12up Logo

Never Forget How Dumb Bulls Were to Move on From Their Unprecedented Dynasty

By Will Coleman

Bulls teammates (left to right) Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman and Scottie Pippen talk during a game.
Bulls teammates (left to right) Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman and Scottie Pippen talk during a game. / JEFF HAYNES/Getty Images

It's finally here: Sunday, April 19. Tonight, we actually have something new in the sports world to watch on television. The first two chapters of the long-awaited, 10-hour Michael Jordan documentary "The Last Dance" air Sunday night on ESPN at 9 pm EST.

The documentary's footage is largely from the Chicago Bulls' 1997-98 season, their most recent championship campaign, but it's important to remember what happened after MJ's squad completed its second three-peat.

That last run to the NBA Finals almost didn't happen, and the aftermath of the franchise's second dynasty couldn't have played out worse.

Jerry Krause served as Bulls GM from for nearly two decades, but his time in Chicago wasn't all it was cracked up to be. While the Bulls clinched six championships in an eight-year span, Krause couldn't handle working in the shadow of MJ and head coach Phil Jackson as they rose to stardom.

Following the 1998 NBA Finals, Krause put his foot down and began a complete tear down of Chicago's roster. MJ retired, Dennis Rodman was not retained in free agency, and Scottie Pippen highlighted the list of several key players who were traded away. Pippen went from the Bulls to Houston for an incredibly limited return (Roy Rogers and a second-rounder).

Jackson headed for another dynasty in the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Bulls were back to losing regularly.

Krause had enough and used the "age" excuse to cut ties with his trio of stars. Chicago's rebuild was elongated, as they pieced together six consecutive losing seasons following their sixth title. The draft blunders were numerous -- though Jay Williams' injuries weren't the fault of poor decision-making, the mistaken reliance on Marcus Fizer, Khalid El-Amin, Eddy Curry, and the trade of LaMarcus Aldridge further torpedoed the franchise's good name.

The Bulls remain undefeated in their NBA Finals appearances, but this franchise is so far removed from its glory days, and it's in large part due to Krause's objective malfeasance without his centerpiece.