When you talk about great dynasties in the NBA, you are bound to stumble upon the mighty Chicago Bulls from the 90s. The Bulls ruled the decade, winning six titles in 10 years. Michael Jordan, the leader, decided to step down from the team after winning the 1998 championship. What followed was a monumental collapse of a dynasty that shook the NBA.

When the Bulls eventually split up with MJ and coach Phil Jackson, there was a huge question in the minds of the team’s management. To analyze the options they had, to continue the legacy left behind by the former players. However, the team knew about its fate before the 1997-98 season even began.

Jerry Krause, the General Manager of the team at that period, is publicly known as the villain figure who came in the way of MJ and the Bulls. He is considered the reason for the team’s breakup in 1998. The portrayal of Krause in ‘The Last Dance’ also conveys a similar thought to the viewers. Yet, the late Jerry Krause was never the major reason causing the breakdown of the team.

In the final excerpt from Jerry Krause’s unfinished and unpublished memoir, he lets out the cat from the bag and reveals the reasons why the best team in the NBA decided to call it quits. To begin with the excerpt, this is what he wrote when he began the write-up to explain the split. “Up until now, as you read this, nobody outside of Jerry Reinsdorf, myself and a few select people in the Bulls organization really knows what happened in the aftermath of winning our sixth world championship in eight years.”

The reasons behind the breakup of the Chicago Bulls upon winning their sixth championship

In his memoir, Krause is very practical in writing about the closing chapter of the double three-peat team. He puts the all-important question asking if the management would really break up a team that performed extremely well for so many years.

“Did we break up the winning team so that we could satisfy our own egos and win without those players and coaches? Do you really think that people who worked for so many years to win and then win again and again would be dumb enough to let egos get in the way of trying to win again?”

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The management faced a host of problems that got in the way of the team. Starting from Luc Longley to MJ, everyone had problems. The fitness of the players had taken a toll from playing about 100 matches every season, with far less recovery time. Their bodies were facing the consequences of it.

Dennis Rodman above all, looked far weak than any other player. His age was clearly catching up with him. “Each person in the room was concerned that Dennis’ off-court meanderings had caught up with him, that he was playing on fumes at the end of the season.” Krause wanted a change in the team to support MJ and Scottie.

But, the problem started with head-coach Phil Jackson. “We had the finest coach in the game in Phil Jackson, whom the public did not know didn’t want to coach a rebuilding team and who’d informed us before the season that he wanted to ride off to Montana and take at least a year off.”

When Phil wanted a break, the team could never say no. They owed Jackson a huge favor for bringing in vast success to the franchise. He did not want to start from scratch, even with Michael Jordan by his side. This created a domino effect which caused the others wanting out as well. MJ was among the first ones to publicly state his desire to leave after the 1998 season.

The Scottie Pippen saga

Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan, the torchbearers of the team, looked tired as well. However, they still had the capacity to perform. But, Scottie had two major surgeries in two years that limited him from maxing out his talents. With the news of Phil and Michael Jordan announcing their desire to leave, Pippen took the same route.

“In January, when the league was about to resume and free agents could be signed, Pippen’s agents asked us to do Scottie a favor. By doing a sign-and-trade with Houston, Scottie could get more than $20 million more than he could by just signing a straight-out contract. Jerry and I gave him his going-away present.”

He played the perfect card and the Chicago Bulls just couldn’t say no to him. Not after all the things that he had done for the team. These three important strikes for the Bulls scarred their legacy. “He wants to rightfully be paid superstar dollars. Is he worth the risk, especially if we can’t find a center and a power forward, and he and Michael have to carry the load for a new coach? I seriously doubt it,” Krause wrote.

Was MJ convinced to come back without Phil Jackson as the coach?

Michael Jordan informed that he would only play under Phil Jackson and no other coach. But, Phil was stubborn about leaving. Thus, this troubled MJ, leaving him no choice, but to retire. But Krause’s version has a different reason that prevented MJ from rejoining. Even if he was convinced to play without Phil Jackson.

“As the summer wore on and players were locked out of the training facilities by the league — that would mean the NBA season would not start until late January — things got even worse. Michael sliced a finger on a cigar cutter that would’ve prevented him from playing an entire season. He was honest and we were well informed what the condition of the hand was. He didn’t want to play on a rebuilding team, and he stuck to his word.”

With several reasons proving to be a hindrance, the Chicago Bulls were helpless. The team itself was on the verge of drifting apart. And then all the drama about “Krause wanting to end it” happened. His words and his reasons for the team’s breakup do seem fit. With only a handful of choices at their hands, the management committed to the decision they felt right.

“Put yourself in our shoes as we walk out of that room. What would you do? Did we break up a dynasty or was the dynasty breaking up of age, natural attrition of NBA players with little time to recuperate, and the salary-cap rules that govern the game?”