Michael Jordan Told Bulls Teammates To Not Pass Ball To Bill Cartwright In Last Few Minutes Of Games Due To His Bad Hands: ‘He Was Ready To Kill Michael’

According to NBA legend Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan told his Chicago Bulls teammates to not pass the ball to Bill Cartwright in the last few minutes of games due to his bad hands. 

When Cartwright found out, he was “ready to kill” Jordan. 

“Bill, to put it mildly, didn’t appear to be the answer to our problems in the post,” Pippen wrote in his book. “He had bad hands, couldn’t spot open teammates when he was double-teamed, and was unable to keep up with our speed, the best in the league. 

“Michael wasn’t pleased. That also is putting it mildly. He told the rest of us to stop passing the ball to Bill in the last few minutes of a game. Bill was a smart guy. He saw what was going on. He was ready to kill Michael, and I didn’t blame him. ‘That motherf–ker,’ Bill said one day when Michael wasn’t around. ‘I don’t care what that f**ker says. Just get me the f–king ball.'”

Jordan was upset when the Bulls traded Charles Oakley to the New York Knicks in the summer of 1988. Chicago acquired BCartwright from New York and Jordan didn’t like the trade since Cartwright was older than Oakley.

However, the trade worked out for the Bulls, so much so that Jordan acknowledged he was wrong about the deal nine years later.

Jordan told SLAM Magazine in 1997 that he was wrong about the Oakley-Cartwright trade. Oakley was Jordan’s protector on the Bulls. Whenever Jordan got clobbered on his drives to the basket, Oakley would fight the player who fouled his best friend, which is why it was difficult for Jordan to see his pal get traded.

However, Jordan found out that Cartwright was the perfect big man for the Bulls.

“I was wrong with the Oakley-Bill Cartwright trade,” Jordan said. “I loved Charles Oakley. He was like a brother to me, and I felt we were giving away too many years by trading a young rebounder for an old guy who hadn’t played a full season. But in terms of what we were trying to get, he was the best. It was the best trade at the time. I still love Charles Oakley, and I loved having him on our team, but in terms of what Bill Cartwright brought to the team, he made a difference.”

Jordan, Pippen and Cartwright won three straight NBA championships together in 1991, 1992 and 1993. Chicago defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1991 NBA Finals, the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1992 NBA Finals and the Phoenix Suns in the 1993 NBA Finals. 

Cartwright finished his NBA career with averages of 13.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists with the Knicks, Bulls and Seattle SuperSonics.

Fortunately for the Bulls, Cartwright never punched Jordan.