i thought that everybody knew of the Kerr/Jordan thing. man, i take it that drexlerfan22 doesnt like Michael.
Um, he didn't start making that sort of money until his last two seasons as a Bull. In 95-96, Jordan made $4.3 million. In both 1997 and 1998, he made an average of $30.7-million. That five-million pay cut wouldn't have met jack -- the Bulls still would have been over the cap. In Pippen's last season, 1997-98, he made $2.2 million. Jordan signed a contract in 1990, the year before the rings started rolling in, and in spite of being the 4th, 9th, 29th, 65th-highest paid in the league, he never renegotiated. Pippen never made "$6 million or so" as a Bull, even this season. Get your facts straight before throwing crap against the wall.
Well excuuuse me. $3 million was actually the number that was coming to mind on Pippen's salary, I just didn't want to overshoot on the Jordan hating-ness if I didn't remember exactly. That's why the "or so" qualifier. It was much, much less than he deserved, regardless, that's what matters. So I'm off by a few million there (I just looked it up, it was actually $2.7 million). And Jordan's salary WAS $33.14 million in his last season. That number was not wrong. So had Jordan taken said paycut, Pippen coulda gotten $11 million, as opposed to his $13 million with another team. Impossible? No. Likely to work out financially for the Bulls, with MJ's salary still so ridiculously high? No. Anyway, how does this minutia change the basic idea I'm trying to get across here? (That Jordan was NOT "one of more humble and respectfull guy on and off the court"?) And playing "slap-happy defense" (Kerr) or not being a great player (Perdue) does not make it ok to punch someone...
The salary that counted against the cap under Jordan's name in 1997-98 was $31.14, though he was able to take in a few million more because he won the MVP, Reinsdorf's call, and it didn't count under the CBA that existed before 1-1999. MJ did not sign his contract in 1990 at the expense of the contract Scottie signed the year after that. Pippen made $2.7 million in 1997-98, co-incidentally he was the 122nd -highest paid player in the league, in spite of being the 2nd or 3rd best player in the NBA. I just don't get where the "paycut" idea comes in. You can't decide to cut the salary of a contract you've already signed, to give a teammate more money. How is Scottie supposed to get this money? Is Michael writing him a personal check? You're saying that MJ, heading into free agency in the summer of 1997, should have taken $25-million so Scottie could make more money? Scottie was already under contract for 1997-98, so how was he supposed to take in this financial windfall? Renegotiations were prohibited in the 1995 CBA and the current one. You ended with this: "Anyway, how does this minutia change the basic idea I'm trying to get across here? (That Jordan was NOT "one of more humble and respectfull guy on and off the court"?)" Great. MJ was a prick sometimes. But YOU were the one who introduced these misguided and misinformed notions into this thread. YOU were the one who changed the "basic idea" to try and bring up some revionist history that made no legal sense.
And I never said he was justified in punching Kerr because of Kerr's defense, though I can see where you could misconstrue my statement. He punched Kerr because Kerr and him squared off after a scrimmage got too physical -- others on this thread had written it off to him just berating Steve for being a lesser player. Jordan did berate Perdue and Cartwright (however briefly) for that reason, but punches were never thrown on either end.
"but he only punched Kerr because Kerr was playing slap-happy defense" A statement with the structure "But... because" in this context is trying to justify something.
Well, it wasn't my intention. And I'm because I'm not a complete tool, you're forced to take it at face value. I'll leave justifying slapping someone in the face to Bob Ryan, I was bringing that up so the dozens of posters who use this form as their only source for learning about NBA history don't come away with more incorrect facts.
Why not? Crazier things have happened. First of all, he didn't need to get the cash right that year, the space coulda been made by Jordan so he could get it a year later. Second, and I may be wrong here, but weren't buyouts still legal? Why not negotiate a buyout, and then give him an amount equivalent to what he's worth, taking into consideration the buyout? That was my original thought. I changed the basic idea? That was ONE point in a long line of points, if you look at my original post. So one of my numbers was a little off. You're the one fixated on that, not me.
my question is, who were pippen and jordan's agents and how the hell were they so underpaid. i mean i knew jordan didn't get a bunch before the $30M seasons, but 4.3? and i knew pippen had felt underpaid for a while but 122nd? who was negotiating for him? i mean he was good for a long time so he must've had at least 1 new contract in there somewhere or did the '91 pay him so little all the way until 97-98? not that pippen deserves anything for what he did to us, but i'd be pissed off too if i was making chump change relative to my ability for so long while racking in the titles. no wonder the bulls kept winning, because they could afford new talent while underpaying their two best players. hell, were they even the two highest paid guys on the team the whole time? i know once rodman came in he made a bunch and it seems like longley did too. how many people were ahead of pippen just on the bulls, at least during the second threepeat? and i figured everyone knew jordan was a giant, egomaniacal ******* at this point.
Literally? Somebody please explain, I missed that... If you really want to have a good time, let's debate whether Jordan used steroids or not.
Considering how underpaid Jordan and Pippen were all those years, it just makes it even more disgraceful that Krause had the nerve to break up those Bulls.
artest punches out some drunk morons and he's the antichrist. jordan punches out nice guys/teammates will perdue and steve kerr and he's just being competitive. gotta love the media.
In "The Jordan Rules" " the writer is obsequious in his reverence for Jordan, but makes references to Jordan being given "charm school" lessons in dealing with the media, soft spoken, not abrasive tones after games. Always shower and put on a suit after the game to give "cool down " time and present a good image. Jordan played the media very well.. Give Kraus credit for building two separate teams around Jordan-who though underpaid with NBA - Chicago money made his on endorsements. Jordan was an egomaniac in a cloak of media adulation.b
I hope all the people crucifing Jordan over the punches aren't fans of KG...... This has to be the first time I've ever seen a "Jordan broke up the Bulls out of greed" theory. The Bulls were going to be broken up by Crumbs after the 98 season, and everyone knew it. If it had to do with money, that would be astounding, seeing how the Bulls. Right now, today, the Bulls are still riding the wave of revenue that the Jordan era generated (#3 with $117 gross, 52 net, in the league in 2002, despite stinking it up). They weren't hurting for money. Crumbs simply wanted to avoid a slow fall like the Celtics and instead raze and instantly rebuild another dynasty. (Great job!) If Jordan and Pippen were kept, the Chicago payroll would go up to $80 million. The Knicks were already above that mark. Pippen openly made it clear that he was offended that he was included in trade rumors, even sitting out a few games in November, demanding a trade, and swearing he was gone in the summer. Jackson also knew that he was no longer welcome and may as well quit (not unlike how Buss showed him the door). Jordan (and Rodman) simply quit so he wouldn't be part of a rebuilding situation (sort of hurts the greed theory). Here's an article written just after the last championship, one of many saying the same thing: http://slam.canoe.ca/NBAPlayoffsCHIUTA/jun15_reign.html Evan
Michael Jordan was an a-hole. He was super-competitive and had an ego the size of the planet. He tried to get the NBA to set up a special pay system in which every team payed a portion of his salary so that he could be adequately compensated. He also WAS the NBA in the mid 90s, he certainly made more money for more companies and executives during his career than any athlete in the history of sport. In a sense, he was underpaid, in that he only ever saw a tiny portion of the money he generated for the NBA, his sponsors, the NBA, their sponsors and partners, arena operators, television and other media outlets, vendors, other shoe companies, other NBA players, etc. His impact was in the billions.
LOL Seriously, I detest Jordan. Can't stand the guy. I know it's wrong to say, but thumbs up for Artest for not taking that, if Jordan actually made fun of him for "being poor".
Pippen was so woefully unperpaid b/c way back he signed a long term deal that even his agent (sensing the exploding salaries of the mid 90's) at the time warned him that he would be very underpaid on the backside of the contract. Pippen signed anyway wanting the multiyears. Remember Pippen wasn't projected to be anywhere as good as he became, he surely felt anxious about his long term place in the league. The story I always heard about the Kerr fight was that Kerr's son & Jordan's son were playing 1 on 1 or horse or something before shoot around & that Kerr's son was lighting Jordan's son up. Coincidentally that was the same day that Kerr all of a sudden was "playing too physical" in practice & Jordan punched him. All of us know the physical prowess of Steve Kerr.
