But at that point in time, based on where I was as a player, the year that I was having, I thought it was a bad move on his part.”Ĭarrying grudges so long can’t be good for the soul, but if Pippen feels better about letting it out, more power to him. I said it was probably not right for me to say that about Phil being racist at this stage. “I didn’t walk it back,” he told the New York Times. The reaction was so negative that Pippen left that claim out of the book. “After all I’ve been through with this organization, now you’re gonna tell me to take the ball out and throw it to Toni Kukoč? You’re insulting me. “It was a racial move to give him a rise,” Pippen said. In the book, Pippen apparently toned down some of the rhetoric from last summer, when he claimed coach Phil Jackson called on Toni Kukoč to get the shot in the famous 1.8 seconds incident because of racism. Hard to believe you would ask someone you consider selfish and too self-absorbed to induct you to the Hall of Fame. I figure if anyone deserves to be on the stage with me, it’s him.” I’m excited to have an opportunity to be the first person that he has presented into the Hall of Fame. He was a great teammate, teacher and admirer. “Michael is someone I shared my career with, accomplishing most of what I have accomplished thus far. “I can’t think of a better person to do it,” Pippen said back then. He then addressed the book by saying, “This team has too much character to let something like that bother us.” The Bulls forward shook his head and declined to answer. “And I think I was a little creative with some of my passing.”Ī reporter asked Horace Grant whether the release of “The Jordan Rules” caused Jordan to suddenly become more generous with his teammates. “I wanted to get everyone involved tonight,” Jordan said afterward. He came into the game averaging 21 attempts per game. 15, 1991, Jordan had more assists (11) than field-goal attempts (10) in a win over the Bucks. In one early season game in Milwaukee on Nov. When it came out 30 years ago, the controversy was so pervasive, it threatened to become a distraction in the 1991-92 season. The book humanized the Bulls star and pointed out some troubling parts of his personality, some of which was discussed in “The Last Dance.” Well, except for the best-selling book “The Jordan Rules” by veteran NBA writer Sam Smith, then a Tribune reporter. I enjoy him being around.Pippen claimed Jordan always had the media in his corner. He is certainly a positive influence for me. He is struggling through something that means a little bit more than playing a basketball game. When you look at Gus, the game really doesn’t mean as much. “Gus is a very positive inspiration to me,” Jordan said after the Game 7 victory against the Pacers in 1998. Jordan’s popularity is rising, and while the documentary does not shy from the most toxic aspects of his competitiveness, it also is filled with moments like his relationship with Lett, which highlights the special bonds Jordan formed with so many people - and how Lett became someone Jordan needed to have around at all times. With the finale coming Sunday, if anything the opposite has been confirmed. Jordan offered a warning before the start of ESPN’s documentary series that some footage might make people think differently about him or that he’s “horrible guy.” And I am going through chemotherapy now.” The doctors tell me I’m on the good side of (cancer prognosis). And he keeps telling me that it’s going to be all right, which I know it will be. “Michael and I talk all the time,” Lett said then. Michael Jordan's bodyguard Gus Lett (sitting) talks to sports anchors Howard Sudberry and Tim Weigel outside the Bulls locker room on June 10, 1998, at the United Center in Chicago.
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