CHICAGO -- Eight championships for Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls?
|  | | Michael Jordan hasn't been smiling about the Wizards this season. |
That's what Jordan says they would have if he had stayed with the Bulls.
In an interview with Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti, Jordan expressed frustration with his new team, the Washington Wizards, and lingering regret over the breakup of the Bulls.
"We'd still be the defending champions," Jordan said. "I was
really looking forward to continuing to play. If Phil (Jackson) and
Scottie Pippen would have been there, I'd still be playing. That's
how we could have kept the streak going.
"Maybe we wouldn't be as successful during the course of the year, but when the time came and things were on the line, we'd have been fine the last two years."
Jordan, Pippen, Jackson and the Bulls won six NBA titles from
1991-93 and 1996-98.
In comments published in the Sun-Times' Friday editions, Jordan said he was confused and hurt that the Bulls never offered him a high-level executive role and a piece of ownership after the dynasty was dismantled.
"These deals of ownership started coming to me, starting with
Charlotte, and the most puzzling thing is that for the next year,
people were bringing me deals ... and still Chicago never called,"
he said. "Not that I would have taken it, but it was never on the
table."
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I've never been this frustrated. Instead of playing to win, these guys play not to lose. They are totally scared, and it's embarrassing to sit there and watch the game. ” |
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— Michael Jordan, on the Wizards |
The man who kept the now-struggling NBA healthy now presides
over a 4-18 team that he calls "a disgrace to the fans in Washington."
"I've never been this frustrated," Jordan said. "Never. It's
a totally new experience for me. Instead of playing to win, these
guys play not to lose. They are totally scared, and it's
embarrassing to sit there and watch the game."
Despite his belief about what could have been, Jordan says he is
not thinking about become active on the court.
"No, I'm not coming back," he said. "I'm up to 230 (pounds) and I have
a gut."
And despite his feelings about the Bulls organization, Jordan
says he remains friendly with Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf.
He says he is in contact with Jerry Krause, Chicago's vice president of basketball operations, the man blamed by many for the breakup of the championship team. They talk business.
"We have an interest in some of his players," Jordan said. "He's evaluating some of the things I have suggested to him. It's not awkward talking to him. I'm willing to put business first and forget about what happened in the past."
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