“Look at Magic Johnson’s”: Deprived of Hall of Fame Teammates, Michael Jordan’s Complaining Stopped in 1987

What if Michael Jordan never had Scottie Pippen or Dennis Rodman? We will never have an answer to that. However, one thing that would have remained intact about Jordan is that he would have been as great as he later became. During the initial phase of his career, Jordan didn’t achieve postseason success. It was largely due to a weak team assembled around the six-time NBA champion. Due to the absence of an alternate scorer on his team, most of the scoring work was done by him and it made it difficult for him to sustain for a long time, deep into the playoffs. Michael was surely not happy with the team built around him and the constant failure in play-offs. However, his disappointment came to an end in 1987.

In the initial phase before the 90s, before Michael became the undisputed GOAT of his time, he was frequently compared to the great Magic Johnson, Celtics’ legend Larry Bird, and his arch-rival in Detroit Isiah Thomas. However, one of the factors that separated Jordan from them was the absence of stars on his side. Thomas had John Salley and Dennis Rodman, Magic had Kareem, and Bird had Robert Parish and Kevin McHale. Whereas, Jordan didn’t have a Hall of Fame teammate before. 

Doug Collins says Michael Jordan was frustrated for not having star players around him

Doug Collins, who coached Bulls from 1986 to 1989, spoke in detail about the frustration that Jordan used to go through because of teammates around him. He didn’t have players around him that he believed he could elevate. Collins spoke about MJ’s frustration before 1987. 

“Look at Bird’s teammates, look at Isiah’s teammates, look at Magic Johnson’s…How many Hall of Famers on those teams?”

However, once the 1987 draft happened, the Chicago Bulls got Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant in the draft pick. According to Collins, it was the first time that Jordan believed he had teammates around him that he could elevate and win a championship. Fast forward four years later, there was no stopping the five-time MVP. 

Michael Jordan’s teammates thought he was a j*rk

As legendary as Jordan became after 1991, there was news that he was a “tyrant” to his teammates. He talked trash to his teammates during practice. Even in the ‘Last Dance’, it showed that MJ wasn’t considering it as just practice. He considered it as important as any game. His then-teammate Will Perdue said this about him. 

“Let’s not get it wrong, he was an a**hole. He was a j*rk. He crossed the line numerous times. But as time goes on, and you think back about what he was actually trying to accomplish, you were like, Yeah, he was a hell of a teammate.”

Steve Kerr had a justification for Michael’s behavior on the court during the practice sessions. According to Kerr, ‘Black Jesus’ believed that if his teammates can’t handle the pressure from him, they wouldn’t be able to handle pressure when it comes to playoffs. Jordan constantly challenged them by going hard at them at practice.