Jackson let MJ take charge of the locker room after a humbling loss in the 1997 Playoffs.
The Chicago Bulls entered the 1997 NBA Playoffs as the favorites to win it all. After all, they were the defending NBA Champions, and Michael Jordan and crew were at the height of their powers.
After easily dispatching the Washington Wizards in three games, the Bulls faced the fourth-seeded Atlanta Hawks, led by Steve Smith, Christian Laettner, Mookie Blaylock, and Dikembe Mutombo.
Raging Jordan
The Hawks were a mid-tier team, which meant analysts expected the Bulls would give them a pounding. But lo and behold, the Lenny Wilkens-coached squad snatched a Game 2 victory, 103-95. MJ, obsessed with perfection, lashed out at his teammates and coaches in the post-game huddle.
“Mike walked in the locker room, and he killed every one of those guys,” said an unidentified Bulls player, per the Los Angeles Times. “Phil and [assistants] Jimmy Rodgers and Frank Hamblen and Bill Cartwright just leaned up against the wall.”
“He was going up and down the lockers – ‘You guys don’t know what it takes to win!’ — he just killed them all. It was the greatest speech you ever heard. It was like Knute Rockne. And when he was done, Phil just said, ‘That’s it,'” continued the article.
“Mr. Air” had every right to be angry. The Bulls shot just 41.3 percent from the field, while the Hawks shot 52.1 percent. It was a very winnable game since Chicago out-rebounded and out-assisted Atlanta.
The Hawks took advantage of a sluggish third quarter from the “Wind City” team to keep the game close. In the fourth, Smith exploded for 13 points with little resistance from the Bulls’ defense.
Whatever Jordan said in that heated post-game huddle worked. In Game 3, the Bulls dominated the Georgia based team, 100-80. They shot 47.2 percent from the field — a slightly better clip than the previous game. Critically, contained the Hawks to a horrendous 36.4 percent shooting clip. The Bulls rode the Game 3 momentum to finish off the Hawks in five games.
Julius Erving viewed the 1995-96 Bulls as more than just a great team: “They’ve been giving the fans of the basketball world a glimpse of the future”
The post-game rant in 1997 was just one of the many instances of Jordan getting in the grills of his teammates. He was known to be a tyrant who would not hesitate to step on his teammates’ toes just to snag the victory.
MJ defended himself against these accusations. He felt he earned every right to call out his team. After all, he had paid his dues and stayed with the franchise through troubled waters.
“That was leadership,” Jordan told GQ in 2007. “I was the only guy there from 1984. I was there when there were 6,000 people in the stands. So, I took pride in making sure every guy understood what it took to get us to this point.”
“I never took a day off,” he continued. “If I took a day off, then Scottie was going to take a day off. And then Horace. The next thing you know, the whole scope of what we’re trying to do is being weakened. I never took a shortcut, and I never wanted anyone else to take a shortcut. If that means someone interprets me as a tyrant, I’m pretty sure they’re appreciative now.”
True enough, Jordan powered the Bulls to another NBA Championship in 1997. The team operated in unison. Chicago maintained their resolve after they lost one game to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals and two games to the Utah Jazz in the NBA Finals.
Whatever “His Airness” said in that post-game huddle against the Hawks remained steeped in the hearts and souls. They used it to reinvigorate their play when it got tough.