December 24, 2015
On the night of May 13, 1994, Phil Jackson, coach of the NBA Chicago Bulls, came face-to-face with an unexpected and crucial choice point. How he handled it made a significant difference in his life and in the lives of the Chicago players.
The Bulls were playing the New York Knicks for the championship of the Eastern Conference in a best of four of seven games. If they won, they would move on to the NBA finals; if they lost, their season was over. Winning titles and championships are always important for NBA teams, but that year it was more important than ever for the Bulls. For over a decade, led by superstar Michael Jordan, arguably the best basketball player ever, the Bulls had been among the league’s elite teams. In 1994, with Jordan retired, they were anxious to continue their tradition of excellence.
The Knicks won the first two games. If Chicago lost the third game, their chances of moving on to the NBA finals were practically zero.
In the last quarter of the game, the Bulls found themselves suddenly reeling. Ahead by 22 points as the fourth quarter began, they lost their huge lead and found themselves tied at 102 – 102 with 1.8 seconds to play. Chicago had the ball and called a time out. The players huddled around Jackson who told them what he had decided. Scottie Pippin was to take the ball out-of-bounds and throw it to Toni Kukoc, who was to take the last shot.
Pippin was furious. He saw himself as Michael Jordan’s heir apparent and the star of the new “Jordanless” team. He had expected to take the last shot. Mumbling “Bullshit,” he turned away, left the huddle, moved to the end of the bench and sat down. He was refusing to follow Jackson’s instructions. Jackson walked to Pippin and once again told him that he was to throw in the ball to Kukoc. Pippin refused again. “I’m out,” he told Jackson. Several players called out to Pippin, “Pip, come on, get up, what are you doing?” Pippin ignored them.
When the time-out was over, the other four players moved out onto the court. Yet there was no one to throw in the ball. Jackson quickly moved to a reserve player, Pete Myer, handed him the ball, and told him to throw it in to Kukoc.
Meyer made a perfect pass to Kukoc who caught the ball, spun around Anthony Mason, the Knick who was guarding him, and made an incredible shot at the buzzer to give the Bulls a stunning 104-102 victory. The Bulls were still alive.
Yet they were now facing a new, complicated, and potentially destructive situation. At the most important moment of the game – and perhaps of the whole season – Scottie Pippin, in a moment of personal pique, committed a flagrant – and very public – act of insubordination.
When Jackson entered the dressing room after the game, the players, distraught and tense, turned to him to see how he was going to handle this unexpected, and fraught situation, one that Jackson undoubtedly had never expected.
Jackson looked around the room, making eye contact with each player. Then he said evenly, “What happened has hurt us. Now you have to work it out.” Jackson saw that the real problem was not his but one that belonged to the team. They were the ones who would have to step up, take responsibility, and decide what to do.
Faced with this choice point, Jackson refused to make one of the obvious choices: Ignore Pippin’s behavior? Pretend that it didn’t happen? Make clear his authority and suspend Pippin from the next game? Make him apologize to the team. Instead, he chose a third way, one that none of the team expected. He gave them responsibility for the problem. And they accepted it. As the team began to work on the problem, Jackson quietly slipped out of the dressing room.
The players were shocked and surprised. They had expected that Jackson would deal with Pippin’s refusal to follow instructions. After a moment of silence, Bill Cartwright, the center on the team, spoke up. “Look Scottie, that was bullshit. After all we’ve been through on this team. This is our chance to do it on our own without Michael, and you blow it with your selfishness. I’ve never been so disappointed in my whole life.” Cartwright, known for his quiet demeanor and stoicism, was crying.
Jackson’s move was not only brilliant, but also successful. Scottie apologized to the team and the coach, and nothing like that ever happened again. Jackson and Pippin avoided a “perpetual problem” in their future relationship. Later, Scottie Pippin was inducted into the NBA hall of fame. And in 2015, when Phil Jackson turned 70, Scottie Pippin sent him a tweet: “Happy 70th birthday Phil Jackson, we’ve come a long way since 1987!” Indeed they had, and it is clear that Phil Jackson’s innovative and courageous action at a critical choice point moment on May 13, 1994 had a lot to do with it.