THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, June 18, 1996 TAG: 9606180298
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: GUY FRIDDELL
LENGTH: 66 lines
When the Chicago Bulls won their fourth NBA championship, even Superman fell apart.
Michael Jordan dove to the floor of the United Center and lay on his stomach cradling the basketball and crying, a child clinging to a teddy bear that teammate Randy Brown had tried to wrest from Jordan's grasp when the game ended.
Seeing them down there, prone and Jordan weeping, Dennis Rodman, who is not given to self restraint, flung himself bodily and teary-eyed upon the two. Other Bulls mobbed the pile-up, wallowing wet-eyed in a victory, hard-wrought, over Seattle.
It was epic. In a movie, nobody would have believed it. As with everything else the Bulls did, winning 72 games, the celebration exceeded any other seen on TV in the NBA.
And the season was a family affair. Jordan said he had done it for his daddy, who was watching him do it on Father's Day.
Jordan also thanked his wife for rousting him out of bed to train and their children, who had been in the stands holding aloft posters proclaiming their belief in him.
Jordan styled Scottie Pippen a younger brother and the Pip saw Jordan as an older brother, and Rodman finds Coach Phil Jackson a surrogate father for the one he never knew, and Jackson treats Rodman as a son, albeit prodigal. Family values, so often deemed waning in society, were rife in the United Center. Togetherness reigned.
Jackson, Jordan, and Rodman will be free agents July 1; but Jordan seemed positive they will be back. Less responsive was owner Jerry Reinsdorf. Asked by the media if he was ready to deal with his three stars, he kept saying let's enjoy this moment we have earned.
Too genuine to have asked that his contract be renegotiated, Jordan earns $4 million; other superstars get $20 million and more. Anywhere Jordan plays on the road, he fills the house.
For him, the season was often arduous. In 1994, after his father, James, was murdered, a restive Michael took 18 months off from basketball to try minor league baseball. In his absence, the Bulls lost in the playoffs.
He rejoined them late in the 1995 season, but they fell short again. Setting out for redemption, he exercised rigorous self discipline to regain the heights and win for his father, his family, his friends, some of whom had never won a ring, his fans, and his city.
Throughout the road back, when one player or another wavered, Jordan was there to take up the slack. Prodigious public expectations for the team added to the load.
Even during the trial over his father's murder, Jordan exercised his fierce, competitive focus on the game. With the last basket in the final victory, his massive control slipped and a weary Jordan, relieved, let go. He deserved a respite. ``I gave the people what hey wanted,'' he said, ``a championship.''
The entire team has become legendary, a continuing story set for a long run. Fans want all their heroes to stay in place.
If the owner can't sense what the Bulls do for Chicago (and him) and what they mean to fans elsewhere, let Chicago take a hand. Just put the Bulls in the municipal budget. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Michael Jordan, left, and Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls were
like brothers this year. But with Jordan becoming a free agent July
1, there's a possibility that the recent title clincher may have
been the last NBA game that they are teammates. by CNB