How Jordan Created Rivals to Conquer
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SPORTS Assignment editor: Dan Ruthemeyer 360-416-2143 / [email protected] COMMENTARY How Jordan created Don Shula rivals to conquer and ‘Beli-cheat’ By DAVE HYDE By DAN WOIKE coming down on a peer Sun Sentinel Los Angeles Times was when Buddy Ryan was fired by Philadelphia Washington Bullets rookie Don A group of old-time in 1991. Ryan and Shula MacLean walked into the Capitol South Florida sports writ- had a history. The his- Centre in Landover, Md., on the ers and TV types now tory was of Ryan poking second night of back-to-back games spread across the country Shula going back to when in 1993. The night before, his team, had a Zoom talk Friday defensive coordinator one of the worst in the East, played a about Dolphins Hall of Ryan’s New York Jets tough game in Chicago, almost upset- Fame coach Don Shula. famously upset Shula’s ting the Bulls thanks to 37 points Thoughts. Memories. Baltimore team in the from second-year guard LaBradford Laughs. A virtual good- 1969 Super Bowl. Smith. bye, of sorts, after his “I’m normally sym- One night later, they would play death on Monday. pathetic when a coach is Michael Jordan and the Bulls again on Amid the storytell- fired,” Shula said that day. the Bullets’ home court. ing Chuck Dowdle, the That’s as harsh as Shula “As I walked in, the security guard former host of “The Don publicly attacked peers stopped me and told me Jordan Shula Show,” provided with words. But in his had been here since 3:30,” MacLean more than a story. He later years it was different remembered this week. “And I was gave the reason why Bill with Belichick. like, ‘Oh (expletive) … ’ ” Belichick chasing down “He called Belichick “He was exacting revenge.” Shula’s all-time win total ‘Beli-cheat,’” former safety Seemingly offended by Smith’s would have been increas- Dick Anderson said on audacity to play well against him and ingly uncomfortable in CBS Radio in discussing the Bulls, Jordan locked his focus on one respect. Meaning, Shula. “He was straight- Shula’s respect. Mean- the smaller, younger Bullets guard GETTY IMAGES forward. He was, ‘This is and went right at him, nearly equaling ing, Shula’s disrespect of how we gotta do it, these Michael Jordan works against the Phoenix Suns’ Dan Majerle during a Belichick. Smith’s best game ever by scoring 36 are the rules, and this is 1989 game in Phoenix. Dowdle didn’t mention points … in the first half. what we’re going to fol- this. Nor did anyone else. The response was swift, cruel and And for one sort-of-meaningless open shots,” he said this week. “I’m low.’ He didn’t like, I think, It wasn’t the point of the personal. game in late March 27 years ago, it not gonna miss all of them.” people that didn’t follow story that came on the TV “I remember (John Paxson) talking was LaBradford Smith, a story that There wasn’t time to celebrate the the rules — and he did.” set in the 1980s. During a to me about it. Somebody else, maybe perfectly illustrates Jordan’s ability to game, and by opening tip the next This would have been break Dowdle asked what Horace (Grant), said, ‘Do yourself a motivate himself. night, Smith already knew that Jordan a growing topic in com- Shula’s epitaph should favor. When Michael gets the ball, get Smith has been recording “The was fuming. Before the game, Jordan’s ing years as Belichick read. the hell out of the way,’ ” Bulls center Last Dance” episodes as they air at his teammates, B.J. Armstrong and Rod- closes in on Shula’s defin- “You mean when I ing record of 347 wins. Will Perdue remembered. “ … It was Cincinnati-area home. He likes to skip ney McCray, found Smith stretching die?” Shula said. Death Belichick has 304 wins. almost like the eulogy was already through the commercials. Through and relayed the same news that had wasn’t on his 16-game He’s 67. If he wins 10 written, and you were like, ‘Oh, ... I three weeks, his story with Jordan MacLean cursing on his way into the schedule. He thought a games a year … well, you feel sorry for that guy.’ ” hadn’t come up. But then his nephew building. second before saying: “‘He do the math. It’s do-able. When the latest episodes of “The got a hold of the eighth episode. “You know, Mike’s been here since played by the rules.’” And if Shula was asked Last Dance” air tonight on ESPN, “He was like, ‘Unc, you know you’re about 4 p.m. shooting around,” they That sums his coaching about him? Smith will join the list of those who in ‘The Last Dance?’ ” And I was told him. “And he told us to take the life. There are hundred Shula, to be sure, knew have somehow wronged Jordan, the like, holy (expletive),” Smith said. “I day off, so I hope you got to rest last stories, big and small. of his win total. The people who have provided the gaso- thought I was gonna just ease by, they n i g ht .” Here’s one: Fullback Larry Dolphins great public- line to a high-powered engine. were just gonna talk about the cham- Jordan made his first eight shots, Csonka found an Oak- relations man, Harvey There’s Leroy Smith, no relation to pionship stuff and all that. attacking Smith and whoever else land Raiders playbook in Greene, noticed as Shula LaBradford, the player who made the “And now I’m in Episode 8.” had the misfortune of trying to get in the visiting locker room crept closer in 1993 to high school varsity instead of Jordan, The legend goes that after Smith his way. He finished with 47 points before a big game. Shula breaking George Halas’ scored 37 against the Bulls he told through three quarters. who brought him to his Hall of Fame threw it in the trash can, record of 325 wins that he Jordan, “Mike, good game.” And this “I remember his body language induction. There were Hall of Famers saying looking at it would really had two more wins. seemed different right from the start. George Gervin, Magic Johnson and incensed Jordan. be cheating. His two wins weren’t Isiah Thomas, the masterminds who The reality is Smith didn’t seek And maybe I was looking for that Belichick, meanwhile, counted from the NFL’s allegedly froze Jordan out in his first Jordan out postgame. He ran off the because I knew he had been there for was caught videotaping “Runner-Up Bowl” in the All-Star game. court and tried to get into the showers hours before the game,” MacLean said. an opponent’s signals 1960s for teams that lost Jerry Krause’s love for Toni Kukoc at the Chicago Stadium as quickly as MacLean would see that look a in Spygate in 2007. The before the championship led to Jordan and Scottie Pippen he could. He was briefly stopped by couple of summers later when Jordan Patriots were in the game. trying to humiliate Kukoc, a future reporters. was hosting the summer’s best pickup middle of Deflategate. Green mentioned it teammate, during the 1992 Olym- “The shots were just falling for me. games on the Warner Bros. lot after The NFL is reportedly to Shula, who had him pics. We know comparisons to Clyde … It happens like that sometimes,” he finished filming “Space Jam” for still reviewing a Patriots notify the league. Joe Drexler led to his famous “shrug” in Smith told the Washington Post after the day. After a few weeks, MacLean television crew videotap- Browne, the NFL’s com- the NBA Finals. We’ve heard Jordan the game. “Hopefully, it’ll happen like decided to check out the games, ing Cincinnati Bengals munication director, said say that Charles Barkley winning the that more often. I don’t say nothing to he got hot, and his team somehow coaches’ signals from last that for years Shula had 1993 Most Valuable Player award, (Jordan). Leave him alone. In the first knocked Jordan off the court. December. mentioned those games. along with Krause’s appreciation for couple of quarters he was helping out When MacLean returned a few In his home for an 85th The league treated them Phoenix guard Dan Majerle, fueled a lot and I was getting a more wide- weeks later to play, Jordan instantly birthday story in 2015, like the Pro Bowl wins. the Bulls’ third straight title. Grant open shot.” said he would be defending MacLean. Shula publicly mentioned They didn’t count. leaving for rival Orlando, Nick Ander- It wasn’t like Smith was doing his “It wasn’t like he wouldn’t let me his pejorative for Belich- Belichick’s wins count. son getting a steal and Gary Payton scoring on Jordan, necessarily. score. He wouldn’t even let me touch ick the first time. My Everyone will be counting being regarded as one of the toughest “You know, still to this day, one the ball,” MacLean said with a laugh. question wasn’t pointed them, too. Shula would defenders — they all pushed Jordan thing I can do is shoot the ball, you “This sums up the maniacal brain of that way. I asked Shula if have been called about too. know, especially if I’m getting wide Jord a n .” he remembered a young it, too.