Michael Jordan Earns More Money Than Entire Team!

This is FYF Sports, man. This is Lamont, your host of the FYF Sports Daily Commute Show here on Spotify, Amazon, Audible, wherever you listen to your audio podcasts. We're here for you again. We definitely apologize. We have not been dropping as many episodes as we would like, but that will be changing this week. Episodes will be more consistent. We've done a lot more things with sponsors to make sure that we're bringing you guys quality content on a consistent level. Myself and Mahari Nation Sports Podcast, also on YouTube, he will also bring in content as well, more so on boxing and sports outside of basketball, but again, combined, this is your daily commute show, right, whether you're going to work, whether you're on break, just 20 minutes here or there just to get you to think about some of the hottest topics on sports, and that's exactly what we're bringing you today. The show today is presented to you by Fit Aid, the number one sports energy drink in the world, 200 milligrams of clean caffeine, clean energy, every essential vitamin you can think of with turmeric, COQ10, it's one of the best sports drinks on the market. Make sure you grab one. The next time you're in the grocery store or the gas station, but today, we're talking about the 1998 Chicago Bulls, and I think this is a very interesting topic to discuss, primarily because Jordan, his legacy, how he won six titles consistently comes up. The myth around the 90s, the talk about how great the 90s was, it's always brought up when we talk about Michael Jordan, LeBron James, the greats of today's era versus the greats of the past. And so we hear in these conversations how Jordan stayed with one team. He was so loyal. We talk, we hear how the Bulls, Jordan lifted these guys up. He brought them from the depths, right? This was just basically a group of average Joes that wouldn't be anything without Michael Jordan on the roster. Obviously, I disagree. I believe that the Bulls, especially on that second three-peat, were equivalent to any of the super teams that we've seen of this era. And yes, they were a super team. When you have a Michael Jordan, when you have a Dennis Rodman and a Scottie Pippen on your same team with a lot of other help, you are classified, by definition, the definition that has been created for LeBron James, you are, by that definition, a super team. So I think one of the most interesting things to look at is how were the Chicago Bulls able to manufacture and carry these great teams for almost 10 years? I'm talking about 10-year run of dominance. You know, you're talking about throughout the 90s, the Bulls won six championships, two three-peats, possibly eight in a row if Michael Jordan doesn't retire. And I think the biggest question, the largest question that looms, how did the Bulls pull this off? So many times today, we see great teams get put together, but then those teams fall apart because of dysfunction, because of free agency. We saw Shaq leave Orlando, go to LA. We saw Alonzo Mournin request a trade. Now he's out of Charlotte and he's in Miami. He also had beefs with Larry Johnson. We saw one of the first big threes created in Dallas with Jason Kidd, Mashburn, and Jim Jackson get broken up because of just dysfunction and arguments over money. We, everyone knows about Hakeem Olajuwon and his dysfunction with the Houston Rockets. I think the biggest question remains, how did the 1998 Chicago Bulls, or any of those Bulls teams, how did they manage to keep all of those players for so long? The Chicago Bulls were a dynasty in the 90s with two three-peats on record. They remain one of the best dynasties in NBA history. That cannot be argued. The team that capped off the second three-peat, which was the sixth championship in that era for them, was the 1997-98 team. And that team is well-regarded in the last dance because of that particular docu-series and upcoming decisions that were to be made in that 1998 off-season, which ultimately led to the team being blown up. I think a lot of people say, how did you mess this up? All you have to do is just let them play till their legs fall off. Play till they're old and it's not working anymore. But they blew that team up all because of egos. And so the problems that we saw creep up and hurt other teams eventually got to the Chicago Bulls, but how were they able to sustain for so long? So the talent on the roster featured a big three of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman. In today's league, the big three on the team normally features the three highest-paid players in most cases. However, this was not the case for the Chicago Bulls. Other players found themselves in the upper tier of salary over the likes of a Scottie Pippen and even over the likes of Dennis Rodman, right? So many even surmise maybe the team was broken up for that reason because of the salary dysfunction. So while that conversation is for another day, the salary situation in today's league is quite different than it was back then. So let's take a look at salaries from 25 years ago and how those numbers would compare in today's game. I think the first salary we need to look at is the salary of none other than Scottie Pippen. Scottie Pippen's salary in the 1997-98 season was 2.7 million. 2.7 million in a season is equivalent in today's game to 5.1 million. And so if you think about the players that make 5.1 million in today's game, we're talking fringe, fringe role players, guys that are maybe the 10th, 11th, 12th man on teams. So even if you equivalent Scottie Pippen's pay from the 90s to now, it still doesn't add up to what his value truly was. Scottie Pippen was grossly underpaid his entire career. Pippen is regarded as one of the greatest players in NBA history. He was an all-star two-way player, six-time champion, obviously. And with that said, there were five players on that Chicago Bulls roster that were paid more than him. In today's NBA, that would not fly, especially being a five-time champion leading up to that 97, 98 season. So as many know, the animosity that led Pippen, led to all those Pippen trade rumors, that all halted when Pippen decided to return to the team. And when he ultimately rejoined the team, he helped them win another championship. And when he came back for those 44 games, he averaged 19 points per game, five rebounds and 5.8 assists and 1.8 steals. Back to dominating, right? So when we look at the pay of a Scottie Pippen, it wasn't equivalent. Scottie Pippen should have easily been the second highest paid player, not just on that team. He should have been a top 10 paid player in the entire NBA. Right, when we look at what Dennis Rodman was making, Dennis Rodman on that team was making 4.5 million, more than Scottie Pippen. And he was making more than Scottie Pippen. We're talking about a Dennis Rodman who was almost out of the NBA entirely. When he left San Antonio, getting traded from San Antonio, there were not a lot of suitors for him. This is why the Bulls were able to trade. This is why the Bulls were able to trade Will Purdue for Dennis Rodman. They didn't really give up much to get him. And Dennis Rodman at that time was the best rebounder in the league and still a great defender. We know this because his first year back in Chicago, he was first team all defense, but Rodman was only making $4.5 million. That's equivalent to 8.3 this year. That's what sixth and seventh and eighth men of the NBA of today make. So even by today's standards, the money doesn't compare. They were grossly underpaid. And so that takes us to how did the Chicago Bulls keep such a talented roster around Michael Jordan for so long? Well, they were able to do this. They were able to do this because they made it a practice to grossly underpay their stars. Scottie Pippen at 2.7 million a year, especially in that 97 season was grossly underpaid. When Scottie Pippen asked to be traded or at least have a renegotiated contract, the Bulls refused. Scottie Pippen was obviously disgruntled to a certain degree because with Michael Jordan making $33 million a season, I want y'all to, and then just to put into context how much Jordan was making, the 33 million that he was making in 1997, if you equivalent that to today's game, that will be equivalent to a player making 60 million in one season, which is essentially unheard of. But you know what? We would not knock a player of Michael Jordan's stature if he signed a contract in today's era making that much money per season because we know he's worth that. Now, would it handicap what the team is able to do or build around them? Yes. So with regards to what the Bulls were doing, the Bulls made it a habit to grossly underplay their stars all for the sake of winning championships and at any cost. When you look at Tony Kukoc, he was only making four and a half million, still more than Pippen. Ron Harper, a starter, four and a half million. Dennis Robin, four and a half million. Luke Longley, 3.1. Scottie Pippen, 2.7. And it only goes down from there with Bill Wennington, 1.8. Scott Burrell, Randy Brown, and Robert Parrish. These guys all made over a million dollars. Everyone else on that roster made less. If you combine the salaries of every single player on that Chicago Bull team, it still doesn't equate to what Michael Jordan was making. And Jordan only got the 33 million because he was able to play hardball with the Chicago Bulls when he came back from retirement. He was able to negotiate multiple one-year contracts and demand any salary that he wanted. And essentially the Bulls had to pay it. Why did they have to pay it? Because he was consistently delivering championships. But they were also able to do this because they knew they were grossly underpaying all of their other stars who were locked in under contract. And there was really not much that players themselves could do about it. The CBA wasn't constructed or crafted in a way that allowed for restricted free agency for young players. When you're a first-round pick, you can at least be a restricted free agent and other teams can offer you contracts just like we saw with Aiton and the team is forced to match. And at least if you're in a bad situation, you can at least get paid what you're worth. These rules, these salary structures, these things were not in place. When the Chicago Bulls played. So I think when we go into these debates and you ask yourself, how were the Bulls able to maintain throughout the 90s an era that was drastically impacted by the competitive failures of David Stern, implementing and adding in a ton of expansion teams, the Chicago Bulls were able to stand tall by simply playing the game dirty, tricking young players into signing long-term bad deals and then keeping them locked in under those bad deals for an extended period of time, even if they outplay the value of those contracts. They did not operate in good faith. And I think what we see now happening with the Chicago Bulls, that bad karma, things don't go right when they get stars like Derrick Rose. Odd things happen when they bring in players like the Jabari Parkers. These things don't work out the way they believe. I believe there's a level of karma that's coming back to Chicago Bulls because they did not treat the players that put that organization on the pedestal it's on. They didn't treat them very well. They didn't treat them very well while they played. They didn't treat them very well after they played. And the Chicago Bulls never fessed up to what they were doing, grossly underpaying star-level players and getting them to sign long-term contracts all to chase championships. And the great thing about today's game is that players have wisened up. Players are able to understand their value. They're able to understand how renegotiating your contract is gonna be more valuable than signing these seven and eight-year deals. The understanding of finances and money is kicking in. And so we see these things kicking in and it's changing the game. Some people say for the worst, but at the end of the day, at least these players, when they walk away from the game, they can walk away with some integrity that they weren't completely just used up by these organizations and then spit out with nothing to show for it. I mean, at least in today's game, if these players don't win championships, they can walk away from the game with millions of dollars in generational wealth that far usurps any championship that you can win. These championships really don't hold much weight after you achieve them. We see a ton of players auctioning off their championship rings and doing things of that nature. We're just in a day and era where players are much smarter and organizations are not gonna be able to finesse them as we saw the Chicago Bulls finesse every single player on that Chicago Bull team, not named Michael Jordan. Hey, but it's FYF Sports. It's been another great daily commute show. Make sure you tune in with us weekly, weekly. Subscribe to the podcast because we will be dropping more content. Make sure you guys give us a follow on YouTube at FYF Sports Debates Podcast. And then also follow us, Mahari Nation Sport Podcast. He's bringing you the great boxing coverage. He's bringing you these conversations from another unique perspective. And he brings a level of credibility that a lot of people can't bring. This is a SB award-winning basketball player who's played in the Olympics, man. So let's give this man his flowers for what he's been able to do. But again, he brings a level of credibility to this platform that we wouldn't have without him. But it's FYF Sports, man. It's another great podcast episode. We will be back with another daily commute show. But until then, it's FYF Sports, and we out.