What if Michael Jordan signed with Spurs after the 1997 - 1998 season?

[Ca$H]

Would they win 5 in a row? 1998 - 1999 season and 2002 - 2003 season: they won it without MJ so guaranteed to win with him. How about the other 3 seasons assuming he played from 1998 - 2003? Honestly MJ should have colluded like LeBron and Brady. Not to mention retiring between 3 peats. He left a lot of rings on the table.

[light]

He would never have done that. He was too afraid to do something like that.

Plus he would not have fit in with the Spurs culture. They play the right way and he wanted all the glory.

[Airupthere]

Would they win 5 in a row? 1998 - 1999 season and 2002 - 2003 season: they won it without MJ so guaranteed to win with him. How about the other 3 seasons assuming he played from 1998 - 2003? Honestly MJ should have colluded like LeBron and Brady. Not to mention retiring between 3 peats. He left a lot of rings on the table.

Collusion/forming superteams can be done and that would certainly have extended Jordan's career and accumulated his stats more. But certainly that is not how he wanted his legacy to go. What Jordan did in a shorter span, Lebron is trying to do with an incredibly stretched career filled with team ups.

[Hey Yo]

People always say how competitive MJ was and he talked about wanting challenges. So after the 96 season, why did he re-sign to play with the Bulls again? Why not sign with a team who you think needs that missing piece to put them over the top? Why not challenge yourself, instead of making bullshit claims "all challenges were met"

The biggest challenge for him could have been to show the world he didn't need Phil, Scottie and the Triangle to get to the Finals and win titles. Instead he showed he couldn't let go of their teats.

[Airupthere]

People always say how competitive MJ was and he talked about wanting challenges. So after the 96 season, why did he re-sign to play with the Bulls again? Why not sign with a team who you think needs that missing piece to put them over the top? Why not challenge yourself, instead of making bullshit claims "all challenges were met"

The biggest challenge for him could have been to show the world he didn't need Phil, Scottie and the Triangle to get to the Finals and win titles. Instead he showed he couldn't let go of their teats.

Why did he even retire in the first place? If he was that good why didn’t he go perfect in the finals throughout his career? Why didn’t he want that extra challenge? We can always push that envelope but the fact is he dominated when he played. 6/6 and all his accomplishemts within an unstretched career is incredible in itself without putting in all the fluff.

He dominated but he also had a great team that was built through time with key pieces such as pippen. I am not a stan of Jordan. He did not have a perfect career albeit it was an incredible one, and people have the right to nitpick all they want as long as they are fair and dont turn a blind eye wrt Lebron. Lebron stanning on here is just too superfluous.

[guy]

People always say how competitive MJ was and he talked about wanting challenges. So after the 96 season, why did he re-sign to play with the Bulls again? Why not sign with a team who you think needs that missing piece to put them over the top? Why not challenge yourself, instead of making bullshit claims "all challenges were met"

The biggest challenge for him could have been to show the world he didn't need Phil, Scottie and the Triangle to get to the Finals and win titles. Instead he showed he couldn't let go of their teats.

This is just nitpicking to a ridiculous level. Its not you or anyone else's place to dictate what Jordan should've considered a "challenge".

Is being the missing piece to put them over the top supposed to be considered some great challenge? And no one gave that much of a shit about Phil or Scottie back then for anyone to think that mattered.

[guy]

This is an overlooked part about Jordan and how it compares to today's players i.e. Lebron especially who's the biggest reason for this era's constant superstar/all-star movement. For most of today's players, if they were put in Jordan's position in 98, they are likely looking to go to a superteam, probably the Lakers given the market. If Jordan had that same mindset, he's winning basically another 3-4 rings assuming thats how much longer he players.

[Ca$H]

This is an overlooked part about Jordan and how it compares to today's players i.e. Lebron especially who's the biggest reason for this era's constant superstar/all-star movement. For most of today's players, if they were put in Jordan's position in 98, they are likely looking to go to a superteam, probably the Lakers given the market. If Jordan had that same mindset, he's winning basically another 3-4 rings assuming thats how much longer he players.

If Jordan Signed with the Lakers than maybe Phil Jackson would have joined 1 year earlier. Phil and MJ would have kept Rodman in check so he would have played more than than just 23 games. Kobe would have been moved to PG.

Kobe/Fisher
MJ
Rice/Fox
Rodman/Horry
Shaq

Maybe 5 in a row or maybe things would turn toxic after a couple championships. Jordan's alpha leadership might have rubbed Shaq the wrong way. Either Shaq would have stayed in shape or he would fight with MJ and Kobe. I honestly don't think MJ would have picked the Lakers based on the footage from the last dance. The Spurs would have been the best fit because Duncan and Robinson would have fallen in line without any complaints.