Remember This...

Ownership is not leadership—there’s your takeaway from “The Last Dance,” that and Michael Jordan being a pretty good basketball player.

 

For reasons best known to himself, Bulls’ (and White Sox) owner Jerry Reinsdorf consented to be part of the ten-episode series; my guess is he thought enough time had passed that he could rehabilitate his image.  Lucky for viewers Reinsdorf forgot the adage, a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client.  Maybe I should mention here Reinsdorf is a lawyer.

 

But it’s his decisions as an owner that stand out.  He tells Scottie Pippen he wouldn’t sign the contract the Bulls’ forward is about to, and forever regret.  He negotiates a one-on-one agreement with Horace Grant, thinks a handshake seals the deal, only to have Grant sign with Orlando.  And he tells Phil Jackson after the second three-peat he can come back, despite everything that GM Jerry Krause has said and done to denigrate Jackson.  My God, where to begin?

 

Let’s start with Pippin—treat your employees with respect, why don’t you?  Instead of taking advantage, negotiate a fair contract, one that skips the acrimony and sets the foundation for a full decade of dominance.  Only Reinsdorf needed to win every negotiation.

 

Which is what makes Grant stiffing him so delicious.  Reinsdorf is either deluded or lying if he thinks offering to negotiate without Krause or Grant’s agent in the room constitutes a level playing field.  Last time I checked, Grant didn’t have degrees in accounting, finance and/or law; that’s what agents are for.  But give the man credit; he knew what Reinsdorf was up to.  So, Grant leaves, and the acrimony grows.  Both Grant and his replacement, viz. Dennis Rodman, pull down the rebounds needed for a three-peat.  Which one would you rather have on your team?

 

And who waits to call a HOF coach who’s just won his sixth title to offer him the chance to return to a toxic work environment?  Either Reinsdorf knew Jackson would decline, or he’s a fool to think otherwise.  Twenty-two years after the fact, and this still rings as self-serving.

 

What Jerry Reinsdorf needed to do was take control of his front office.  He needed to tell Krause to change the way he treated people and fire Krause if nothing did change.  That needed to have happened by midway through the first three-peat.  To say Reinsdorf  bet on the wrong horse makes for one of the greatest understatements in all of sports.  At least the Red Sox got $100,000 for Babe Ruth.

 

All Reinsdorf needed to do was take a look at the Lakers.  Now, there’s your proof that organizations win championships.  Lakers’ GM Bill Sharman won two championships, eventually to be replaced by Jerry West.  West won three championships, eventually to be replaced by Mitch Kupchak, who won five.  Kupchak had the good sense to hire Phil Jackson as coach, by the way.

That, my dear friends, is an organization Jerry Krause and Jerry Reinsdorf could only dream about the Bulls emulating.