1 00:00:29,224 --> 00:00:31,601 Are you surprised the team has stayed together 2 00:00:31,685 --> 00:00:32,936 and the chemistry has been good 3 00:00:33,019 --> 00:00:35,855 with the backstabbing between you and coach and everything else? 4 00:00:37,816 --> 00:00:40,694 First of all, there's no backstabbing going on here, okay? 5 00:00:41,695 --> 00:00:44,239 Okay? You understand me when I say that? 6 00:00:44,781 --> 00:00:47,075 There's no backstabbing going on here, okay? 7 00:00:47,158 --> 00:00:49,160 Second, no, I'm not surprised at all. 8 00:00:49,244 --> 00:00:52,289 And I'm amazed that you would even make a statement like that, 9 00:00:52,372 --> 00:00:55,875 but I'm not surprised at all because this team is composed of professionals. 10 00:00:55,959 --> 00:01:00,380 It's composed of guys who understand what they have to do and who are winners, 11 00:01:00,463 --> 00:01:03,508 unlike the comment you just made. Gentlemen, good night. 12 00:01:08,388 --> 00:01:09,681 Way to go, Craig. 13 00:01:12,892 --> 00:01:14,394 A spectacular move! 14 00:01:14,477 --> 00:01:16,062 The game's over! 15 00:01:16,146 --> 00:01:18,481 Chicago Stadium is going wild! 16 00:01:20,442 --> 00:01:22,628 First of all, there's no backstabbing going on here. 17 00:01:22,652 --> 00:01:23,963 It's time for me to move on. 18 00:01:23,987 --> 00:01:26,547 This will be Phil's last year as the coach of the Bulls. 19 00:01:28,992 --> 00:01:32,037 - Are the expectations too high? - Where do we go from here? 20 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:34,080 The only question: how long can it last? 21 00:01:44,424 --> 00:01:46,426 We're at the United Center in Chicago, 22 00:01:46,509 --> 00:01:48,762 opening of the NBA playoffs. 23 00:01:48,845 --> 00:01:51,097 Tonight, game one of round one 24 00:01:51,181 --> 00:01:55,352 and the start of a best-of-five series against the New Jersey Nets. 25 00:01:55,435 --> 00:01:58,146 Michael Jordan said to lose a game to the Nets, 26 00:01:58,229 --> 00:02:01,941 lose a game to the Nets, his team would have to "fall asleep." 27 00:02:02,025 --> 00:02:05,320 Can that backfire on him or does that just not happen to Superman? 28 00:02:05,403 --> 00:02:08,281 These are the Bulls. They're not worried about the Nets. 29 00:02:08,365 --> 00:02:13,036 This is a sweep. Bring the brooms out, 3-0, move on to the next series, man. 30 00:02:13,620 --> 00:02:14,536 Come on. 31 00:02:14,537 --> 00:02:17,582 Starts off with hard work, ends in champagne. Let's start. 32 00:02:18,792 --> 00:02:21,378 - What time is it? - Game time! 33 00:02:24,839 --> 00:02:29,219 The playoffs is the highest level of competition that we have in our game. 34 00:02:30,428 --> 00:02:32,472 You got 82 games in the regular season, 35 00:02:33,014 --> 00:02:36,142 but you can kick all that aside. The playoffs is the playoffs. 36 00:02:39,312 --> 00:02:41,981 And to be able to play against the best competition, 37 00:02:42,816 --> 00:02:45,318 that was the driving force for me, without a doubt. 38 00:03:00,917 --> 00:03:03,837 Opening tip, and it'll be Bulls possession. 39 00:03:04,421 --> 00:03:06,506 And Keith Van Horn gives the Nets the lead. 40 00:03:06,589 --> 00:03:10,468 Now, you can see the athleticism of the New Jersey Nets early on, 41 00:03:10,552 --> 00:03:15,390 and a shocked crowd and Phil Jackson watches the Bulls trail by seven. 42 00:03:15,974 --> 00:03:19,769 And here is Kerry Kittles with a great sweeping lay-in, 43 00:03:19,853 --> 00:03:22,981 and New Jersey have taken a 12-3 lead. 44 00:03:25,692 --> 00:03:27,777 Here's Ron Harper, stuffing it through. 45 00:03:28,361 --> 00:03:31,865 And the Bulls have come back to trail John Calipari's Nets. 46 00:03:31,948 --> 00:03:33,742 Jordan over Kittles, hits. 47 00:03:34,284 --> 00:03:37,620 But the Nets keep coming. Under two minutes to go, it's Gatling. 48 00:03:37,704 --> 00:03:40,331 He had 24, here are two of them. 49 00:03:40,874 --> 00:03:42,584 Tied at 89, we go to overtime. 50 00:03:42,667 --> 00:03:46,004 Knocked away, stolen by Michael! MJ on the right. 51 00:03:46,087 --> 00:03:49,966 Michael dunks the ball and a foul! Oh, my! 52 00:03:51,050 --> 00:03:54,345 And here come the Nets. Douglas for three. At the horn. 53 00:03:54,429 --> 00:03:56,514 Short. Rebound Pippen, and that'll do it. 54 00:03:58,558 --> 00:04:01,144 The Bulls win it. Not without a scare from the Nets. 55 00:04:01,227 --> 00:04:03,688 A pretty bumpy start for the Bulls. 56 00:04:03,772 --> 00:04:08,943 If Friday's opener is any indication, Chicago could be in for a long series. 57 00:04:09,486 --> 00:04:12,155 Watching this team as they embarked on the playoffs, 58 00:04:12,238 --> 00:04:14,574 you just had the feeling that Michael Jordan 59 00:04:14,657 --> 00:04:17,911 was mentally, emotionally exhausted. 60 00:04:19,454 --> 00:04:22,707 He kind of looked like the Michael Jordan of 1993. 61 00:04:26,169 --> 00:04:28,630 Oliver Miller plays it. Here's Johnson. 62 00:04:28,713 --> 00:04:30,882 Johnson gets... No, he could not get it off. 63 00:04:30,965 --> 00:04:33,092 Knocked away by Grant. It's over! 64 00:04:33,176 --> 00:04:38,473 The Chicago Bulls have made it three straight NBA championships! 65 00:04:40,350 --> 00:04:43,937 After we won the championship, I sat in the gym with my father. 66 00:04:44,729 --> 00:04:48,191 In the back of my mind, I knew that was probably my last game. 67 00:04:48,274 --> 00:04:50,985 And no one really knew except for my father and myself. 68 00:04:52,487 --> 00:04:56,616 He was my rock. You know, we were very close. 69 00:04:57,450 --> 00:04:59,452 He constantly gave me advice. 70 00:05:01,496 --> 00:05:05,583 I remember in ninth grade, I got suspended three times in one year, 71 00:05:05,667 --> 00:05:08,670 and my father pulled me aside that summer and said, 72 00:05:08,753 --> 00:05:11,756 "Look, you don't look like you're headed in the right direction. 73 00:05:12,382 --> 00:05:16,761 You wanna go about doing all this mischievous stuff, you can forget sports." 74 00:05:18,137 --> 00:05:19,639 That's all I needed to hear. 75 00:05:19,722 --> 00:05:22,183 From that point on, it was like tunnel vision, 76 00:05:22,267 --> 00:05:24,352 and I never got in trouble from that point on. 77 00:05:25,854 --> 00:05:28,565 He had a very strong influence on Michael's life. 78 00:05:28,648 --> 00:05:31,442 He just was a wonderful, positive man. 79 00:05:33,027 --> 00:05:35,238 Hey... And I feel cool with this man. 80 00:05:36,573 --> 00:05:38,533 I wanna negotiate my contract... 81 00:05:39,117 --> 00:05:41,870 If you knew Michael, you pretty much knew James 82 00:05:41,953 --> 00:05:45,665 because they were always together. They were very close. Best friends. 83 00:05:46,374 --> 00:05:48,167 We'd hang out before the games, 84 00:05:48,251 --> 00:05:51,921 and he'd find some kid in the stands, somewhere, 85 00:05:52,005 --> 00:05:54,924 some kid that never had a chance in the world to meet Michael Jordan. 86 00:05:55,008 --> 00:05:57,468 When the game was over, he'd walk that kid in the locker room. 87 00:05:57,552 --> 00:05:59,178 The kid would be through the roof. 88 00:06:01,431 --> 00:06:03,182 James Jordan was there 89 00:06:03,266 --> 00:06:08,396 when his son Michael led the Chicago Bulls to their first NBA championship in 1991. 90 00:06:09,439 --> 00:06:12,025 James and Deloris Jordan remained an anchor for him. 91 00:06:12,609 --> 00:06:14,819 They attended every Bulls game they could. 92 00:06:16,237 --> 00:06:17,655 Around the NBA, 93 00:06:17,739 --> 00:06:21,284 James Jordan relished his stand-in role for a superstar son. 94 00:06:21,367 --> 00:06:24,454 To tell you how proud I am, uh... 95 00:06:24,537 --> 00:06:26,873 I'd have to search for more words than what I've got. 96 00:06:27,498 --> 00:06:30,877 He's a voice of reason that always drove and challenged me. 97 00:06:31,461 --> 00:06:32,837 That's the type of father I had. 98 00:06:32,921 --> 00:06:35,298 - Like a friend? - Yeah, like a friend. 99 00:06:45,183 --> 00:06:47,583 I had to pick up Michael's father from the airport. 100 00:06:47,644 --> 00:06:50,772 He was supposed to come into town for a charity event Michael was throwing. 101 00:06:50,855 --> 00:06:54,776 And I went to the airport to pick up his dad, and he never showed up. 102 00:06:55,902 --> 00:07:00,156 So, of course, I called his mom and said, "Hey, Pops isn't here." 103 00:07:00,239 --> 00:07:04,494 We knew he was down at the Hilton Head house, playing golf. 104 00:07:05,703 --> 00:07:07,664 When we didn't hear from him, we both thought, 105 00:07:07,747 --> 00:07:09,916 "Well, okay, they're still playing golf." 106 00:07:10,500 --> 00:07:13,628 She said, "Well, just come on back. Don't worry about him. 107 00:07:13,711 --> 00:07:15,964 He probably got sidetracked a bit. He'll show up." 108 00:07:17,090 --> 00:07:22,136 I was off doing my thing, and my mom said she hadn't talked to him in some time. 109 00:07:22,929 --> 00:07:26,724 He drives and goes down to Wilmington to visit old friends, 110 00:07:26,808 --> 00:07:29,602 stay a couple of days, drive back, 111 00:07:29,686 --> 00:07:32,146 but my mother's always in dialogue with him. 112 00:07:34,649 --> 00:07:37,235 When she got worried, we all got worried. 113 00:07:37,860 --> 00:07:40,154 Was it unusual for him to be out of contact? 114 00:07:40,238 --> 00:07:42,448 Oh, yes, definitely unusual. 115 00:07:42,991 --> 00:07:44,534 I knew something wasn't right. 116 00:07:46,411 --> 00:07:49,747 James Jordan, the father of Bulls superstar Michael Jordan, 117 00:07:49,831 --> 00:07:51,791 has not been seen for three weeks. 118 00:07:53,459 --> 00:07:55,670 His car was found stripped and hidden 119 00:07:55,753 --> 00:07:58,423 in some woods near Fayetteville, North Carolina. 120 00:07:58,506 --> 00:08:02,176 The car, a red Lexus, was missing the license plates. 121 00:08:02,260 --> 00:08:05,471 It was battered. The windows were broken out. 122 00:08:05,555 --> 00:08:08,224 You know, we try to backtrack what his actions were. 123 00:08:08,307 --> 00:08:11,853 He left a certain day. He was driving back, 124 00:08:12,562 --> 00:08:16,399 and just got tired. Instead of driving, he pulled off and he just took a nap. 125 00:08:17,650 --> 00:08:21,320 Next thing you know, things happen the way they happen. 126 00:08:24,741 --> 00:08:29,537 We're coming on the air now with word that the body of James Jordan 127 00:08:29,620 --> 00:08:34,042 has been found in a creek near the border between South and North Carolina. 128 00:08:34,792 --> 00:08:37,272 Investigators say Jordan was driving late at night 129 00:08:37,336 --> 00:08:39,130 when he pulled off the road to take a nap... 130 00:08:39,672 --> 00:08:41,674 And he was awakened. 131 00:08:41,758 --> 00:08:46,054 And at that time, he was shot once in the chest. 132 00:08:46,137 --> 00:08:48,139 Two 18-year-old men are charged 133 00:08:48,222 --> 00:08:50,475 with the robbery and murder of James Jordan. 134 00:08:51,809 --> 00:08:53,209 As for Michael Jordan, 135 00:08:53,269 --> 00:08:55,521 he arrived back home today in North Carolina. 136 00:08:55,605 --> 00:08:59,692 Back to face the most painful moments of an already troubled year. 137 00:08:59,776 --> 00:09:03,613 Meanwhile, Jordan's murder adds another bitter twist to the dark side 138 00:09:03,696 --> 00:09:05,406 of an all-American success story. 139 00:09:17,210 --> 00:09:19,003 You know, that's just such a... 140 00:09:19,087 --> 00:09:22,799 It's just such a horrible, hard thing to talk about. 141 00:09:22,882 --> 00:09:27,637 I can remember that, flying into... North Carolina. 142 00:09:33,726 --> 00:09:35,228 Michael couldn't tie his tie. 143 00:09:35,937 --> 00:09:39,899 So I had to tie the tie for him, and that moment was just so hard. 144 00:09:40,441 --> 00:09:42,193 So hard of what we were there for. 145 00:09:45,822 --> 00:09:48,199 We all were together, and it was devastating, 146 00:09:48,282 --> 00:09:51,744 but it was about support. We had to support each other. 147 00:09:55,039 --> 00:09:56,958 My mother was so strong. 148 00:09:58,584 --> 00:10:01,963 And the first thing she says, "You gotta be thankful." 149 00:10:02,046 --> 00:10:04,215 And I started looking at the positive. 150 00:10:05,716 --> 00:10:09,804 Michael's the one who got up and spoke, and he spoke about, I think, 151 00:10:10,388 --> 00:10:14,851 what a father he had been to him. More of a father but also a friend. 152 00:10:14,934 --> 00:10:18,437 He'd been there. A lot of things he wouldn't share with anybody else, 153 00:10:18,521 --> 00:10:19,730 he shared with his dad. 154 00:10:23,109 --> 00:10:26,237 One of the things he taught me is that you have to take a negative 155 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:27,655 and turn it into a positive. 156 00:10:30,032 --> 00:10:32,326 So I started looking to the other side of it, 157 00:10:32,410 --> 00:10:34,495 and that helped me get through it. 158 00:10:36,581 --> 00:10:38,666 When his dad was murdered, 159 00:10:38,749 --> 00:10:42,086 all the articles, the speculation that came out, 160 00:10:42,170 --> 00:10:44,088 it was not journalism's finest hour. 161 00:10:45,506 --> 00:10:49,218 The violent death sparked a half-dozen theories about the motive, 162 00:10:49,302 --> 00:10:51,679 some including possible connections to gambling. 163 00:10:54,432 --> 00:10:57,810 That was really bad. That was really unfair. 164 00:10:58,769 --> 00:11:01,647 Imagine your father gets killed and they're blaming you? 165 00:11:01,731 --> 00:11:04,192 That was really cheap-shot stuff. 166 00:11:07,236 --> 00:11:08,321 It did hurt, 167 00:11:08,404 --> 00:11:12,033 but you had people that were throwing darts who wanted to hurt me anyway. 168 00:11:12,742 --> 00:11:14,452 It wasn't from the people that I loved, 169 00:11:14,535 --> 00:11:16,495 or people that knew me and people that care. 170 00:11:16,579 --> 00:11:19,957 It was the people that got tired of me being on top. 171 00:11:20,541 --> 00:11:22,543 Basketball superstar Michael Jordan 172 00:11:22,627 --> 00:11:24,045 issued a statement Thursday. 173 00:11:24,128 --> 00:11:27,048 He expressed that he was outraged by some media speculation 174 00:11:27,131 --> 00:11:29,592 linking his behavior to his father's murder. 175 00:11:29,675 --> 00:11:32,053 Jordan said, "I simply cannot comprehend 176 00:11:32,136 --> 00:11:35,223 how others could intentionally pour salt in my open wound 177 00:11:35,306 --> 00:11:37,600 by insinuating that mistakes in my life 178 00:11:37,683 --> 00:11:40,228 are in some way connected to my father's death." 179 00:11:41,646 --> 00:11:44,440 There isn't a thimble's worth of evidence 180 00:11:44,523 --> 00:11:47,443 to connect that horrible incident 181 00:11:48,361 --> 00:11:49,612 to Michael Jordan's gambling 182 00:11:49,695 --> 00:11:52,073 or any other aspect of Michael Jordan's behavior. 183 00:11:52,156 --> 00:11:55,826 Police said it was no more than brutality and greed, 184 00:11:55,910 --> 00:11:59,747 that James Jordan "could have been any one of us." 185 00:12:00,331 --> 00:12:03,084 What is still unclear and will be for some time 186 00:12:03,167 --> 00:12:05,586 is what effect this tragedy will have on Michael Jordan 187 00:12:05,670 --> 00:12:07,463 and his future with the Chicago Bulls. 188 00:12:07,546 --> 00:12:09,882 Basketball? Haven't thought about basketball. 189 00:12:09,966 --> 00:12:13,427 I didn't think about basketball before all this happened, so, uh... 190 00:12:13,511 --> 00:12:17,181 Right now, everything's tentative for my schedule from this point on. 191 00:12:19,058 --> 00:12:21,310 David Falk came over to me at a charity dinner 192 00:12:21,394 --> 00:12:22,853 that was sponsored by Michael, 193 00:12:23,437 --> 00:12:26,691 and said, "You're not gonna believe this, but Michael wants to retire." 194 00:12:27,483 --> 00:12:28,943 I said, "I don't believe it." 195 00:12:30,361 --> 00:12:33,698 At that time, we were coming off of three championships. 196 00:12:34,282 --> 00:12:36,867 I fulfilled my responsibility to the city, 197 00:12:37,368 --> 00:12:39,912 to the Bulls, to my teammates. 198 00:12:40,413 --> 00:12:43,499 I did not try to talk him out of it, but I did say to him, 199 00:12:43,582 --> 00:12:46,502 "You can't make a final decision until you talk to Phil." 200 00:12:46,585 --> 00:12:48,065 Where was that meeting? 201 00:12:48,129 --> 00:12:51,424 Reinsdorf's office in the Berto Center. 202 00:12:51,507 --> 00:12:53,151 - Just the two of you? - Yeah. 203 00:12:53,175 --> 00:12:56,595 When I told Phil, I said, "Look, I'm about here. I'm about done. 204 00:12:56,679 --> 00:12:59,640 I have no more challenges, I have no motivation." 205 00:12:59,724 --> 00:13:00,933 I was done. 206 00:13:01,017 --> 00:13:06,105 This was... a young man that'd gone through some heart-rending things. 207 00:13:06,188 --> 00:13:11,777 You're denying a gift to society, but I understand. 208 00:13:12,903 --> 00:13:14,363 You know, I understand. 209 00:13:17,283 --> 00:13:20,911 Game one of the American League Championship Series 210 00:13:20,995 --> 00:13:24,373 as the Chicago White Sox greet the world champion Toronto Blue Jays. 211 00:13:24,457 --> 00:13:26,834 Michael was scheduled to throw out the first pitch. 212 00:13:26,917 --> 00:13:30,171 He threw out the first pitch of game one of the ALCS. 213 00:13:30,254 --> 00:13:33,174 Then he went up into a private box with his family. 214 00:13:33,257 --> 00:13:36,677 I'm watching a White Sox playoff game 215 00:13:36,761 --> 00:13:38,262 in Comiskey Park. 216 00:13:38,346 --> 00:13:40,786 A kid comes up and says, "Mr. Reinsdorf wants to talk to you." 217 00:13:40,848 --> 00:13:44,310 So I went up and I grab Jerry and, "What's up?" 218 00:13:44,852 --> 00:13:47,355 He said, "Michael's quitting." I said, "What? 219 00:13:47,438 --> 00:13:50,858 No, no. What's up? Don't joke with me, that's serious stuff." 220 00:13:50,941 --> 00:13:52,693 He said, "No, he's quitting, Jerr." 221 00:13:52,777 --> 00:13:54,612 That game was a Tuesday, 222 00:13:54,695 --> 00:13:57,114 and I wanted to hold the story until Wednesday, 223 00:13:57,656 --> 00:13:58,783 but it leaked out. 224 00:13:58,866 --> 00:13:59,909 Breaking story here. 225 00:13:59,992 --> 00:14:03,162 The Chicago Bulls have called a press conference for tomorrow morning, 226 00:14:03,245 --> 00:14:05,331 and there's high speculation and a report 227 00:14:05,414 --> 00:14:09,210 that Michael Jordan will retire from basketball forever. 228 00:14:09,293 --> 00:14:12,755 So, all hell broke out at the ballpark on a Tuesday night. 229 00:14:14,090 --> 00:14:17,301 Media trying to get into my box to get to Michael. It was wild. 230 00:14:17,385 --> 00:14:21,097 Michael decided to exit stage left in the seventh inning. 231 00:14:21,180 --> 00:14:24,308 Jordan speeding away from Comiskey Park without comment. 232 00:14:24,392 --> 00:14:26,192 Did Michael talk to you about it? 233 00:14:26,227 --> 00:14:29,313 So, too, Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf. 234 00:14:29,397 --> 00:14:30,773 Before we continue tonight, 235 00:14:30,856 --> 00:14:32,983 a late-breaking story of enormous interest. 236 00:14:33,067 --> 00:14:35,986 A shocking revelation tonight for all Chicagoans. 237 00:14:36,070 --> 00:14:38,155 Sources with the Chicago Bulls have confirmed 238 00:14:38,239 --> 00:14:41,200 that Michael Jordan will announce his retirement effective immediately 239 00:14:41,283 --> 00:14:42,952 at a Wednesday morning press conference. 240 00:14:43,035 --> 00:14:45,663 CBS News will carry Michael Jordan's announcement live. 241 00:14:45,746 --> 00:14:49,583 Our coverage will begin this morning at 11 o'clock Eastern time. 242 00:14:49,667 --> 00:14:52,002 Allison, this is the ultimate press conference. 243 00:14:52,086 --> 00:14:54,713 Every cameraman and reporter I've ever known in this business 244 00:14:54,797 --> 00:14:58,384 from all parts of the country, from Dick Schaap to Tom Brokaw, 245 00:14:58,467 --> 00:15:00,553 to everyone here waiting for the arrival 246 00:15:00,636 --> 00:15:03,556 of players, Michael Jordan, his entourage and the Bulls management... 247 00:15:04,181 --> 00:15:05,266 Whether you agree or not 248 00:15:05,349 --> 00:15:08,727 that this should be the news story of the year, it is. 249 00:15:08,811 --> 00:15:11,480 Close to 100 cameras from around the world... 250 00:15:11,564 --> 00:15:12,898 Get ready for entry on camera. 251 00:15:12,982 --> 00:15:14,942 and three times as many reporters. 252 00:15:15,025 --> 00:15:19,613 They've come from everywhere, from the local weeklies to network news. 253 00:15:19,697 --> 00:15:22,575 That's a tribute to Michael Jordan's presence in American life 254 00:15:22,658 --> 00:15:25,244 as the greatest basketball player who ever lived. 255 00:15:25,327 --> 00:15:29,874 Here they come. Here they come. Here he comes. Here he comes. 256 00:15:29,957 --> 00:15:32,501 Michael Jordan now... is entering. 257 00:15:34,170 --> 00:15:37,339 Here's Michael Jordan, taking his place at the podium, 258 00:15:37,423 --> 00:15:39,049 surrounded by security. 259 00:15:40,134 --> 00:15:43,512 It's hard to overstate the loss of Michael Jordan 260 00:15:43,596 --> 00:15:45,723 to the National Basketball Association 261 00:15:45,806 --> 00:15:48,267 and to the heartbeat of this community of Chicago. 262 00:15:48,350 --> 00:15:51,604 He has led this team to three NBA championships, of course. 263 00:15:51,687 --> 00:15:54,732 The superstar's frequently the talk of the town. 264 00:15:54,815 --> 00:15:58,402 This time, the talk is more like a chorus of mourning. 265 00:15:59,111 --> 00:16:00,821 Michael all smiles. 266 00:16:01,363 --> 00:16:04,283 Jerry Reinsdorf, Phil Jackson, Jerry Krause. 267 00:16:04,366 --> 00:16:07,620 NBA Commissioner David Stern even in attendance. 268 00:16:07,703 --> 00:16:09,538 It looks like The Last Supper. 269 00:16:13,584 --> 00:16:15,961 This is a very bittersweet day. 270 00:16:16,712 --> 00:16:18,047 There's a certain sadness 271 00:16:18,130 --> 00:16:22,343 because the greatest athlete to ever play a team sport is leaving the game, 272 00:16:22,885 --> 00:16:25,429 but it's really, for me, a very, very happy day 273 00:16:25,971 --> 00:16:29,141 because somebody who I admire and respect... 274 00:16:30,392 --> 00:16:32,770 is doing exactly what he wants to do. 275 00:16:33,771 --> 00:16:36,774 And I'm absolutely convinced that he's doing the right thing. 276 00:16:37,316 --> 00:16:38,316 Michael? 277 00:16:39,401 --> 00:16:42,363 Thanks, Jerry. I'm a very optimistic person. 278 00:16:42,446 --> 00:16:45,407 I guess the biggest positive thing that I can take out of 279 00:16:45,491 --> 00:16:51,038 my father not being here with me today is that... he saw my last basketball game. 280 00:16:51,121 --> 00:16:52,331 And that means a lot. 281 00:16:54,291 --> 00:16:55,834 The word "retired" means... 282 00:16:57,002 --> 00:16:59,171 you can do anything you want from this day on. 283 00:16:59,672 --> 00:17:01,924 So if I desire to come back and play again, 284 00:17:02,758 --> 00:17:03,918 maybe that's what I wanna do. 285 00:17:03,968 --> 00:17:06,512 Maybe that's the challenge I may need someday down the road. 286 00:17:07,221 --> 00:17:08,889 I'm not gonna close that door. 287 00:17:11,183 --> 00:17:12,893 I was at peace with that decision. 288 00:17:13,644 --> 00:17:15,145 Totally, 100%. 289 00:17:15,938 --> 00:17:18,023 You know, I felt ready. 290 00:17:23,237 --> 00:17:27,658 Michael Jordan's retirement in 1993 was one of those seismic 291 00:17:28,284 --> 00:17:31,495 "where were you when you heard the news" moments. 292 00:17:32,580 --> 00:17:35,666 And you immediately think, "Why?" 293 00:17:38,043 --> 00:17:44,508 Nobody could rationalize that Michael would just walk away. 294 00:17:48,262 --> 00:17:49,763 There's one side of this 295 00:17:49,847 --> 00:17:51,974 we ought to mention. I don't wanna sound negative 296 00:17:52,057 --> 00:17:57,730 but, uh, Michael did leave abruptly in the middle of a gambling investigation. 297 00:17:57,813 --> 00:18:00,274 Look at some of the events that have recently happened. 298 00:18:01,233 --> 00:18:02,985 His father was tragically murdered. 299 00:18:03,694 --> 00:18:07,281 There's a number of questions about his gambling. 300 00:18:08,532 --> 00:18:12,494 And you start to connect some dots and you think, "Is this all related? 301 00:18:13,120 --> 00:18:16,165 Was this a secret suspension?" 302 00:18:16,749 --> 00:18:18,876 The retirement, there were people who said, 303 00:18:18,959 --> 00:18:20,919 "David Stern suspended him. Wink, wink. 304 00:18:21,003 --> 00:18:22,630 It's suspension, right?" 305 00:18:24,089 --> 00:18:26,300 And that was... It was out there. 306 00:18:27,384 --> 00:18:28,719 You're telling me... 307 00:18:29,219 --> 00:18:34,266 that David Stern, the ultimate capitalist, takes his number one player 308 00:18:34,350 --> 00:18:36,352 on his number one franchise, 309 00:18:36,435 --> 00:18:39,897 and unilaterally decides to lower the value 310 00:18:39,980 --> 00:18:42,775 of the rest of the league franchises by taking him out 311 00:18:42,858 --> 00:18:44,610 and the Bulls out effectively... 312 00:18:45,402 --> 00:18:46,403 um... 313 00:18:47,237 --> 00:18:51,116 for some secret penalty, and no one ever finds out about it? 314 00:18:51,784 --> 00:18:54,912 What's your opinion of the theory that 315 00:18:55,579 --> 00:18:58,832 Commissioner Stern suspended Michael for 18 months? 316 00:19:00,417 --> 00:19:02,878 How can I phrase this delicately? 317 00:19:02,961 --> 00:19:04,213 Total bullshit. 318 00:19:04,963 --> 00:19:06,090 Can you use that? 319 00:19:07,216 --> 00:19:08,842 Total bullshit. 320 00:19:09,718 --> 00:19:13,013 There was so much speculative reporting. 321 00:19:13,097 --> 00:19:16,100 Nobody had concrete facts, nobody had anything. 322 00:19:16,809 --> 00:19:21,647 The folklore, the urban legend that I sent him away because he was gambling... 323 00:19:21,730 --> 00:19:25,943 Ridiculous. It never... No basis in fact whatever. 324 00:19:26,652 --> 00:19:29,780 I could bang on the table and say it's a calumny, 325 00:19:29,863 --> 00:19:32,658 a slanderous lie or whatever. It's just not true. 326 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:37,162 Never was and never will be, no matter how many times people ask the question. 327 00:19:37,246 --> 00:19:40,499 So Michael Jordan left the league of his own volition in 1993? 328 00:19:40,582 --> 00:19:41,834 Yes, he did. 329 00:19:43,335 --> 00:19:46,004 I didn't retire because he kicked me out 330 00:19:46,088 --> 00:19:48,549 or they suspended me for a year and a half. 331 00:19:48,632 --> 00:19:51,093 That is not true. There is no truth to that. 332 00:19:51,802 --> 00:19:55,723 I needed a break, you know, my father just passed and I retired. 333 00:19:55,806 --> 00:19:58,809 I retired with the notion that I wasn't going to come back. 334 00:19:59,351 --> 00:20:00,936 The conspiracy stuff was stupid 335 00:20:01,019 --> 00:20:04,982 because I had sat with him a year earlier, and he told me what he was gonna do. 336 00:20:06,275 --> 00:20:08,861 It was the summer of '92, and it's the Dream Team summer. 337 00:20:09,445 --> 00:20:11,363 You could tell he was really tired. 338 00:20:12,197 --> 00:20:14,700 As tired as he looked and as beat up as he looked, 339 00:20:15,242 --> 00:20:17,453 I said, "So, what are you gonna do?" 340 00:20:18,746 --> 00:20:20,765 Long pause, and he said, "I'm gonna shock the world. 341 00:20:20,789 --> 00:20:22,916 Now I'm gonna quit and go play baseball." 342 00:20:24,001 --> 00:20:25,794 And I said, "When?" 343 00:20:26,503 --> 00:20:29,298 And he said, "Well, I'd do it right now, 344 00:20:29,381 --> 00:20:32,134 except Bird and Magic never won three in a row, 345 00:20:32,217 --> 00:20:34,219 and I gotta do the Olympics, 346 00:20:35,012 --> 00:20:37,723 but if it wasn't for that, I'd be playing this summer." 347 00:20:39,057 --> 00:20:42,519 The big top for this circus went up at 10:45 this morning. 348 00:20:42,603 --> 00:20:46,940 Michael went through a series of drills, including fielding, catching and throwing. 349 00:20:48,901 --> 00:20:50,027 With batting practice done, 350 00:20:50,110 --> 00:20:53,989 MJ headed to his news conference, and rumor became reality. 351 00:20:56,033 --> 00:20:59,495 Thank you all for coming out here today and getting a glimpse of Michael. 352 00:21:00,037 --> 00:21:04,041 After watching the progress that Michael has made in the past two months, 353 00:21:04,124 --> 00:21:06,126 I'd like to announce that the Chicago White Sox 354 00:21:06,210 --> 00:21:07,669 are extending an invitation 355 00:21:08,462 --> 00:21:10,506 to Major League camp in Sarasota. 356 00:21:12,841 --> 00:21:14,510 Hope you got a pen. 357 00:21:14,593 --> 00:21:17,471 Along with the Bulls, I owned the Chicago White Sox, 358 00:21:18,180 --> 00:21:20,599 and when Michael was signed to play baseball, 359 00:21:20,682 --> 00:21:22,726 I continued paying his basketball contract, 360 00:21:22,810 --> 00:21:25,145 which was something over $3 million a year. 361 00:21:25,813 --> 00:21:29,650 There was no reason to pay him other than he was underpaid his entire career, 362 00:21:29,733 --> 00:21:32,069 and he made a lot of money for a lot of people. 363 00:21:32,611 --> 00:21:36,031 Picture this now. Bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, 3-2. 364 00:21:36,114 --> 00:21:38,534 Michael Jordan takes one out of the yard. 365 00:21:38,617 --> 00:21:40,702 Michael Jordan got what he wanted. 366 00:21:41,870 --> 00:21:43,080 He is a rookie again. 367 00:21:43,163 --> 00:21:46,291 A lot of people may think this... off the wall. 368 00:21:46,375 --> 00:21:50,128 Maybe it is but, I mean, I'm doing something that I choose to do. 369 00:21:50,838 --> 00:21:54,174 That's try to follow one of the dreams that I had when I was a kid. 370 00:21:55,092 --> 00:21:57,177 He'd always loved playing baseball. 371 00:21:57,261 --> 00:22:01,598 We thought we was going to be Major League Baseball players, growing up as a kid. 372 00:22:03,934 --> 00:22:08,480 He loves baseball, and his father always wanted him to play baseball. 373 00:22:09,523 --> 00:22:12,484 Do you recall your last conversation with him? 374 00:22:12,901 --> 00:22:15,320 We were debating, me and him. 375 00:22:15,404 --> 00:22:17,739 We were debating about me playing baseball. 376 00:22:17,823 --> 00:22:19,408 "Dad, I wanna go play baseball. 377 00:22:19,491 --> 00:22:21,785 I'm thinking about retiring. I wanna play baseball." 378 00:22:21,869 --> 00:22:24,788 And all the things that he was saying, "Do it. Do it." 379 00:22:24,872 --> 00:22:26,874 Because he got me started in baseball. 380 00:22:27,457 --> 00:22:30,419 It was always his father's dream that he'd be a baseball player. 381 00:22:30,502 --> 00:22:32,796 I didn't try to talk him out of it, but I did say, 382 00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:36,091 "Playing baseball is a lot harder than you think it is." 383 00:22:38,844 --> 00:22:42,764 I said, "What position you gonna be playing?" He says, "In the outfield." 384 00:22:42,848 --> 00:22:45,726 So, I said, "Michael, let's understand something here." 385 00:22:45,809 --> 00:22:48,896 I said, "The workouts are going to be totally different. 386 00:22:49,563 --> 00:22:54,484 Two totally different methods of training your body and muscles. 387 00:22:54,985 --> 00:22:57,946 This is going to be detrimental to your basketball game." 388 00:22:58,488 --> 00:23:00,741 He's like, "I don't care. Baseball. I'm all in." 389 00:23:02,618 --> 00:23:05,162 He played baseball until he was 17 years old. 390 00:23:05,245 --> 00:23:08,582 Then doesn't play baseball again till he's 31 years old. 391 00:23:08,665 --> 00:23:13,253 We don't send anybody to Double-A after they come out of college or high school 392 00:23:13,337 --> 00:23:15,213 because it's too high a level. 393 00:23:15,297 --> 00:23:18,342 We start them out either at rookie ball or at A-ball. 394 00:23:18,425 --> 00:23:20,385 But we couldn't do that with Michael 395 00:23:21,011 --> 00:23:24,306 because the press facilities were inadequate below Double-A. 396 00:23:24,389 --> 00:23:28,685 So we put him at Double-A strictly because we needed to be able to handle the media. 397 00:23:28,769 --> 00:23:31,647 Michael Jordan went to the Birmingham Barons, 398 00:23:31,730 --> 00:23:34,566 the Double-A farm team of the Chicago White Sox. 399 00:23:34,650 --> 00:23:37,235 When we found out he was coming to the Birmingham work group, 400 00:23:37,319 --> 00:23:39,321 there was four days left in spring training, 401 00:23:39,905 --> 00:23:44,451 and I just said, "Hey, man, I'm Terry, and I guess I'm gonna be your manager." 402 00:23:49,706 --> 00:23:52,668 I remember him being in Birmingham, Alabama. 403 00:23:53,293 --> 00:23:56,171 You never would have thought you were at a minor league game. 404 00:23:56,254 --> 00:24:00,717 You can't believe... commotion, the excitement. 405 00:24:00,801 --> 00:24:03,637 Never has one rookie gotten so much attention. 406 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:06,348 Folks are lying on the ground for a glimpse of MJ. 407 00:24:06,848 --> 00:24:08,448 Reporters and photographers 408 00:24:08,475 --> 00:24:10,352 continue to arrive from all over the world. 409 00:24:16,441 --> 00:24:18,860 Every ballpark we'd go to sold out. 410 00:24:19,361 --> 00:24:20,988 Everybody wants a piece of him. 411 00:24:33,208 --> 00:24:34,208 Nice hit, Mike. 412 00:24:35,085 --> 00:24:38,547 It was kind of fashionable to roll your eyes at him playing baseball. 413 00:24:38,630 --> 00:24:44,386 After I met him, I realized quickly how much he respected what we were doing. 414 00:24:44,469 --> 00:24:46,513 One-one pitch to Michael. 415 00:24:46,596 --> 00:24:49,057 Looping drive. It'll score at least one. 416 00:24:49,808 --> 00:24:52,227 The thing that people forget about that season 417 00:24:52,310 --> 00:24:55,313 was he started out with a 13-game hitting streak. 418 00:24:58,025 --> 00:24:59,943 Jordan, base-hit left field. 419 00:25:02,487 --> 00:25:06,241 Jordan delivers a two RBI single to right-center field. 420 00:25:06,324 --> 00:25:08,660 Every night during that 13-game hitting streak, 421 00:25:08,744 --> 00:25:11,705 I'm going, "When's it going to happen?" And finally it did. 422 00:25:11,788 --> 00:25:13,832 He did not see a fastball in the strike zone 423 00:25:13,915 --> 00:25:15,292 for probably a month and a half. 424 00:25:15,375 --> 00:25:17,335 They're trying to get him out with breaking balls. 425 00:25:17,419 --> 00:25:19,963 It's breaking ball after breaking ball. 426 00:25:21,089 --> 00:25:23,091 And he's swinging at every one of them. 427 00:25:23,175 --> 00:25:26,178 Second strikeout in a row for Michael Jordan. 428 00:25:26,678 --> 00:25:29,238 Seen a lot of breaking balls the last two nights. 429 00:25:29,681 --> 00:25:32,241 That hitting streak in April was kind of a fluke. 430 00:25:32,309 --> 00:25:36,146 At that point, the national media was just giving him some shit. 431 00:25:37,981 --> 00:25:41,026 I think his chances of being any good are almost nil. 432 00:25:41,109 --> 00:25:43,779 Playing and... can't make the play. 433 00:25:43,862 --> 00:25:45,923 Just because you're considered the best 434 00:25:45,947 --> 00:25:47,783 to have ever played basketball 435 00:25:47,866 --> 00:25:50,994 does not mean you'll find similar success on the diamond. 436 00:25:51,536 --> 00:25:54,164 And now they put him on the cover of Sports Illustrated. 437 00:25:54,247 --> 00:25:56,249 He's missing a pitch by about that much 438 00:25:56,333 --> 00:26:00,837 and it says, "Bag It, Michael. Jordan embarrasses baseball." 439 00:26:01,338 --> 00:26:03,548 I remember seeing it and thinking "Oh, no." 440 00:26:03,632 --> 00:26:07,260 He calls it his dream that he wants to be a Major League Baseball player. 441 00:26:07,344 --> 00:26:08,470 I call it a delusion. 442 00:26:08,553 --> 00:26:11,306 He never spoke to anybody from Sports Illustrated again. 443 00:26:11,389 --> 00:26:13,975 Did you feel betrayed by that SI cover? 444 00:26:14,059 --> 00:26:15,059 Definitely. 445 00:26:16,019 --> 00:26:17,687 I never was interviewed for that. 446 00:26:18,230 --> 00:26:20,273 They came out to critique me 447 00:26:20,357 --> 00:26:23,068 without understanding what my passion was at the time. 448 00:26:23,985 --> 00:26:25,570 If you had a question to ask... 449 00:26:26,446 --> 00:26:28,698 and then if you want to write it, then you write it. 450 00:26:28,782 --> 00:26:31,118 That's fine. No problem. That's your opinion. 451 00:26:31,993 --> 00:26:34,496 But I can care less what people do. This is what I want to do. 452 00:26:34,579 --> 00:26:37,999 It's not what... I'm not doing what they think I should be doing. 453 00:26:38,083 --> 00:26:41,503 My father already told me I was doing the right thing and I did it. 454 00:26:43,338 --> 00:26:47,259 Being away from basketball gave him an opportunity 455 00:26:47,342 --> 00:26:50,303 to adjust his life to not having his dad... 456 00:26:52,013 --> 00:26:53,140 and moving on. 457 00:26:54,391 --> 00:26:56,268 So when you want to get in the cage? 458 00:26:56,351 --> 00:26:57,727 - 7:30? - I'm there. 459 00:26:58,436 --> 00:27:01,815 That fueled me more than anything and it drove me to make this thing work. 460 00:27:01,898 --> 00:27:04,317 "I gotta play catch-up but I'm gonna do it." 461 00:27:04,401 --> 00:27:08,655 I had fucking blisters, the second skin, swinging that bat. 462 00:27:10,907 --> 00:27:13,827 His work ethic was the best I've ever been around. 463 00:27:13,910 --> 00:27:17,664 He would hit early in the day. He'd hit off the breaking ball machine. 464 00:27:17,747 --> 00:27:20,959 He would come in after regular batting practice, 465 00:27:21,042 --> 00:27:24,838 hit some more before the game, and then would hit again after the game. 466 00:27:26,256 --> 00:27:27,966 By the time we got to August... 467 00:27:29,718 --> 00:27:32,095 you can see it just building, 468 00:27:32,179 --> 00:27:34,973 and he kept getting better and better and better. 469 00:27:35,056 --> 00:27:36,391 in the seventh. 470 00:27:36,474 --> 00:27:41,855 It's a fly ball, that's deep, that's back and... gone! 471 00:27:41,938 --> 00:27:44,900 Home run, Michael Jordan. Barons lead. 472 00:27:44,983 --> 00:27:48,403 And he hit over.200. That was amazing that he did that well. 473 00:27:48,486 --> 00:27:52,741 I can't believe he actually hit.202 and he drove in 50 runs. 474 00:27:53,325 --> 00:27:56,036 We had a lot of good prospects that didn't drive in 50 runs. 475 00:27:56,870 --> 00:27:59,206 In my opinion, with 1,500 at-bats, 476 00:27:59,289 --> 00:28:01,541 he'd have found a way to get to the Major League. 477 00:28:01,625 --> 00:28:03,501 Swing and a fly ball! 478 00:28:06,963 --> 00:28:10,467 I think the time away in baseball freed his mind of, you know, 479 00:28:10,550 --> 00:28:11,885 what had happened to his father. 480 00:28:13,845 --> 00:28:15,889 When you're on the road with a baseball team, 481 00:28:15,972 --> 00:28:17,390 that's who you're with. 482 00:28:17,474 --> 00:28:18,934 Your family doesn't travel with you 483 00:28:19,017 --> 00:28:21,019 so you hang out with the guys that you're with, 484 00:28:21,102 --> 00:28:22,729 and that was all of his teammates. 485 00:28:22,812 --> 00:28:24,439 I think he enjoyed it immensely. 486 00:28:25,774 --> 00:28:28,401 Sure, I mean, I was this big icon... 487 00:28:29,444 --> 00:28:31,738 but they treated me as I wanted to be treated. 488 00:28:31,821 --> 00:28:32,906 Just one of the guys. 489 00:28:33,490 --> 00:28:35,075 It was good for him. 490 00:28:35,158 --> 00:28:36,534 He was like a kid again. 491 00:28:47,545 --> 00:28:49,506 The pre-playoff buzz around the league 492 00:28:49,589 --> 00:28:51,758 was that the Chicago Bulls were vulnerable. 493 00:28:51,841 --> 00:28:54,386 Now we've heard those same declarations in the past 494 00:28:54,469 --> 00:28:55,929 from the so-called pundits 495 00:28:56,012 --> 00:28:58,515 but maybe this year, they finally have some merit, 496 00:28:58,598 --> 00:29:02,894 especially after the injury-riddled and eighth-seeded New Jersey Nets 497 00:29:02,978 --> 00:29:06,481 took the five-time NBA world champions into overtime. 498 00:29:06,564 --> 00:29:08,775 Every time we would play good 499 00:29:08,858 --> 00:29:10,485 and we were winning games, 500 00:29:10,568 --> 00:29:11,861 everything was okay. 501 00:29:12,654 --> 00:29:18,743 But everybody was always on alert around Michael after a bad game like that. 502 00:29:22,330 --> 00:29:27,002 He would say, "You motherfuckers didn't do a thing today. 503 00:29:27,085 --> 00:29:29,254 Come ready tomorrow to practice." 504 00:29:29,337 --> 00:29:34,050 His theory was, "If you can't handle pressure from me, 505 00:29:34,134 --> 00:29:39,681 uh, you're not gonna be able to handle pressure of the NBA playoffs." 506 00:29:40,265 --> 00:29:42,726 And so he talked trash in practice. 507 00:29:42,809 --> 00:29:44,060 He went at guys. 508 00:29:45,020 --> 00:29:46,354 He challenged guys. 509 00:29:50,275 --> 00:29:53,445 Hee! Hee! Hee! 510 00:29:53,987 --> 00:29:57,449 Hoo! Hee! Whoo! 511 00:29:59,034 --> 00:30:02,162 Whoo! Yeah, I remember, yeah. 512 00:30:02,245 --> 00:30:05,582 He wants to win and you gotta earn everything in Chicago. 513 00:30:05,665 --> 00:30:07,751 There was nothing easy. Nothing given to you. 514 00:30:07,834 --> 00:30:10,378 You better go out there and earn it. You earn it in practice. 515 00:30:11,004 --> 00:30:12,088 Scott Burrell. 516 00:30:13,131 --> 00:30:14,132 What up, Scott? 517 00:30:14,799 --> 00:30:16,259 You ready today? 518 00:30:16,343 --> 00:30:18,511 We gonna bust y'all ass today. 519 00:30:18,595 --> 00:30:21,514 Yeah, I know. We wounded. We're wounded. 520 00:30:21,598 --> 00:30:24,059 When there's a sick dog down, keep 'em down. 521 00:30:24,142 --> 00:30:26,227 Yeah, but you better watch out for the lead dog, 522 00:30:26,311 --> 00:30:29,147 he'll bite the shit out of you. 523 00:30:30,565 --> 00:30:33,276 I mean, they just rode Scotty 524 00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:36,321 and Scotty just smiled at Michael 525 00:30:36,404 --> 00:30:38,782 and took it and fired right back at him. 526 00:30:38,865 --> 00:30:42,327 Scott, I advise you to guard somebody else, like Jud. 527 00:30:42,410 --> 00:30:44,412 You can't even guard Jud. 528 00:30:44,496 --> 00:30:46,081 I don't wanna... I wanna guard you. 529 00:30:46,164 --> 00:30:47,707 You don't wanna... Hey. 530 00:30:47,791 --> 00:30:49,000 If you can guard me, 531 00:30:49,084 --> 00:30:51,711 there's 290-something jobs looking for you. 532 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:55,215 I got Scott. 533 00:30:55,924 --> 00:30:57,884 Scotty Burrell was a talented guy. 534 00:30:58,551 --> 00:31:01,846 And Scott Burrell, an exceptional basketball player 535 00:31:01,930 --> 00:31:04,307 out of the University of Connecticut... 536 00:31:04,391 --> 00:31:10,313 What Scotty was lacking was commitment, determination, seriousness. 537 00:31:10,397 --> 00:31:13,566 So he became, you know, my guy to kinda push, 538 00:31:13,650 --> 00:31:14,734 keep pushing. 539 00:31:16,694 --> 00:31:19,948 I tried to get him to fight me a couple of times, in a good sense. 540 00:31:20,031 --> 00:31:23,076 Just to get him, "All right. I'm tired of you picking on me." 541 00:31:23,159 --> 00:31:24,828 You know, that type of mentality. 542 00:31:26,204 --> 00:31:27,414 I could never get... 543 00:31:28,039 --> 00:31:29,499 He's such a nice guy. 544 00:31:31,835 --> 00:31:35,255 But I know we were gonna need him at some point in time. 545 00:31:35,338 --> 00:31:36,756 And he's gonna remember this 546 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:39,008 and he's gonna get out there and he's gonna fight. 547 00:31:39,509 --> 00:31:42,053 Garbage. Don't bring that bullshit. 548 00:31:42,929 --> 00:31:44,472 You're playing with the guy 549 00:31:44,556 --> 00:31:47,350 that has the highest standards of any basketball player ever. 550 00:31:47,892 --> 00:31:49,644 You wanna live up to that challenge. 551 00:31:50,145 --> 00:31:51,521 It's tough. Tough love. 552 00:31:51,604 --> 00:31:53,648 You gotta go out there and do your job. 553 00:31:53,731 --> 00:31:56,568 Go sit your asses down! Game time! 554 00:31:56,651 --> 00:31:58,361 That's nine, bitch! 555 00:31:59,070 --> 00:32:01,406 Hey, Scott, where your mouth at now, homie? 556 00:32:02,740 --> 00:32:05,827 He'd get feisty in a practice and maybe get up against people. 557 00:32:06,411 --> 00:32:09,289 I'd have to talk a little bit about toning it down 558 00:32:09,372 --> 00:32:12,917 and make amends, and, you know, keep that level of team camaraderie. 559 00:32:13,001 --> 00:32:16,546 That's your role too, as a part of this and being a captain. 560 00:32:21,593 --> 00:32:25,180 My mentality was to go out and win at any cost. 561 00:32:26,848 --> 00:32:29,559 If you don't want to live that regimented mentality, 562 00:32:29,642 --> 00:32:31,603 then you don't need to be alongside of me 563 00:32:31,686 --> 00:32:34,731 because I'mma ridicule you until you get on the same level with me. 564 00:32:34,814 --> 00:32:37,609 If you don't get on the same level, then it's gonna be hell for you. 565 00:32:37,692 --> 00:32:40,904 Why you keep fucking up that play, you big, fat-head motherfucker? 566 00:32:40,987 --> 00:32:42,906 Shoot a layup, you dumb-ass! 567 00:32:48,369 --> 00:32:50,246 People were afraid of him. 568 00:32:50,330 --> 00:32:53,249 We were his teammates and we were afraid. There was just fear. 569 00:32:53,833 --> 00:32:55,543 Catch the ball when I throw it to you. 570 00:32:56,044 --> 00:32:57,378 I just threw it to you. 571 00:32:57,462 --> 00:33:00,262 ignore this guy, he's come through, but he's overplayed... 572 00:33:00,298 --> 00:33:04,344 The fear factor of MJ was so, so thick. 573 00:33:04,969 --> 00:33:08,223 Yeah, let's not get it wrong. He was an asshole. He was a jerk. 574 00:33:09,057 --> 00:33:11,476 He crossed the line numerous times. 575 00:33:11,559 --> 00:33:13,686 But as time goes on and you think back 576 00:33:13,770 --> 00:33:16,689 about what he was actually trying to accomplish, 577 00:33:16,773 --> 00:33:19,275 you're like, "Yeah, he was a hell of a teammate." 578 00:33:19,359 --> 00:33:21,444 He was pushing us all to be better. 579 00:33:22,695 --> 00:33:24,239 Because he wanted to win. 580 00:33:24,322 --> 00:33:25,322 And guess what? 581 00:33:26,199 --> 00:33:27,200 It worked. 582 00:33:27,283 --> 00:33:29,536 We needed that, you know what I'm saying? 583 00:33:29,619 --> 00:33:32,830 I needed him to be the bad guy, the tough guy. 584 00:33:32,914 --> 00:33:35,583 You couldn't make a damn jump shot all night long. 585 00:33:35,667 --> 00:33:37,877 How many did you make? You made one, didn't you? 586 00:33:38,461 --> 00:33:39,462 One for seven. 587 00:33:39,546 --> 00:33:43,508 I feel bad for you, dog, your cat's sick. Go home and feed it Purina Cat Chow. 588 00:33:43,591 --> 00:33:45,051 It was a struggle. 589 00:33:45,134 --> 00:33:47,637 You know, Scott got a great personality. 590 00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:52,225 He took it like a man and he embraced it. 591 00:33:53,142 --> 00:33:54,519 Come on, Scott Burrell. 592 00:33:54,602 --> 00:33:57,272 You wanna be on this damn team, you better do something right. 593 00:33:57,355 --> 00:33:58,523 Make this free throw. 594 00:33:58,606 --> 00:33:59,606 Dance, boy. 595 00:34:00,650 --> 00:34:01,776 There you go. 596 00:34:03,444 --> 00:34:05,488 Each and every day, he's going to push you 597 00:34:05,572 --> 00:34:06,864 to try to get you where he is, 598 00:34:06,948 --> 00:34:12,453 but I'm not sure if he knows that only he can achieve those goals. 599 00:34:12,537 --> 00:34:14,956 But he can push other guys to try to get there, though. 600 00:34:21,963 --> 00:34:24,924 The Bulls held their first workout minus Michael Jordan today, 601 00:34:25,008 --> 00:34:27,677 the central peg gone from a nine-year era 602 00:34:27,760 --> 00:34:30,638 that left the Bulls with several key challenges and question marks 603 00:34:30,722 --> 00:34:32,181 about the upcoming season. 604 00:34:33,057 --> 00:34:36,394 It's a great opportunity for ball players that have wanted larger roles 605 00:34:36,477 --> 00:34:38,396 on this team to step up and fill some shoes. 606 00:34:38,479 --> 00:34:42,525 Scottie has now stepped out of the shadow of a great figure 607 00:34:42,609 --> 00:34:44,902 and he's now got the light all shining on him. 608 00:34:46,154 --> 00:34:49,574 We just gotta put the story behind with having Michael and go on. 609 00:34:49,657 --> 00:34:53,661 I mean, our lives goes on, the game goes on, basketball goes on. 610 00:34:53,745 --> 00:34:55,496 Pippen on the move. 611 00:34:55,580 --> 00:34:59,042 Pippen accelerates, down the lane. That is vintage Scottie Pippen. 612 00:34:59,125 --> 00:35:01,186 Rider takes it, and blocked away by Scottie. 613 00:35:02,795 --> 00:35:05,840 Horace Grant running down the left side. Pippen on the right. 614 00:35:05,923 --> 00:35:08,259 Gives it back to Steve Kerr. Lets fly for a... 615 00:35:08,343 --> 00:35:11,512 Time winding down. Batted... Scottie Pippen! 616 00:35:11,596 --> 00:35:13,196 And the reverse jam! 617 00:35:14,015 --> 00:35:15,224 Oh, man! 618 00:35:16,184 --> 00:35:21,314 Scottie was our prime motivator, initiator, organized the offense. 619 00:35:21,397 --> 00:35:23,441 He really stepped into that role. 620 00:35:24,025 --> 00:35:26,705 How did the team do that first season without Michael? 621 00:35:27,445 --> 00:35:28,445 Great. 622 00:35:28,946 --> 00:35:30,948 They had nobody yelling at 'em. 623 00:35:32,241 --> 00:35:34,243 They got up plenty of shots. 624 00:35:35,662 --> 00:35:38,581 Michael would just bludgeon everybody around him, 625 00:35:38,665 --> 00:35:41,876 and Scottie was the much softer touch. 626 00:35:41,959 --> 00:35:45,380 He was the guy who would comfort you when things weren't going well 627 00:35:45,463 --> 00:35:48,383 and put his arm around you and, "Hang in there. You'll be all right." 628 00:35:50,843 --> 00:35:54,430 Everyone expected me to try to be the man, 629 00:35:54,514 --> 00:35:59,686 but we beat teams by committee and we just learned to play together 630 00:35:59,769 --> 00:36:02,355 and share the ball and win together. 631 00:36:06,693 --> 00:36:09,320 That particular season, when Michael was gone, 632 00:36:09,404 --> 00:36:11,948 that was the season Phil did his best coaching. 633 00:36:12,031 --> 00:36:13,658 I heard Chuck Daly say, 634 00:36:13,741 --> 00:36:16,369 "Let's see the triangle offense work now without Michael." 635 00:36:16,452 --> 00:36:18,132 - Did he really say that? - Yes. 636 00:36:18,162 --> 00:36:19,539 Wait till I see Chuck. 637 00:36:22,750 --> 00:36:25,169 Everybody criticizes the triangle 638 00:36:25,253 --> 00:36:28,423 and says, "When you have Michael, then it works." 639 00:36:29,006 --> 00:36:33,052 But that one year, his star player was Pippen, 640 00:36:33,970 --> 00:36:35,680 who is not a scorer. 641 00:36:36,389 --> 00:36:37,473 He's a facilitator... 642 00:36:40,601 --> 00:36:43,396 and they ran the triangle to perfection. 643 00:36:43,479 --> 00:36:47,734 Toni Kukoc makes the move on the baseline. Back to Wennington. Paxson. 644 00:36:47,817 --> 00:36:49,068 Over to Scottie, baseline. 645 00:36:49,152 --> 00:36:51,654 Steve Kerr drives in, delivers to Wennington. 646 00:36:54,782 --> 00:36:56,576 Another surprise for the Bulls 647 00:36:56,659 --> 00:36:59,287 has been the emergence of rookie Toni Kukoc. 648 00:36:59,370 --> 00:37:01,748 The international superstar from Croatia 649 00:37:01,831 --> 00:37:03,958 came to the Bulls after a long courtship 650 00:37:04,041 --> 00:37:06,085 by Bulls general manager Jerry Krause. 651 00:37:06,669 --> 00:37:08,421 For those... 652 00:37:08,504 --> 00:37:12,675 For those of you who are, uh, new to number seven, 653 00:37:13,968 --> 00:37:19,056 number seven in Europe is the most popular number on the continent. 654 00:37:19,140 --> 00:37:21,559 A lot of youngsters wanna be like Toni. 655 00:37:24,729 --> 00:37:28,441 He was a typical European player at that time, 656 00:37:28,524 --> 00:37:30,860 who was an incredible shooter, 657 00:37:30,943 --> 00:37:32,779 but defense was not his thing. 658 00:37:32,862 --> 00:37:34,655 One-on-three and put it in. 659 00:37:34,739 --> 00:37:36,449 Phil was tough on him. 660 00:37:38,743 --> 00:37:41,287 Well, I understood that part, 661 00:37:41,370 --> 00:37:44,290 that coming here, nothing's going to be given to me 662 00:37:44,373 --> 00:37:47,877 just because I was really good in Europe. 663 00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:51,881 Obviously, you needed time to prove some things to each other. 664 00:37:53,466 --> 00:37:56,052 That season, we were winning a lot. 665 00:37:56,135 --> 00:38:00,097 And the Chicago Bulls will advance to round number two... 666 00:38:00,890 --> 00:38:04,310 I felt, "Okay. There is a chance 667 00:38:04,393 --> 00:38:08,147 we might actually get to the NBA finals without Michael." 668 00:38:11,526 --> 00:38:14,695 We ended up playing the Knicks in the east semis. 669 00:38:14,779 --> 00:38:18,407 We're down 2-0 and we were trying to get back in the series. 670 00:38:19,033 --> 00:38:23,079 Patrick Ewing made a shot with about two seconds left to tie the game 671 00:38:23,162 --> 00:38:27,291 and we were at risk of losing the whole series right there. 672 00:38:27,959 --> 00:38:30,962 Chicago have taken their last timeout 673 00:38:31,045 --> 00:38:35,258 to set up a shot with 1.8 seconds on the clock. 674 00:38:37,134 --> 00:38:40,429 So we come to the bench and I have this sequence 675 00:38:40,513 --> 00:38:44,100 that Toni has run before and he scored before on it. 676 00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:46,185 I know he can do this. 677 00:38:46,269 --> 00:38:50,398 I did hit a lot of last-second shots during the season. 678 00:38:51,190 --> 00:38:53,860 Gives it back. Toni, long three. 679 00:38:55,444 --> 00:38:57,989 Here's Kukoc, he hits on the left... 680 00:38:59,365 --> 00:39:01,993 Toni got it. Put it up. Look out! 681 00:39:02,076 --> 00:39:03,076 He got it! 682 00:39:03,119 --> 00:39:06,122 So anyway, I set this up and then Scottie was angry about it. 683 00:39:06,789 --> 00:39:10,251 I felt like it was an insult, coming from Phil. 684 00:39:11,252 --> 00:39:13,629 I was the most dangerous guy on our team 685 00:39:13,713 --> 00:39:16,299 so why are you asking me to take the ball out? 686 00:39:16,924 --> 00:39:20,261 This is a season where he's taken the role of Michael. 687 00:39:20,344 --> 00:39:22,263 He's had this MVP-caliber season. 688 00:39:23,556 --> 00:39:25,558 He thought it should be him taking the shot. 689 00:39:27,184 --> 00:39:30,730 And so Jim Cleamons came over and said Scottie's not going in. 690 00:39:30,813 --> 00:39:33,107 Phil said, "What do you mean he's not going in?" 691 00:39:33,190 --> 00:39:35,776 I go down and said, "Are you in or out?" He said... 692 00:39:37,278 --> 00:39:38,236 "I'm out." 693 00:39:38,237 --> 00:39:41,741 I remember Phil said, "Fuck him. Pete Myers, come on in." 694 00:39:42,575 --> 00:39:45,620 When Pip refused to go in that game, 695 00:39:46,579 --> 00:39:48,706 it was like a Twilight Zone moment. 696 00:39:48,789 --> 00:39:50,958 Like, "What the hell is going on?" 697 00:39:51,042 --> 00:39:52,835 Scottie's gonna sit here. 698 00:39:52,919 --> 00:39:56,464 That's strange, isn't it? That he would sit on this. 699 00:39:57,298 --> 00:40:01,010 1.8 left, no timeouts left for the Bulls. 700 00:40:02,970 --> 00:40:04,970 Myers, triggers the in-bounds pass. 701 00:40:06,265 --> 00:40:08,351 Kukoc, for the win... 702 00:40:12,855 --> 00:40:15,858 Bulls win! Bulls win! 703 00:40:15,942 --> 00:40:19,528 Kukoc with the life-saver. Oh, man! 704 00:40:21,197 --> 00:40:25,076 What a basket by Toni Kukoc at the buzzer. 705 00:40:26,410 --> 00:40:28,704 I would say I was obviously happy for making a shot, 706 00:40:28,788 --> 00:40:31,666 but the whole situation, even going towards the locker, 707 00:40:31,749 --> 00:40:37,213 you see everybody is pissed that things are not right. 708 00:40:37,296 --> 00:40:40,549 We don't know how to act 'cause Scottie's one of our favorite teammates, 709 00:40:40,633 --> 00:40:42,009 one of our favorite people. 710 00:40:42,927 --> 00:40:46,973 He quit on us and we couldn't believe that happened. 711 00:40:47,056 --> 00:40:49,976 It was... it was devastating. 712 00:40:50,559 --> 00:40:54,689 What he did, you know, you just don't expect a teammate to do. 713 00:40:55,523 --> 00:40:57,733 So I go out, and just address it to the team. 714 00:40:57,817 --> 00:41:00,403 This is something that we never thought would ever happen, 715 00:41:00,486 --> 00:41:01,946 that we would stop playing. 716 00:41:03,072 --> 00:41:06,367 "It's affected us as a whole team, Scottie, that you did this." 717 00:41:06,951 --> 00:41:11,664 What I remember most, though, is Bill Cartwright after the game. 718 00:41:14,041 --> 00:41:18,004 Bill Cartwright gets up and makes this speech... 719 00:41:19,839 --> 00:41:25,052 saying, "Pip, you let us down. I can't believe..." and he started crying. 720 00:41:25,886 --> 00:41:29,306 Tears were coming down his face and he said, 721 00:41:29,390 --> 00:41:32,935 "Scottie, I cannot believe that you quit on us like that." 722 00:41:33,019 --> 00:41:38,232 We had come too far with that team to go out like that. 723 00:41:38,315 --> 00:41:43,029 Scottie was in tears and upset and he realized, "I made a mistake. 724 00:41:43,112 --> 00:41:45,197 I thought I was bigger than the game. I'm not." 725 00:41:45,281 --> 00:41:46,490 And he apologized to us. 726 00:41:47,241 --> 00:41:51,245 I think the worst part was that we knew it was not Scottie's character. 727 00:41:51,328 --> 00:41:52,705 We knew that wasn't him, 728 00:41:53,539 --> 00:41:57,501 uh, and we knew it was gonna be a stain on his reputation. 729 00:41:59,420 --> 00:42:01,547 The next day, I get a call from Michael. 730 00:42:03,007 --> 00:42:06,218 He said, "I don't know if Scottie's ever gonna live this down." 731 00:42:06,302 --> 00:42:08,179 It's always going to come back to haunt him 732 00:42:08,262 --> 00:42:10,264 at some point in some conversation. 733 00:42:12,266 --> 00:42:13,893 Pip knows better than that. 734 00:42:15,269 --> 00:42:18,856 It's one of those incidents where I wish it never happened, 735 00:42:18,939 --> 00:42:23,110 but if I had a chance to do it over again, I probably wouldn't change it. 736 00:42:24,695 --> 00:42:26,697 The next couple of days were really important. 737 00:42:27,281 --> 00:42:31,243 We had to refocus and get back at it for the rest of the series. 738 00:42:39,085 --> 00:42:40,586 Great passing! 739 00:42:44,090 --> 00:42:47,343 Scottie had a great series and he turned things around. 740 00:42:47,426 --> 00:42:49,804 Scottie Pippen just went over 741 00:42:49,887 --> 00:42:53,557 to tell Spike Lee a few things, close up. 742 00:42:56,560 --> 00:43:00,272 We all respected his apology and we moved forward. 743 00:43:00,981 --> 00:43:03,984 We came very close to making a deep playoff run. 744 00:43:09,073 --> 00:43:11,826 But we lost in seven games to the Knicks in the Garden. 745 00:43:11,909 --> 00:43:13,994 It has been a wonderful run 746 00:43:14,078 --> 00:43:16,247 for the Chicago Bulls franchise this season, 747 00:43:16,330 --> 00:43:18,707 despite the loss of Michael Jordan. 748 00:43:20,042 --> 00:43:22,086 He wanted solitude from the cameras 749 00:43:22,169 --> 00:43:24,547 to watch his former mates' final moments. 750 00:43:24,630 --> 00:43:26,757 It's no different from a fan, you know? 751 00:43:26,841 --> 00:43:28,509 It's Jordan, the fan, 752 00:43:28,592 --> 00:43:31,387 who watches a replay of the Bulls' futile attempt. 753 00:43:31,470 --> 00:43:37,143 I'd rather just... do it privately so it's no, 754 00:43:37,977 --> 00:43:39,895 "Well, he's itching to get back into the game" 755 00:43:39,979 --> 00:43:41,856 or, you know, none of that stuff. 756 00:43:41,939 --> 00:43:44,775 I'm happy to be where I am. But I'm still a fan. 757 00:43:44,859 --> 00:43:47,236 I like being around and watching the game. 758 00:44:02,793 --> 00:44:03,979 Let's go out and play hard. 759 00:44:04,003 --> 00:44:05,763 Let's prove we can play better than game one. 760 00:44:05,796 --> 00:44:06,796 Come on, fellas. 761 00:44:08,048 --> 00:44:09,300 Here we are, 762 00:44:09,383 --> 00:44:11,802 game two of the New Jersey Nets and the Chicago Bulls. 763 00:44:11,886 --> 00:44:14,221 Crawford's gonna toss it up and we're going to be underway. 764 00:44:24,106 --> 00:44:26,984 Pippen back. Finds Kerr all alone. 765 00:44:27,067 --> 00:44:29,236 And that's what usually happens. 766 00:44:29,320 --> 00:44:32,198 And a reverse slam by Bill Wennington. 767 00:44:33,073 --> 00:44:34,742 Where did that come from? 768 00:44:34,825 --> 00:44:37,536 This is a shot in the arm for the Bulls. 769 00:44:37,620 --> 00:44:39,622 Their bench much livelier today, 770 00:44:39,705 --> 00:44:42,166 much more aggressive, looking for their shots. 771 00:44:43,751 --> 00:44:46,795 Chicago is gonna take the two games at home, 772 00:44:47,588 --> 00:44:51,175 but it turns out to have been much more difficult than they anticipated. 773 00:44:51,258 --> 00:44:53,818 Coming up, game three of our best-of-five series. 774 00:44:53,844 --> 00:44:57,473 The Bulls can pull off the sweep tonight with a victory. 775 00:45:03,854 --> 00:45:07,024 Filling the lane is Burrell with the easy layup. 776 00:45:08,901 --> 00:45:13,072 Burrell for another three and he's got it. Scott Burrell... 777 00:45:13,155 --> 00:45:15,074 What a game he's having. 778 00:45:15,157 --> 00:45:18,118 Burrell, 9-of-11 shooting, 23 points. 779 00:45:18,202 --> 00:45:20,412 Finishing touches, Jordan on point. 780 00:45:22,456 --> 00:45:27,878 Time runs out. And the Chicago Bulls sweep a first-round series. 781 00:45:27,962 --> 00:45:31,173 So, Scott Burrell with 23 points tonight. 782 00:45:31,257 --> 00:45:37,054 Final score, 116-101. The Bulls, led by that man, with 38. 783 00:45:37,137 --> 00:45:38,764 One down and three to go 784 00:45:38,847 --> 00:45:42,226 if the Chicago Bulls are to claim NBA title number six. 785 00:45:42,810 --> 00:45:45,771 The New Jersey Nets having been disposed of in three straight. 786 00:45:45,854 --> 00:45:48,023 Next up are the Charlotte Hornets. 787 00:45:51,026 --> 00:45:53,862 We all know Michael's tenacious on the court. 788 00:45:53,946 --> 00:45:55,572 It was business on the court, 789 00:45:55,656 --> 00:45:57,950 but he was a good guy to be around off the court. 790 00:45:58,033 --> 00:46:01,036 You can relax around him off the court. He's fun, he's enjoyable. 791 00:46:01,954 --> 00:46:05,582 - You like that yes or no question? Yes. - I had a follow-up for that too. 792 00:46:05,666 --> 00:46:07,626 Yeah, I know. That's why I answered it yes. 793 00:46:08,419 --> 00:46:09,420 What's up, partner? 794 00:46:10,045 --> 00:46:11,046 How you doing, Mike? 795 00:46:11,130 --> 00:46:12,923 - Steve? - Nice to meet ya. 796 00:46:13,007 --> 00:46:14,383 Know this guy? What's your name? 797 00:46:14,466 --> 00:46:15,801 - I'm Jerry. - Nice to meet you. 798 00:46:15,884 --> 00:46:17,594 - Can I get an autograph? - Sure. 799 00:46:17,678 --> 00:46:20,180 - I got some of your shoes. Appreciate it. - You do? 800 00:46:20,264 --> 00:46:21,264 Hell, yeah. 801 00:46:21,765 --> 00:46:23,434 Could you sign this real quick for me? 802 00:46:23,517 --> 00:46:25,936 I'm a collector, man. You owe me a thousand bucks. 803 00:46:27,604 --> 00:46:28,856 He gonna pay it too. 804 00:46:29,440 --> 00:46:30,649 How long are you in town? 805 00:46:30,733 --> 00:46:32,901 I dunno, we might leave tonight. 806 00:46:32,985 --> 00:46:34,820 - We drove up from Connecticut. - Yeah? 807 00:46:34,903 --> 00:46:37,114 Yeah, we got about a 14-hour drive. 808 00:46:37,197 --> 00:46:39,116 UConn's got a great women's team. 809 00:46:41,327 --> 00:46:44,538 You had to say that, didn't you? So does Carolina, though. 810 00:46:44,621 --> 00:46:46,248 No, I mean, that's not a knock. 811 00:46:47,124 --> 00:46:48,292 So does Carolina. 812 00:46:50,794 --> 00:46:53,881 Off the floor, he was gonna be cordial and accepting, 813 00:46:53,964 --> 00:46:57,760 he was gonna be nice, but as a teammate, he had certain expectations. 814 00:46:58,469 --> 00:46:59,970 Was he a nice guy? 815 00:47:02,890 --> 00:47:04,099 He couldn't have been nice. 816 00:47:07,353 --> 00:47:11,106 With that kind of mentality he had, he can't be a nice guy. 817 00:47:12,608 --> 00:47:14,193 He would be difficult to be around 818 00:47:14,276 --> 00:47:16,987 if you didn't truly love the game of basketball. 819 00:47:17,071 --> 00:47:18,447 He is difficult. 820 00:47:19,114 --> 00:47:21,492 Through the years, do you think that intensity 821 00:47:21,575 --> 00:47:25,120 has come at the expense of being perceived as a nice guy? 822 00:47:26,997 --> 00:47:27,998 Well, I mean... 823 00:47:30,334 --> 00:47:31,377 I don't know, I mean... 824 00:47:33,879 --> 00:47:35,255 Winning has a price. 825 00:47:37,257 --> 00:47:38,675 And leadership has a price. 826 00:47:40,928 --> 00:47:43,889 So, I pulled people along when they didn't wanna be pulled. 827 00:47:45,015 --> 00:47:47,851 I challenged people when they didn't wanna be challenged. 828 00:47:48,310 --> 00:47:52,398 And I earned that right because my teammates who came after me 829 00:47:53,107 --> 00:47:55,359 didn't endure all the things that I endured. 830 00:47:55,442 --> 00:47:57,569 Michael Jordan is down in pain. 831 00:47:57,653 --> 00:47:59,696 Michael Jordan got taken out. He's hurt. 832 00:48:01,657 --> 00:48:04,368 And Jordan came down hard and is injured. 833 00:48:04,451 --> 00:48:06,662 The Pistons have moved on 834 00:48:06,745 --> 00:48:09,873 but you really gotta feel for this man right here. 835 00:48:09,957 --> 00:48:11,458 I mean, playing his heart out. 836 00:48:12,167 --> 00:48:13,447 Once you join the team, 837 00:48:13,502 --> 00:48:15,504 you live at a certain standard that I play the game 838 00:48:16,088 --> 00:48:18,006 and I wasn't gonna take anything less. 839 00:48:19,258 --> 00:48:22,428 Now, if that means I had to go in and get in your ass a little bit? 840 00:48:22,511 --> 00:48:23,637 Then I did that. 841 00:48:28,308 --> 00:48:31,854 You ask all my teammates? "The one thing about Michael Jordan was 842 00:48:31,937 --> 00:48:35,190 he never asked me to do something that he didn't fucking do." 843 00:48:45,367 --> 00:48:48,704 When people see this, they gonna say, "He wasn't really a nice guy. 844 00:48:48,787 --> 00:48:50,622 He may have been a tyrant." 845 00:48:50,706 --> 00:48:53,125 Well, that's you, because you never won anything. 846 00:48:54,710 --> 00:48:57,880 I wanted to win, but I wanted them to win and be a part of that as well. 847 00:49:21,570 --> 00:49:26,325 Look, I don't have to do this. I'm only doing it because it is who I am. 848 00:49:27,326 --> 00:49:28,827 That's how I played the game. 849 00:49:29,495 --> 00:49:30,954 That was my mentality. 850 00:49:34,583 --> 00:49:36,335 If you don't wanna play that way... 851 00:49:37,669 --> 00:49:38,795 don't play that way. 852 00:49:42,174 --> 00:49:43,174 Break.