Shocking Similarities between 2016-17 Thunder and 1988-89 Bulls
By Eric Snyder
The Coach – Star Relationship:
Why is an OKC Thunder site talking about Doug Collins and Michael Jordan?
Remove the names and ponder this: What team had an unproven supporting cast, heavily relied on one superstar, and had an inexperienced NBA coach?
In many ways, the preceding description could describe both the 88-89 Bulls and the 16-17 Thunder.
Again, consider this fact:
In his final season with the Bulls, Collins basically rode Air Jordan like a rented mule. He played Jordan an incredible amount of minutes and MJ nearly averaged a triple-double (producing 32.5 points, 8 assists, 8 rebounds). Sound familiar?
Collins wasn’t new to the NBA game and saw his only ticket to winning basketball was playing his best player every minute he could.
As a result, management, fans and players complained vigorously all while Collins was padding his record, racking up wins.
There are no shortage of stories and urban myths about how difficult it was to get along with Michael Jordan. Hence, Doug Collins became the man the Bulls relied on to guide Jordan and his very young team to NBA glory.
In the Bulls 1988-89 season, Jordan was played an average of 40 minutes per game. In other words, Jordan was rested for only two minutes per quarter on a team with a young Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant. Furthermore, Will Perdue was one of four rookies on the Bulls and a smaller Craig Hodges was the backup to Jordan.
The Bulls were both vulnerable and young in an NBA that was very physical and favored hardened veterans. Rumors swirled about the relationship between Collins and Jordan while Phil Jackson sat on the bench as the top assistant Coach.
"Why is an OKC Thunder site talking about Doug Collins and Michael Jordan? Remove the names and ponder this: What team had an unproven supporting cast, heavily relied on one superstar, and had an inexperience NBA coach?"