahawk slam and then glared at Jackson.

Jackson smiled.

Despite the winning streak, Jordan remained angry over the team’s failure to make a move and his inability to sway Krause or Reinsdorf. Jordan hadn’t talked to Krause since his outburst after the Davis trade to Portland in January, and had grown even angrier when he’d heard that Krause had gone to Cartwright to ask his

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