(670 The Score) In reflecting on "The Last Dance," Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf most appreciated that the documentary showcased the iconic Michael Jordan's greatness for the first time to a younger generation -- or simply reminded those who may have forgotten about his legend.
And when it comes to assessing Jordan's place in history, it's not even a debate in Reinsdorf's mind. Jordan is the greatest of all time, after which LeBron James can enter the conversation for No. 2.
"I'm really pleased it showed how great Michael was to people who hadn't seen him play," Reinsdorf told NBC Sports Chicago. "I'm truly tired of people trying to compare LeBron to Michael when it's not even close. They should try to compare LeBron with Oscar Robertson or Magic Johnson. Michael was so head and shoulders over everybody, and that really came out in this documentary. He was a phenomenon. We may never see another like him."
The Jordan-led Bulls won six championships in the 1990s, their last one in 1998. Their dynasty broke up after that, a fact that still irks Jordan, who wanted to defend the title one last time. Jordan "can't accept" that the Bulls didn't bring their core back one more time, he said at the end of the documentary.
Jordan contended that Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Steve Kerr and other core members would've returned and expressed his belief that the Bulls would've won a seventh championship. Reinsdorf pushed back at that line of thinking from Jordan, saying that back in summer 1998, Jordan agreed the Bulls weren't going to be able to bring a championship-level team back in 1998-'99 because injuries and age had taken their toll and the team would lose key players in free agency.
"I was not pleased. How's that?" Reinsdorf told NBC Sports Chicago in reacting to Jordan's comments. "He knew better. Michael and I had some private conversations at that time that I won't go into detail on ever. But there's no question in my mind that Michael's feeling at the time was we could not put together a championship team the next year."
