When the Chicago Bulls selected Toni Kukoc as the 29th pick in the second round of the 1990 NBA draft, most people in the league barely heard of him. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, already at odds with the team’s GM Jerry Krause, immediately raised their eyebrows.
Krause couldn’t stop raving about the 6-foot-11 forward who played like a guard, and when he finally decided in 1993 that it was time for Kukoc to come over to Chicago, offering him a lucrative contract, all while Pippen remained one of the most underpaid players in the league, it only fueled more tension.
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Kukoc wasn’t afraid of going at it with Jordan and Pippen
When Team USA and Croatia met twice during the 1992 Olympics, Jordan and Pippen guarded Kukoc, then the best European player in the world, determined to prove that Krause was wrong about him. After a poor first game, Kukoc bounced back with a much stronger performance in the gold medal final, proving he truly belongs in the NBA.
“Toni knew what was coming. He was very much aware of what was coming. By the time he came, four months later, it was much better then. Never a word was said in practice,” Krause once said on “The Vertical Podcast with Woj”.
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“Now, Michael would get on a guy, those stories where he’d tell someone, ‘You don’t deserve to be here, you’re this or you’re that,’ and he’d laugh at them because he wanted to see a reaction. He could bring nothing out of Toni. Toni was just stone-faced and played hard all the time and he won their respect,” Krause added.
Toni didn’t break under the pressure
Even though they were supposed to become teammates, the beef between MJ and Pip with Krause went so far that they made it their mission to show “The Waiter” he didn’t belong in the league. But after proving himself in the Olympic final, when he scored 16 points and dished out nine assists, it was time for him to show it again a year later, this time in practice camp.
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Jordan was known for pushing his teammates to the limit, often crossing the line of what might be considered acceptable behavior. But in his hyper-competitive mind, that was how he prepared them for the toughest playoff battles ahead.
Some players broke under the pressure, others toughened up, and Kukoc was clearly one of those who rose to the challenge. It’s important to note that he didn’t have to endure any of it in Europe, as he already enjoyed superstar status and had a bigger contract than Krause could offer him.
But that winning mentality, the same one that later helped fuel the Bulls’ second three-peat, wouldn’t let him coast. At just 24 years old, he went from being the biggest star in Europe to a bench player in the NBA within months.
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On top of that, his new teammates didn’t accept him right away; in fact, they harassed him in practice. But Kukoc came from Croatia, a country that had just endured a brutal war and fought for its independence. His mentality had already been forged in steel.
Kukoc earned Jordan’s respect
“The Croatian Sensation” wasn’t afraid of anyone, not Jordan, not Pippen, not his reduced role. In fact, he embraced it, eventually earning the 1996 Sixth Man of the Year award and proving himself as the ultimate team player. If he was going to be a backup, he was determined to be the best one in the league.
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Without that mentality, it’s hard to imagine Kukoc achieving what he did with the team from The Windy City. He passed the ultimate Jordan test and, in the end, earned his respect. The two later developed a close friendship off the court, and in 2021, it was Jordan himself who inducted Kukoc into the Hall of Fame, as it was a perfect full-circle moment almost 30 years after their epic battles at the 1992 Olympics.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Oct 19, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.