Michael Jordan suffered a broken foot early in his second season with the Chicago Bulls. The injury forced MJ to the sidelines for 64 games. Doctors feared his career might be in jeopardy and advised him not to play at maximum capacity right after recovery.
However, Jordan had other things in mind. He decided to listen to himself and began playing high-intensity pickup games. The Bulls’ front office eventually discovered their star player’s defiance and grew deeply concerned.
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Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf and general manager Jerry Krause wanted to protect Jordan, limiting his minutes upon his return.
Mike played an average of 25 minutes that season. While it made sense, the restriction infuriated MJ. He felt like the team was treating him like a non-living investment, which he deemed disrespectful to his love for the game and himself as a human being.
“I was a piece of meat to him,” Michael said at the time via the book, “Michael Jordan Speaks: Lessons from the World’s Greatest Champion.” “He felt he could control me, because I had so much value to him but he didnt realize that I had value to myself. I was independent, and I understood what I was. They were businessmen, not sportsmen, and they didn’t have a true appreciation for the game.”
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The Jordan vs. Krause cold war
On the other hand, Krause denied ever saying Jordan is a property of the Bulls or something to that effect. Even though he insisted that he never intended to have a fractious working relationship with MJ, Krause also knew it was too late.
“The thing that got Michael and me off on the wrong foot was that he thought I said to him, ‘You’re our property, and you’ll do what we want you to do,'” Krause once recalled. “I don’t remember ever saying it that way.”
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The inevitable happened. Jordan and Krause carried on and fulfilled their respective jobs within the Bulls organization. However, their relationship was defined by a passing-aggressive animosity.
The good thing about it, though, was that neither Michael nor Jerry let their personal drama affect their performance. MJ did MJ things on the court, while Krause consistently built around him and mustered a dynasty.
MJ only had one boss
Jordan never aimed to ignite a personal war with the Bulls executives. He did not seek to undermine the leadership of the Jerrys either. His only core demand was actually quite simple. He wanted the front office to show genuine respect to the players, as they are the ones bleeding and sweating on the hardwood for the team.
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MJ also understood that, as an organization, the Bulls were run by the bosses. However, people should understand that it doesn’t necessarily mean that these executives own the players.
For Jordan, no man on Earth held ultimate power over him. His only true boss was God.
“God,” Jordan quickly replied to ESPN’s Andrea Kremer when asked who his boss was. “Other than that, nobody. That’s it. Only he can tell me what to do.”
“Everyone’s looking at Jerry Reinsdorf. I mean, he pays me for the opportunity or the job that I do, but you know, I have a choice. I can stop playing. I can stop and do whatever I want, and that’s not a knock against him, you know, but that’s the choice that I have, which is freedom,” he added.
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Jordan and Krause’s rift persisted throughout the Bulls’ dynasty in the ’90s. Even years after they both left the franchise, MJ’s perspective on his dynamic with the Bulls front office remains unchanged. He doubled down on it in The Last Dance.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on May 17, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.