The Michigan Review

Bulls: Fractured Dynasty

by Andrew Golding

They have won six championships, but, as the old adage says, all good things must come to an end. For the Chicago Bulls, that time may be now, as Roland Lazenby suggests in his probing look at the splintering of the team, Blood on the Horns: The Long Strange Ride of Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls.

Lazenby spares no words in explaining why such a harmonious group has dissipated into a collection of warring factions: “The insecurities of Jerry Krause. Then again, if I had to answer what caused the Bulls to be built into six-time world champions, the answer — right after the words Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen — would be the insecurities of Jerry Krause.”

The Bulls General Manager, Krause is a central figure in the book, but more importantly, a polarizing, “brusque” character. He is not likeable, but understandable.

Among the tidbits involving Krause, Jordan, and Coach Phil Jackson which titillate and confound the reader:

• Jordan and Jackson’s anger at Krause for using the team toilet before games, an apparent violation of implicit team rules regarding the king’s — Jordan’s — throne.
• Jordan’s near-signing with the New York Knicks in 1996. Jordan would have signed for a small base salary with the Knicks, but a mega-million dollar personal services contract which would have neared the one-year, $30 million deal he subsequently signed with the Bulls.
• Dennis Rodman received $8 million for his wrestling foray during the NBA Finals, as part of a multi-event contract. “If you had a chance to give up $10,000 to make $8 million, would you do it?” Rodman asks.
• The entire team mistakenly consumed Gator Lode — a drink with the carbohydrate level of baked potatoes — instead of Gatorade during Game 4 of the Finals against the Utah Jazz. Ahead most of the contest, the drink took its toll in the 4th quarter when the players felt the ’Lode, literally. “Dennis had to go to the bathroom. Scottie was lying down, and Michael asked to be taken out of the game. And he never asks that, or very rarely,” explains John Ligmanowski, the Bulls’ equipment manager.

Similarities between Blood on the Horns and Sam Smith’s 1992 Bulls tome, The Jordan Rules, have been noted and are justifiable. Both extensively explore Jordan’s personality, though Lazenby paves new ground with his reporting on Jordan’s sense of humor, described by his teammates as worthy of registration as a lethal weapon.

“Most of us are pretty straight forward and easy to figure out,” explains teammate Steve Kerr. “He’s not easy to figure out at times.”

• In a charity basketball game, Jordan called a teammate “not black enough” after he missed a layup, “deeply offending” the amateur player.
• Jordan and reserve Scott Burrell exchanged playful barbs on the team bus, until Jordan remarked that “We’re gonna trade your sorry ass back to Golden State for Dickey Simpkins.”
• During the 1997 playoffs, Jordan ripped into Krause and “absolutely killed him,” according to one observer. Jordan joked about Krause’s rotund figure, previous draft mistakes, and fishing skills. “It’s B.Y.O.P. Bring Your Own Pole. Don’t worry. If we don’t catch anything, you can just eat the bait yourself.”
• Upset with the drafting of forward Horace Grant in 1987, Jordan said to Krause: “What the hell? You took that dummy!?” “And for years, he called Horace dummy. To his face. Dummy. Right to his face. Unbelievable,” says Krause.

While reading Blood on the Horns, one must consider the sources for the book. After all, certain characters such as Jackson and Jordan come off poorly, while others like Krause and Reinsdorf receive complimentary treatment overall. The Chicago Sun-Times speculated on this subject, noting that “Phil [Jackson] was suspicious from day one about the extraordinary access Reinsdorf and Krause were granting Lazenby, in the locker room, on buses, at the Berto [team practice facility], just as Michael was. There’s something fishy going on here.”

How fitting. After 273 pages of squabbles, infighting, and childish disputes, the book itself is the subject of debate. People are just so complicated. MR

This article was published in the 7 October 1998 edition of The Michigan Review (Volume 17, Number 2).
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