Michael Jordan Wasn’t Happy When Bulls Fired Doug Collins And Replaced Him With Phil Jackson In 1989: ‘I Wasn’t A Phil Jackson Fan’

Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson are arguably the best player-coach duo in NBA history.

They led the Chicago Bulls to six championships while going undefeated in the Finals and three-peated twice in the ’90s.

However, many people forget that Jordan had a close relationship with Doug Collins and wasn’t happy when the Bulls fired him and named Jackson the head coach in 1989.

In Episode 4 of ESPN’s “The Last Dance” docuseries, Jordan admitted that he wasn’t a fan of Jackson when he first became the Bulls coach in 1989.

Jordan enjoyed playing for Collins since he had the ball in his hands a lot.

“I wasn’t a Phil Jackson fan when he first came in,” Jordan said. “Because he was coming in to take the ball out of my hands. Doug put the ball in my hands.”

Jackson installed the triangle offense after taking over Collins. The triangle offense was set so that there was a key pass that created motion and then there were 33 different types of options that came out of that single pass.

According to Jackson, players could do spontaneous and creative things using their strengths, but Jordan didn’t initially like the offense.

“Everybody has an opportunity to touch the ball, but I didn’t want Bill Cartwright to have the ball with five seconds left,” Jordan said in The Last Dance. “That’s not equal-opportunity offense. That’s f****** bulls***.”

Jackson met with Jordan explaining why he felt the triangle offense would help the Bulls win championships. While Chicago didn’t win a title in Jackson’s first season at the helm, the team took off in Year 2.

The Bulls became a dynasty after Jackson took over for Collins. They won titles in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 1998 and set a then-NBA record for wins with 72 in 1995-96.

Jordan averaged 30.8 points while shooting 50.1% from the field in 585 regular-season games under Jackson. Even though he first questioned if Jackson was the right coach for him, the results showed that Jackson was exactly what Jordan needed.

Jordan won 10 scoring titles with the Bulls, with seven coming in the triangle offense.

Jordan and Jackson’s final season together was in 1997-98. The late Jerry Krause told NBA reporters that Jackson wouldn’t return in 1998-99, so Jordan knew 1997-98 was his final run with the Bulls and he made sure it was legendary.

Not only did the Bulls win the 1998 championship over the Utah Jazz, but Jordan also won his 10th scoring title, fifth regular-season MVP and sixth Finals MVP.

Jackson did a fantastic job keeping the Bulls steady early in the season when Scottie Pippen was out and Dennis Rodman took a mini-vacation to Las Vegas.

“The Last Dance” camera crew followed the Bulls in 1997-98. Despite all the players and coaches knowing that their run would end after the season because of Krause, they never lost focus and made it a point to end the dynasty on top.

Jackson compiled a fantastic record of 545-193 with the Bulls. Surprisingly, he only won one Coach of the Year Award. That was in 1995-96 when the Bulls went 72-10.

Jackson made the Hall of Fame as a coach in 2007. He won 1,155 regular-season games and 11 rings with the Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers.

Meanwhile, Jordan was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009. MJ is first in NBA history in points per game, fourth in steals, fifth in field goals and second in player efficiency rating.

Jordan also holds the NBA record for most points (63) scored in a playoff game.