All sports dynasties eventually meet their end in one way or another, and NBA fans are getting a look into how the Chicago Bulls' 1990s championship run ended in the ESPN 10-part documentary The Last Dance, which, in part, covers the drama surrounding the team's final title-winning campaign in 1997-98.
Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers was one of the architects of his team's own dynasty from 2015-19, so he knows how difficult it is to construct and maintain a championship-caliber roster.
Myers commented on that notion in light of The Last Dance in an interview on 95.7 The Game (h/t Drew Shiller of NBC Sports Bay Area):
"When you watch something like that, it reminds you how hard it is to keep something together. That was my takeaway from it. It's hard to understand. Even (Michael) Jordan himself said, 'We're winning. Let us keep trying to do this.' But you realize that in the midst of it all what happens with great success, and great notoriety, and great attention, and all the money, and all the fame ... it's very hard.
"It's why bands break up. Why'd that team break up? Because within all that, there are so many dynamics. And to keep it all aligned is work ... you have to sacrifice. When you're trying to win, you don't get to do it all on your own terms. But you do get to win ... so it's fascinating to watch. You get to see some of the (Scottie) Pippen stuff and some of the discord.
"I'm not even picking on the Bulls because it's human nature. It almost happens to everybody. Things have a lifetime and then they end."
The Warriors reached five straight NBA Finals from 2015-19, winning three titles in the process.
The bottom fell out in 2019-20, however, as injuries and departures led to the Warriors claiming the NBA's worst record (15-50) when the season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic on March 11.
While returning to their championship perch may be difficult after this season, the Warriors do have hope in 2020-21. They'll return a healthy Klay Thompson, who has been out in 2019-20 with a torn ACL. Stephen Curry, who has missed all but five games with a broken hand, should be good to go. And the Warriors also have Andrew Wiggins providing tertiary scoring help to the Splash Brothers.
That's in addition to jack-of-all-trades forward Draymond Green and a presumed top-end lottery pick in the 2020 draft, provided the Warriors use the selection and don't trade it elsewhere.
The Warriors won't have some key pieces from their dynasty, including Kevin Durant (now of the Brooklyn Nets) and Andre Iguodala (now of the Miami Heat), but the short-term future appears bright.
The 1990s Bulls couldn't make that same claim.
The entire team was dismantled and unrecognizable after the 1997-98 season, with Michael Jordan (retired), Scottie Pippen (traded to the Houston Rockets), Dennis Rodman (released), Steve Kerr (traded to the San Antonio Spurs), Luc Longley (traded to the Phoenix Suns) and head coach Phil Jackson (contract not renewed) all gone.
Toni Kukoc, Bill Wennington and Ron Harper were the only rotation pieces left from the dynasty years. The Bulls did have some young talent to build around thanks to future lottery picks (e.g. Eddy Curry, Marcus Fizer), but they never panned out.
The Last Dance goes into great detail as to why the dynasty broke up, largely citing general manager Jerry Krause's desire to rebuild with younger talent as opposed to squeezing as much championship glory out of the aging Bulls as possible.
Krause and Jackson also did not get along, with the general manager telling the head coach prior to 1997-98 that it would be his last year in the Windy City.
That team did end up winning its final title in 1998, but getting back to the mountain top has proved to be a challenge. The Bulls haven't made the NBA Finals since.
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April 23, 2020 at 11:32AM
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Warriors' GM: 'The Last Dance' Shows 'It's Very Hard' to Maintain Dynasties - Bleacher Report
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