Thursday, May 23, 1996
Chicago should realize worth of league’s best player
He’s arguably the greatest player to ever play the game of
basketball. On Monday, he won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for
the fourth time in his career. His team set a league record for
most victories in a season with 72. He led the NBA in scoring, with
30.4 points per game, for a record eighth season. He’s a free agent
at the end of this year.
Michael Jordan reportedly is asking for a minimum of $36 million
over the next two years to remain with the Chicago Bulls, although
he has since denied these reports.
Jordan’s current salary is just under $4 million. By comparison,
Patrick Ewing made $18.7 million this season, currently ranking the
over-the-hill center the NBA’s highest-paid player. An
underachieving Shaquille O’Neal is expected to receive $20 million
next season. Jordan’s minimum salary would probably make him the
third highest paid player in the NBA. Obviously, Jordan warrants
that kind of bank. And to say Jordan is the most underpaid athlete
in all of sports is an understatement, in terms of the salary he
receives from his team.
Jerry Reinsdorf, chairman of the Bulls, and a man with a
reputation for being cheap, has made a great deal of money off
Jordan. Chicago Cub Mark Grace once told talk-show host Jim Rome
that if you shave Reinsdorf’s head, you’d find a 666.
"Now it’s time to give a little back," Jordan said in a press
conference. "I want to stay here, and I feel like its 70-30 that I
will, maybe 80-20. But I’m prepared to go, and so is my family, if
it doesn’t happen.
"If they mess around with me here, which I don’t think they
will, I’ll go elsewhere for whatever. I’ll play on another team for
$10 million less if I have to, just on principle."
While it’s hard to imagine, don’t be surprised if Jordan is
wearing different colors next season. I can easily see it
happening.
Reinsdorf obviously does not want to pay Jordan what he’s worth.
If he did, he would’ve given him his money by now. This is the
ultimate opportunity for Reinsdorf to milk an athlete for
everything he has, and then to throw him out like a piece of
meat.
Jordan, at the age of 33, is not the same player he once was.
But he is still the best player in the NBA. And he deserves the $36
million he is asking for.
But I can see Reinsdorf just taking all that money he has made
off Jordan to the bank, and getting out while he’s still ahead. The
team is already one of the greatest teams in the history of the
NBA. But it’s also the oldest team in the NBA. Even older than New
York.
Reinsdorf will decide that this team has had its run, and that
it’s time to rebuild. And a rebuilding team does not have a place
for a 33-year-old shooting guard who makes $18 million a year.
On the other side, the only reason Jordan would want to come
back to Chicago is to take Reinsdorf’s money. He’s going to win his
fourth ring, and his team has the single-season record for
victories. What else is there for him in Chicago, other than a
victory over the pitchfork-toting Reinsdorf?
So where is Michael Jordan going to go, if he’s not going to
beat Reinsdorf at his own game? What would be the biggest challenge
for Jordan, and what would give him the most satisfaction?
To win a title for the New York Knicks. It’s a perfect fit, and
it’s the perfect time.
The Knicks haven’t won a championship in 23 years, and they are
in disarray. Knick head coach Jeff Van Gundy took over in
mid-season for a washed-up Don Nelson. While Van Gundy has done an
admirable job in coaching the Knicks, he is not the future head
coach for the team, though the Knicks will reportedly pick up the
option on his contract
Bulls head coach Phil Jackson, also a free agent at the end of
this year, has expressed interest in coaching the Knicks.
While I don’t know if there is a head coaching stipulation in
Van Gundy’s contract, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Phil Jackson,
along with Jordan, take his act to New York, perhaps the greatest
sports town in America. Winning a championship with his aging Knick
teammates would be the greatest basketball story in recent
memory.
After all these years of Jordan dominating the Knicks in the
playoffs, Jordan would be able to go to the town that despised him
like no other. And, suddenly, they would all be on his bandwagon.
It would almost be comical.
With all the glamour of New York, Jordan would turn that city
upside-down. He would be king of New York. He would be able to go
back to Chicago and beat Reinsdorf in his own crib.
And for a man with Jordan’s ego, nothing would please him more.
It’ll be the ultimate "in your face, Reinsdorf."
With all the glamour of New York, Jordan would turn that city
upside-down. He would be king of New York. He would be able to go
back to Chicago and beat (Bulls coach Jerry) Reinsdorf …