Winning one NBA title is hard. Winning two is even harder. But putting together three in a row, not once but twice, is something that very few teams in the league have attempted, let alone pulled off.
Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls did just that, but according to “His Airness,” staying at the top came with a different kind of pressure — one that came not just from their opponents but also from within their own locker room.
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This time, the problem was not about talent or the lack of will to win. It was something that Mike described as basic human nature that slowly started creeping in and shifting the dynamic that made the Bulls so dangerous in the first place.
“It was trying, it was just human nature in some respects. When you try to do things repeatedly, I mean, you lose a certain edge. Then you have a lot more of the ego and the personalities coming into play,” “His Airness” explained back in the day.
Winning exposed a lot of egos
As the Bulls continued to dominate, the hunger that once brought them together started to evolve. Guys who were once fully bought into the mission began looking at the scoreboard a little differently. It wasn’t just about rings or wins anymore; it was a battle for stats and contracts. And when everyone feels like they’ve earned a bigger role, it becomes harder to keep them playing as one.
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For Jordan, the biggest challenge wasn’t coming from the outside. The real fight was keeping the group aligned once everyone had tasted what it meant to be on top of the basketball world.
Early in their dynasty years, the young and hungry Bulls were chasing that elusive ring, but later on, that subtle shift in mindset was just enough to show cracks in the squad.
“And I think it was trying because of the face that you know, we were successful and we all wanted that success individually, but yet, we had to realize that success came because of the collective effort that we put on the basketball court. Then, you know, some contract years for other people. It became, it started to divide because it wasn’t as the previous years how connected and how collective we thought. It was just human nature,” MJ added.
Everyone wants credit when the banners go up. And for a team like Chicago, loaded with talent and egos, keeping the focus on the team rather than the individual was a battle they had to fight every day. Thankfully, they had Phil Jackson to keep them in check, because their success wouldn’t have been possible without managing the locker room.
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The part of success that fans don’t see
The Bulls had to fight for every one of those six titles, not just against teams like the Utah Jazz or the Phoenix Suns, also loaded with future Hall of Famers, but against the natural wear-and-tear of trying to repeat greatness. The seasons were long, the spotlight was constant, and the internal pressure was mounting. MJ says that while they were still able to pull it off on the court, the situation in private was vastly different.
“You had those problems, those challenges of trying to maintain that unity, and somehow we did. We fought against human nature… Off the court it was a bit different, but on the court we were always connected,” the man many consider the GOAT concluded.
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Everyone sees when you win, but this confession from the legendary shooting guard sheds light on a part of the story that fans rarely get to see. The Bulls are considered one of, if not the greatest, teams ever assembled in the NBA, but the biggest challenge that their dynasty managed to overcome successfully was themselves.