(670 The Score) Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf has refuted former NBA star Tracy McGrady’s contention that the legendary Michael Jordan quashed a trade proposal in 1997 that would’ve sent out fellow star Scottie Pippen for a draft pick that would’ve been used by Chicago on McGrady.
Reinsdorf admitted the Bulls were enticed by McGrady’s talents but clarified that he -- not Jordan -- was the individual who vetoed the proposed trade with the Celtics after then-general manager Jerry Krause presented it to him.
The Celtics owned the No. 3 and No. 6 picks in the 1997 NBA Draft.
“I understand there’s a lot of truth to the story, but the one part that’s not true is that Michael Jordan in any way communicated to the Chicago Bulls his displeasure over the trade,” Reinsdorf told Bulls Radio play-by-play broadcaster Chuck Swirsky. “We had won five championships at that point, and Krause came to me and said, ‘Look, I’m not sure, I can’t guarantee, I don’t know how strong I feel about winning a sixth championship. I have a chance to trade Scottie Pippen to the Boston Celtics for two very high picks.’ I think they were picks No. 3 and No. 6 in the draft. Krause, if we had done that deal, he was going to take Tracy McGrady and he was going to take Ron Mercer. I thought long and hard about it. My decision came down to this – what would our fans want us to do? And I concluded that our fans would want us to win a sixth championship even if it meant we weren’t going to be that good afterward. And that’s why I vetoed the trade. I never heard from Michael Jordan about it. If Krause had heard anything from Michael Jordan, he would’ve had to told me about it.”
McGrady made the claim recently on the Knuckleheads Podcast with Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles, going as far to say that Jordan threatened the Bulls with retirement in 1997 if they dealt Pippen. McGrady had made similar claims in years past about Jordan vetoing a trade that would've brought McGrady to Chicago. This time, Reinsdorf felt the need to clear up the facts.
“After this podcast, I contacted Michael Jordan and asked him if there was any truth,” Reinsdorf said. “His reply to me was ‘BS.’ And that’s the case. I don’t even know if Michael was aware of it. He certainly never communicated to us or threatened to retire. The only reason that trade didn’t go through was I felt that our fans wanted a sixth championship, and I wanted a sixth championship.”
The Bulls went on to win the 1997-'98 title before Jordan retired and their core members disbanded. The Celtics selected Chauncy Billups at No. 3 overall and Mercer at No. 6 overall. The Raptors landed McGrady with their No. 9 overall pick.
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for 670TheScore.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.