In the final episode of the documentary, Reinsdorf said: "If Pippen, Cole, Rodman and Harper are left in the lineup, considering that they have entered the late stage of their careers, this is undoubtedly equivalent to suicide. Their market prices will be high, but they are not worth so much money. So we realized it was time to rebuild the team. I went to (Phil) Jackson and gave him a chance to coach, but he said he didn't want to go through reconstruction and coach a bad team. So I know this is the end. "
You know, in the summer of 199 1, the bull gave him a 7-year contract of180,000 to keep Pippen. At that time, Pippen, an "honest man", agreed to sign a contract in order to have a stable income, which was naturally very huge at that time, but with inflation, Pippen's salary had fallen to the sixth place in the Bulls at 1997, which was also the reason why Pippen delayed foot surgery and was unwilling to play for the Bulls.
Bull 1998 After three consecutive championships in summer, although the bull sent Pippen away, it was not cruel to Pippen. Klaus needed to send Pippen to Houston at that time, but he lacked a reason.
So Klaus said to the management in Houston, "This is a carry-on gift for you". You know, the relationship between Pippen and Klaus was already very bad at that time. Klaus said that he undoubtedly wanted to send Pippen away and gain the trust of Houston management.
However, Bull management is not heartless to Pippen. Although Pippen's contract with the Bulls was very cheap, in order to help Pippen win his big contract at the end of his career, the Bulls chose to sign first and then change, which helped him get 67.2 million dollars for five years. Including the bonus, Pippen finally got more than $77 million in salary in this contract.
At that time, Klaus said in an interview: "Can we really break the fact that we don't rely on these players and coaches to win the championship? This is just to satisfy our vanity. What do you think of these players who have played for us for many years and worked hard to win? "
So, in fact, if Pippen directly chose to sign a contract with Houston at that time, he could only get a contract of $45 million for four years at most. After Pippen's contract period ended, Bull issued a pension contract worth $654.38+003 million for two years. Pippen only played 23 games for the Bulls and announced his retirement. At the end of the contract period, Bull sent Pippen a two-year pension contract worth $654.38+003 million. Pippen only played 23 games for the bulls and announced his retirement.
When the Rockets signed Pippen with a huge sum of money, Charles Buckley chose to take the initiative to reduce his salary in order to win the championship again. However, what no one expected was that the rocket turned out to be a "big head". After they signed Pippen with such a high salary, the relationship between Pippen and Buckley was very stiff. In the second season, the Rockets sent Pippen to the Trailblazers. Pippen helped the team reach the Western Conference finals in his first season in Portland.
Afterwards, Pippen once commented on Houston: "They only value the record of the regular season, and the playoffs don't matter!"
Although it has been more than 20 years since Pippen signed a contract with Houston, at least Bull management is not so cruel to Pippen, and Klaus is not a "villain" in everyone's eyes.
(first appeared in Sina NBA)