How the Chicago Bulls self-destructed after Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson left | Collapse

When the game's best player and best coach leave you in the same offseason, the only way to go is down. Fast.

In 1998, the Chicago Bulls won yet another championship: an incredible SECOND three-peat for the team built by Jerry Krause, coached by Phil Jackson, and led by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. But for all their glory, the team was in disarray. When the deeply disgruntled Jackson left town, Jordan followed him, and Krause was left to pick up the pieces.

... and by "pick up the pieces," we mean swiftly hurl all the pieces into the abyss and start rebuilding from scratch. But rebuilding, it turns out, isn't always easy.

This is the story of how the Bulls followed one of the NBA's most impressive peaks with a valley just as impressive in its steepness and depth. This is the rapid collapse of one of history's greatest teams.

Written and produced by Seth Rosenthal
Shot by Alex Hawley
Edited by Ryan Simmons
Motion graphics by Michael Das

[tommythetreat]

So this is basically The Last Dance episode 11.

[unownunown]

Jerry Krause: Players and Coaches dont win Championships, organizations win championships

Bulls with MJ & Phil: 6 Rings
Bulls without MJ & Phil: 0 Rings

[fhantasm]

Steve Kerr is still enjoying greatness. What a life this guy's been living.

[cedrictorryii]

As a Chicago born and raised native, this is going to hurt me to watch ..

But I have to watch it ..

[youtubecommenter]

Michael Jordan isn’t a once in a generation talent. He’s a once in 10 generations talent. You don’t rebuild by pissing off that kind of player and making him leave

[CallMeKmrn]

bro really got rid of the greatest player ever, greatest coach ever, greatest rebounder ever, greatest perimeter defender ever, and one of the greatest shooters ever because of his ego

[Laf]

They lost lost Jordan Pippen and Rodman in one week!!!!

[TheDude]

The thing about Jerry Krause is that he did two truly historic things in his career, and he deserves full credit for both of them, and you can never mention one without the other. The first thing he did was put together the greatest basketball team (and perfectly complimentary coaching staff) of all time. The second thing he did was destroy the greatest basketball team of all time. No Jerry = no 6 rings, but also no Jerry after '98 = no collapse. It's a complicated legacy, as great ones often are

[mikeydlad]

who’s here after the bulls doc ending to see how jerry messed it up

[alexanderthegreat]

Very simple the Bulls ownership weakness showed. they aren't ruthless and they aren't demanding for success.

MJ drove the franchise to be a winning one

[WMB]

Krause actions reminds me of a quote:

"Temper gets you into trouble. Pride keeps your there"

[stevenbcarter]

I used to blame Krause for the demise because it was so no-brainer to give MJ what he wanted...but in retrospect, owner Reinsdorf is really the one who blew it here...for whatever reason, he let MJ walk even though he and MJ had a great relationship...baffling

[rjaybee]

The Bulls 97-98 season was dubbed the "last dance" even well before the end of the regular season that year.

[burnindownthehouse]

I was at that game the Bulls scored a record setting low 49 points. And check this out- that was the ONLY Bulls game I ever went to. A scalper before the game tried to sell the seat to me for $200. I was like, "Come on, man. Jordan isn't even on the Bulls anymore. I'll give you $50." He accepted. Little did I know the game would turn out to be worth fifty cents.

[nicholas.alan]

Having grew up and watched almost every bulls game from 1990-1999 this video almost brought me to tears. I lived out in the loop of Chicago and the Bulls were a way of life. After 1998, there wasn't even a chance to celebrate the second three-peat.. the walls came crashing down in a literal planned demolition. All within a week or so. This brought back some buried wounds that never fully healed.

[Julie]

Krause thought he could just build another Bulls dynasty like he did starting in 1984, he was cocky enough to think, hey I could find another MJ and Phil around the corner and get them for pennies. It was disgusting what he did to the team and the city of Chicago.

[steviemcqueen]

Steve Kerr has 8 championships ( 5 as a player ( 2 when he played for San Antonio, 3 when he played for Chicago & 3 as coach of Golden State)

[tguy]

Dig into the beef of Krause and Jackson for Beef History!

[feedthesnake]

this video is so good, they made a 10 episode prequel on netflix.

[ClivesEnglishCorner]

Dude, why do ESPN still even exist? Lol, YouTubers are doing an even better job than them.