The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 1480 - 3: Cookie Crumbs 3

Of course, Jordan would still maintain a sense of boundaries. For example, once when Ron Harper also wanted to join the mocking, Jordan immediately stopped him, saying, "Don’t do that, only I can, don’t provoke Krause."

This shows that Jordan was well aware of his privilege, and if others mocked, the result would be very bad.

However, for Jordan to maintain this boundary, there is one condition: don’t talk back, no one talks back, and this matter will just pass.

Once you retaliate, whether it’s Krause, Pippen, or Steve-Kerr, Jordan will definitely fight to the end and only stop after humiliating you into the dust.

In the fifth game, Jordan contributed enormously, and Jerry Krause should have been able to endure, after all, he endured most of the time in the past.

But that night, for some unknown reason, perhaps he was not feeling well, in a bad mood, or maybe the last straw had landed on the camel’s back.

In any case, after a few seconds of silence, Jerry Krause finally couldn’t hold back and retorted, "The mouth from North Carolina can’t hold back again. If it were in Oregon, it would be hard to win."

A brief silence, the bus was eerily quiet.

Jerry Krause realized he had said the wrong thing; at such a time, he shouldn’t have mentioned that person.

Sure enough, Jordan stood up, pushed aside his teammates blocking him, came to the front by Krause, grabbed Krause’s tie, and questioned, "What do you mean by that? Did I make Ah Gan lose the West Finals? He couldn’t make it to the Finals himself, if he came, I could beat him just the same! What the hell are you thinking and saying?!"

Krause’s retort provoked public outrage, but fortunately, it didn’t affect the Bulls players’ condition.

When they won the championship at home, Jordan and Krause hugged tightly, as if the championship had cleared the air between them, making them incredibly close.

But the fact was not so. When Jordan expressed to the management and owner his desire to keep the lineup, strengthen the team, and fight for a three-peat, both Krause and Reinsdorf showed considerable indifference, without making any positive response.

After this Finals ended, the contract between Phil Jackson and the Chicago Bulls expired.

The contract that Pippen signed with the Bulls back then also only had one year left. After the 1997-1998 season, he would become a free agent.

Although Jordan had signed a super contract for 4 years at $118 million, only the first two years were fully guaranteed, and the last two years had a player option for one and a team option for the other.

In the last year, the 1999-2000 season, the amount of this contract would reach $35 million, belonging to the team option, the Bulls could choose not to execute this $35 million.

In comparison, Gan Guoyang’s 3-year $100 million is fully guaranteed, with the last year being a player option, completely in Gan Guoyang’s hands.

The calculations of the Bulls’ owner and management are quite evident.

Faced with Jordan’s pressure, Jerry Chris and the owner behind the scenes, Reinsdorf, were not ready to compromise.

When the Portland Trail Blazers continuously strengthened, trading for Chris Mullin and "illegally" re-signing Sabonis, Krause only offered championship coach Phil Jackson a one-year $6 million contract.

And Jerry Krause emphasized, "Regardless of how the Bulls perform next season, even if it’s 82-0, this will be his last season with the Chicago Bulls."

Jordan was determined to go for the three-peat, yet the general manager said such a thing, only offering the championship coach a one-year contract, which drove Jordan insane.

So, Jordan directly announced publicly, "If this is Phil’s last contract with the Bulls, then next season will also be my last season with the Bulls."

As soon as he said that, it immediately caused a huge storm in Chicago and in the NBA.

Having just won the championship and established a dynasty, is it possible that the Chicago Bulls are going to fall apart just like this?

Jerry Krause not only threw one year contract to Phil Jackson, but he also refused to renew with Pippen in advance.

In 1997, winning the championship, Pippen’s performance in the Finals was outstanding, being the absolute number two right after Jordan.

Yet his salary this year was only $2.25 million, while Luke Longley’s salary was $2.79 million.

The young players in the league, more often than not, have annual salaries in the tens of millions, leaving Pippen feeling really helpless, regretting why he didn’t listen to Jordan’s advice and insisted on signing that long contract.

Regret is too late. Could the Bulls give me a big contract, after all? Pippen is only 31, and in great condition, totally deserving a million-dollar salary.

But Krause just wouldn’t, he was determined to disband the team, letting these "heroes" finish next season and then disband. Whether or not to get the three-peat, they can manage themselves.

Jerry Krause even secretly inquired with other teams, hoping to trade Pippen.

He called Los Angeles, hoping to trade Pippen to acquire the small forward drafted by the Lakers in the 1997 Draft, Tracy McGrady.

But Jerry West ignored him, he had painstakingly figured out how to get draft rights to pick this high school genius to make up for the loss of Kobe, he wouldn’t trade him to the Bulls for Pippen.

After all, if Pippen goes to the Western Conference, when they meet Ah Gan, he’ll still be blinded, might as well cultivate new forces and quietly wait for the opportunity.

In short, Jerry Krause’s series of operations made it very hard for the defending champion Bulls.

No significant reinforcements were made, and there’s even the stance of wanting to break up the team, making the atmosphere and situation within the Bulls before the start of the 1997-1998 season quite bad.

By August, a trade involving the Portland Trail Blazers left Jordan utterly depressed, and he immediately called Phil Jackson to complain: "The Trail Blazers illegally used an exception to sign over the cap to get Sabonis, and now they traded for Mookie Blaylock! And us? That damn pig Krause won’t even give Scottie a renewal contract, nor any effective reinforcements, how are we supposed to beat the Trail Blazers?"

In this trade, the Trail Blazers sent away Nick Van Exel, whose playoff violation record included deliberately leaving the team, along with Alon Magee and a future second-round draft pick, to get point guard "Thief" Mookie Blaylock from the Atlanta Hawks.

The Trail Blazers made a strong presence in the center, forward, and guard positions, causing unease in the Chicago Bulls, and the entire league.

At this time, Phil Jackson’s words calmed Jordan down again. He said on the phone, "I know we have many difficulties; the Trail Blazers have strengthened. But if we, being at a disadvantage, can beat Ah Gan to win the championship, wouldn’t the achievement be even more remarkable? Just like what he did to us in 1992, wouldn’t it, Michael?"

Hearing Jackson say this, Jordan felt much better, and became even more expectant for the new season.