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The Basketball Jones' Trey Kerby put up a post on Wednesday chalk full of great Chicago Bulls stories from the dynasty years. One problem: they come from an anonymous author of a rarely updated Posterous account, and the post in question is from April 21, 2011. This is, apparently, an email written to a friend by a guy who had dinner with Johnny Bach, long-time Bulls assistant coach. Kerby notes the "red flags all around", which is an obvious caveat but something we're willing to overlook because all of this is so damn good. The Posterous note is titled "Great stories about Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and the Chicago Bulls by Johnny Bach" and that is a very fitting title. These stories are pretty great.
Covered in this purported email: Phil Jackson showing the Bulls Pink Floyd music videos, Scottie Pippen's love connection with Madonna, the front office's vote to trade Pippen and so much more. Of course, we'll focus on the stories about Michael Jordan, because, if nothing else, they definitely pass the sniff test. What Bach supposedly said makes Jordan look like an over-competitive, maniacal lunatic, and that fits in well with what we know about Jordan.
First up, Michael and Mugsy:
When Johnny was coaching with the Hornets in 1995 they had a good team. Glen Rice, Mourning, Johnson. Series was tied at 2 and Hornets had a chance to win game 5 in Chicago. On the biggest possession of the game, Mugsy had the ball with the Hornets down 1. Jordan backed off of him and told him: "shoot it you f—ing midget." Mugsy shot it, didn’t come close. A year later Mugsy actually told Johnny Bach that he believes that single play ruined his career. His shot never recovered.
Totally believable? It think so. Now, MJ and Charles.
The day before game 4 of the Bulls Suns finals with the Bulls leading the series 2-1. Michael and Charles Barkley went golfing. They played 48 holes of golf. And Michael bought Charles a $20,000 diamond earring. Johnny asked MJ, "what did you do all that for?" Michael responded, "he won’t get in my way the rest of the series, what’s $20,000 to me? Charles thinks we’re great friends. I hate that fat f—." Jordan dropped 55 in game 4 and Barkley never touched him once.
The email also includes some NBA predictions that became frighteningly true, like Bach doubting Derrick Rose's durability and saying LeBron won't ever win a championship until he "gets his ass inside". I think we know who we should ask about D. Rose's recovery timetable.