What If Michael Jordan Never Retired and the ‘99 Bulls Ran It Back?

How many more dances could the Last Dance Bulls have danced? Were there more championship rings left on the table?

AND JUST LIKE THAT, THE LAST DANCE IS OVER. We had only barely just begun dancing, but five glorious Sunday nights later, ESPN’s The Last Dance documentary on Michael Jordan and the 1998 Chicago Bulls has already concluded. And just like that… he was gone.

But what if he wasn’t gone, after all?

What if all that Last Dance talk was just that… talk? What if the competitive Jordan couldn’t walk away from the sport for good? What if that itch pushed him back for one more title defense? Just how long might MJ and the Bulls have kept winning? How many more dances might they have danced?

It’s our third and final What If to The Last Dance. We already looked at what might have happened if Michael Jordan never retired the first time in 1993, and we considered what if MJ had stayed retired for good in 1995.

Now a final hypothetical: what if the last dance hadn’t actually been danced?

We last left The Last Dance on Sunday, June 14, 1998.

Just over 8,000 days ago, that was the last time we saw Michael Jordan in a Chicago Bulls uniform, holding that shooting pose one final time over Bryon Russell’s corpse as Jordan finished the greatest 41 seconds in NBA history.

After a Bulls timeout, no Chicago player but MJ touched the ball again.

Bucket. Steal. Bucket. Ball game.

Curtains.

Jordan wasn’t the only NBA player who stopped playing ball that June. Everyone else did, too. The league went on strike.

You know how the NBA salary cap was over $100 million for each team this year? Jordan made over $33 million that year in Chicago — and that was more than the Bulls’ entire salary cap.

The cap rules changed that winter, but not until after a long strike. The season didn’t start in November or December. There was no Christmas basketball, no All-Star Game or Break. In fact, there was no more basketball at all in 1998. The next games tipped on February 5, 1999, for a frenzied 50-game season that ended on May 5.

That late start turns out to be a blessing in disguise for our Bulls.

Jordan gets many months after The Shot to think over his decision. Scottie Pippen gets seven months of rehab on all those injuries. Dennis Rodman gets seven months to party. And Jerrys Reinsdorf and Krause get seven long months to ponder whether they’re really ready to walk away from the team of a lifetime.

Krause and Reinsdorf meet quietly with Jordan around the holidays and beg him to come back. Jordan talks with Scottie and Dennis and tries to recruit Phil Jackson.

But Phil is done.

Look, we all watched The Last Dance. Jackson was the one who came up with the moniker. He’d proclaimed it the last dance all year long, and that bell had already been rung. Those goodbye notes had already been burnt. Phil was burnt too, and done with Jerry Krause.

The desperate Bulls tell Jordan they’ll give him the coach of his choice if he’ll come back. MJ tells them there’s only one other man he’ll play for: longtime Bulls assistant Tex Winter, he of the triangle offense. Winter is 77 but knows this will not be a long gig. He acquiesces and takes the reins.

Jordan remains silent.

The Bulls continue to move forward, hoping for one more year.

They bring back Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman on one-year balloon payments. They also go ahead with the planned Brent Barry signing, adding a sharp-shooting wing who was about to turn into one of the elite 3-and-D wings. Toni Kukoc and Ron Harper are still on the roster.

But there’s another problem.

Michael Jordan is not healthy.

In early January 1999, Mike had a freak cigar-cutting injury — seriously. Jordan severed a tendon on his right index finger thanks to a faulty cigar cutter. He reportedly needed surgery that would’ve cost him six to eight weeks in recovery. He couldn’t even palm a ball, and that’s his shooting hand.

But the injury makes Jordan more determined than ever to return, so he gives the Bulls his commitment and undergoes surgery.

The Bulls will begin their title defense without the GOAT.

Before we get into the games, it’s important to reflect on just how good some of these Bulls would be heading into the new 1999 season.

Jordan was clearly slipping. From 1988 through 1997, Jordan led the league every season he played in offensive and total win shares, win shares per 48, offensive box plus/minus, total BPM, and value over replacement player. By every advanced statistical measure, Jordan was the best player in basketball for a decade straight.

But in 1998, he led none of those categories. His counting numbers faltered ever so slightly, and his shooting efficiency had begun to drop off.

Now, he wasn’t exactly terrible. He just wasn’t MICHAEL JORDAN anymore. More MVP candidate than clear-cut winner. Push that forward a year and now Jordan is 35 and rehabbing an injured finger. He’s no longer an MVP nor maybe even a high-end candidate, but he’s still Michael Jordan. Still clearly the best player on a team and a top-five to seven player in the league, but the years have taken their toll.

Our other key players were still playing in 1999. Pippen’s offense took a step back in 1998, and his production plummeted in his one year with the Rockets in 1999. He did play all 50 games though, refreshed after the long break.

Kukoc had his best season as a pro in 1999 — of course, he did it as The Guy for a terrible Bulls team missing MJ and Scottie. His efficiency dropped but a career-high 18.8ppg showed he was ready for a bigger role. Rodman was barely heard from again after 1998. He played 23 ugly games with the Lakers, then 12 with the Mavs in 2000 before disappearing for good.

Ron Harper is still excellent in defense, good enough to win two more rings in 2000 and 2001 with the Lakers. Steve Kerr is still good enough too, since he’d go on to win a ring with the 1999 Spurs. Now they’re all back in Chicago, along with the underrated Brent Barry on the wing.

The Bulls also need big man help, as always. Vlade Divac, Antonio McDyess, and Tom Gugliotta are available in free agency, but Chicago has no money. They sign journeyman defender Grant Long and trade Luc Longley, who never got along with MJ, for Jordan’s longtime friend Charles Oakley in Toronto.

Harper, Jordan, Pippen, Kukoc, and Oakley are the starters.

Rodman, Barry, Kerr, and Long off the bench.

Last Dance, take II. Here we go.

But we’d never see that Bulls lineup play together.

Remember, Jordan is still rehabbing that finger as the season tips off. This is Scottie’s team now, and things do not start well. The Bulls get waxed in an Opening Night title rematch in Utah, then are shocked by the woebegone Clippers. They finally win Game 3 against the Hawks but fall at home to the Knicks and Spurs, dropping to 1–4.

The tabloids are out, declaring the Bulls D.O.A. “Scottie Not So Hottie,” they proclaim, and Rodman leaves for another extended stay in Las Vegas. Tex Winter struggles to keep the team in line, and Pippen openly pouts as Kukoc leads the team in shots and scoring. Phil Jackson’s silence from retirement is deafening.

The Bulls fall to 3–7 on the season, and Jordan is still weeks away from returning. And Scottie Pippen has had enough.

Pippen had been on thin ice with Krause and Reinsdorf, and now he’s upset he was left in the dark about the Jordan injury. He’s wants out.

As February comes to a close, the Bulls make the first big move. The Lakers had been looking to move on from Eddie Jones to free up time for Kobe Bryant, and they were offering big man Elden Campbell too. In real life, they traded that pair in March for Glen Rice. In our world, there’s a better wing available. The Bulls gamble that a healthy Jones will be a better team player and almost as good defensively, and they need the big man, plus the Lakers are willing to take on Rodman’s mess. Chicago pulls the trigger.

Suddenly our Bulls are led by Toni, Eddie, and Brent, sounding much more boy band than defending threepeat champs. They stagger to 6–10, almost a third of the season gone.

Then, finally, hope by the way of Michael Jordan.

Jordan is rusty… for a game. Chicago loses Mike’s debut in Milwaukee, but he returns home and drops 60 points on the stunned Nets in John Calipari’s final game.

The Bulls are back — but Mike knows this team needs some help. Longtime running mate Pippen is gone, and Jordan pushes for another second banana. There’s not much time to lose. Jordan returns on March 8, and the trade deadline comes three days later.

There’s one other key team affected by these dominoes: the Houston Rockets. The real-life Rockets signed Pippen that offseason, trying to add inject some “youth” into their rapidly aging duo of Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley. Without Scottie in the loaded West, the Rockets falter. They’re under .500 heading toward the deadline, and the writing is on the wall.

Jordan had played with Barkley on the Dream Team and in the Finals the following summer, and they were close friends. Jordan wanted Barkley, and Barkley wanted Jordan. Begrudgingly and desperate, Krause agreed: Toni Kukoc would have to go. Anything for MJ, future be damned.

The move works.

The rejuvenated Jordan has immediate chemistry with Barkley. The ‘95 Bulls went 13–4 in Jordan’s return. These Bulls finish 18–6 to get to 29–21 and the 5-seed. They open the playoffs against Dikembe Mutombo and the Hawks.

Atlanta has plenty of defense but not enough scoring, and the Bulls advance easily. In real life, that would have pitted them against the 8-seed New York Knicks, who shocked the Miami Heat in round one without Patrick Ewing. But the Knicks miss the playoffs in our revamp, pushed to the 9-seed with the Bulls stealing their spot.

Pat Riley’s Heat should have been a ferocious matchup, but there’s a reason that Heat team came up short. Tim Hardaway and Dan Majerle couldn’t hit a shot to save their lives. The duo was under 36% true shooting in those playoffs, and Miami has no answer for MJ.

The Bulls head to the Eastern Conference Finals to face the Detroit Pistons, who knocked off the Pacers. It feels like a passing of the torch from Jordan to Grant Hill, who goes on to have a healthy, top-20 all-time career, but this is not his moment. Jordan bottles up Hill, and the Bulls head back to the Finals.

That’s where things get tricky.

The 1999 East was there for the taking, but the West was another story. While the East 1-to-8 was separated by just six games, the West saw dominant performances by the Spurs, Jazz, and Trail Blazers. The 5-seed Rockets drop from the playoffs, giving the Sonics the 8-seed and sliding everyone else up.

None of that matters much; we still get Spurs-Lakers and Jazz-Blazers in the semis. The Spurs were dominant than season behind their Twin Towers of David Robinson and Tim Duncan. The real-life Spurs swept Kobe and Shaq. These Lakers have Scottie, but Pippen ain’t enough. The Lakers push San Antonio to six but come up short, while the Blazers beat the Jazz in six, too.

The Spurs were no fake champ. The Spurs had the best metrics of any team by a wide margin and swept strong Lakers and Blazers teams en route to an easy Finals win. These Spurs get the job done too, and our Finals are set. Michael Jordan’s Bulls will finally have to face an elite big man — two, in fact.

These are far from the Last Chance Bulls. Chicago rolls out Harper, MJ, Eddie, Barkley, and Oak, with Barry the key sixth man and Campbell and Long the beef to bang with Admiral and Duncan.

Everyone always clamored for a Bulls Finals against an elite center, and Chicago never had the right center to match up with Hakeem Olajuwon. But they did dispose of like Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, and Shaquille O’Neal along the way. And there’s one other thing those folks overlook… the rest of the rosters.

Hakeem’s Rockets had the same flaw as these Spurs: the guards and wings. They weren’t bad, but they were nothing like what the Bulls brought to the table. Harper, Jones, and Barry were all stifling defensively — let alone Pippen in the early versions and, of course, the GOAT.

Karl Malone gave a rookie Tim Duncan the business in the 1998 playoffs, but Barkley was not quite as good at this point, and Duncan was readier this time. He edges Barkley in that matchup of all-time elites, and Robinson dominates the pupu platter of old centers thrown at him.

But Avery Johnson and Mario Elie are overwhelmed by the Bulls back court, and Sean Elliott is outmatched by Eddie Jones. The Spurs bench is also weakened by the loss of Steve Kerr.

It’s a hard-fought, epic series that comes down to Game 7 at the Alamo- and are you betting against Michael Jordan with everything on the line?

Jordan puts up 39 points in an ugly, defensive game. Scoring is nigh impossible, and Jordan sinks the clinching free throws in the final seconds.

The Bulls win 71–67 and become the only team other than the 60s Celtics to win four straight NBA championships.

Michael Jordan is a champion yet again — this time without Scottie Pippen or Phil Jackson.

The 1999–2000 season dawns, and you know the competitive Jordan ain’t going nowhere.

The Bulls are OLD.

Jordan is 37 now. Barkley, too. Harper and Oakley are 36, and Kerr is 35. Only Eddie Jones and Brent Barry are really in their primes. The Bulls win 48 and get the 6-seed as Chicago saves itself for the games that matter.

Phil Jackson is back — but not with the Bulls. Jackson heads to L.A., joining Kobe and Shaq along with Pippen and Rodman. The Lakers plow through the regular season behind an MVP year from Shaq, piling up 70 wins and looking a different animal altogether.

Everyone is talking about That Finals: Jordan vs Kobe.

The passingest torch that was ever passed.

The Lakers storm through the West, knocking off the Kings and Suns. They’re no longer pushed by the Blazers in the Western Conference Finals. In fact, they don’t play the Blazers at all, since L.A. has Scottie Pippen now, not Portland. The Lakers dispose of the Jazz and head to the Finals.

Chicago’s title defense begins with another rematch against Patrick Ewing’s Knicks, and you already know how that series ends. The Heat are on deck, but Tim Hardaway misses the first round and labors through a tough matchup. The Bulls grind out another win and head back to the ECF.

There they’ll face one more rematch, this time with the Indiana Pacers, the team that pushed them to the brink in 1998. These Pacers are the 1-seed now, with the best offense in the league. Jalen Rose is second banana behind Reggie Miller, and the two are ready to give MJ all he can handle.

The Pacers win a tough Game 1, but the Bulls fight back to grab Game 2 and steal home court. It doesn’t last, as Indiana comes right back to take Game 3.

Game 4 is must-win for Chicago, and Jordan knows it. Barkley has nothing left — he played only 20 real-life games that season before retiring — and the rest of the supporting cast isn’t enough.

Reggie and MJ trade buckets in a showdown for the ages.

Reggie, bucket. MJ, bucket.

Reggie, MJ, Reggie, MJ.

Reggie has 38 but Jordan has 45 with the game tied in the final two minutes. It’s closing time for two of the NBA’s all-time closers.

And that’s when it happens.

Jordan dekes Travis Best and dives to the rim, loading up to leap over Jalen Rose for the go-ahead bucket when…

~POP~

Jordan crumples to the ground, writhing in pain.

His Achilles is gone. It just couldn’t take it anymore.

Jordan steps to the line and hits both free throws before a stunned silent United Center, but it’s not enough. He watches from the sidelines as Reggie hits the game winner, and the Pacers go on to win in five before falling to the Lakers in the anticlimactic Finals.

It’s over.

It’s finally over.

Barkley retires along with Harper, Oakley, and Kerr, and the Bulls finally go into rebuilding mode.

Jordan fights back from the Achilles for an ill-fated comeback with the Washington Wizards in 2003, scoring 20ppg in a deserving All-Star campaign, but he’s a shell of the player he once was. This time, he retires for good.

Phil Jackson and the Lakers rip off a threepeat of their own.

Kerr’s retirement costs the Spurs a title when he’s not around to hit four threes off the bench in WCF Game 6 in 2003. Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks go on to win their first championship.

David Robinson retires ringless, and the Spurs move on from a head coach who keeps coming up just short in Gregg Popovich. Tim Duncan never wins a ring, becoming the modern-day Karl Malone. Charles Barkley is revered as the greatest power forward of all time.

Michael Jordan is still the GOAT. He always was.

After all, Jordan never lost a single playoff series (other than the ones before he started winning, the one we all ignore in 1995, and the injury in 2000).

Jordan remains invincible. He’s a seven-time champion and five-time MVP, and his GOAT case has long since been sealed.

The truth is that 1999 season was wide open, especially out East, and the Bulls would’ve had an excellent chance of making the Finals but… who really cares? Jordan was already the GOAT, and he was after winning the 1997 title, too. Maybe even after coming back to go 72–10, win the MVP and Finals MVP, and another title in 1996 with the ultimate mic drop.

Imagine being so clearly The Greatest that you added two entire championship campaigns as icing on your GOAT cake. Three, in this case.

We’ll always wonder if the Bulls might have fourpeated — is that even a word? — but the truth is that Reinsdorf, Krause, and Jackson probably did MJ a favor. The Bulls were at their logical end, and their story had been told.

Like Alexander the Great, Michael Jordan retired and wept.

For there were no more worlds to conquer. ■

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