Drinks With NBA Legends

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Melbourne seems a strange place for a reunion for three Chicago Bulls players ...

It doesn’t seem too long ago that the Chicago Bulls were the most watchable, most famous sporting team on the planet.Led by Michael Jordan, the Bulls won six NBA championships in the 1990s, netting dual hat-tricks – or “three-peats” – of titles in 1991-3 and 1996-8. (The two title runs came either side of Jordan’s baseball sabbatical.)

While Jordan, team-mate Scottie Pippen and coach Phil Jackson were the mainstays during the six titles, the hidden strength of the Bulls during its golden era was the team’s ability to find effective, efficient starters and role players to complement (and, when required, compliment) His Airness.

Three of the best were Australia’s triple Olympian, Luc Longley, who won three NBA rings with the Bulls in ’96-8, power forward Horace Grant (titles in ‘92-94, and a fourth with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2001) and guard Ron Harper (’96-98, and two more with the Lakers in 2000 and 2001). Their careers had neat intersections. Longley and Grant played briefly together with the Bulls in 1994, Harper and Longley were team-mates during the Bulls’ second three-peat, and Grant and Harper later combined to help the Lakers win a title in 2000.

Inside Sport joined Longley, Grant and Harper at lunch when the trio was in Melbourne as coaches for the NBA-sponsored Asia Pacific Team Camp for elite junior players. With a combined 12 championships, 42 seasons,2800 games, 370 play-offs appearances, nine teams and 30,000 points from their time in the NBA, not to mention a shared list ofteam-mates that included Jordan, Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd, Mark Price, Dominique Wilkins, Karl Malone and other idols of the game, there was no shortage of material to draw on for discussion.

These NBA legends, now all in their 40s, were happy to talk old times, good times, being bawled out by MJ, keeping up with Rodman, injuries and hoops. Mostly, however, they were happy to have a laugh and take the piss out of each other, like old mates should

Melbourne seems a strange place for a reunion for three Chicago Bulls players ...

Have you been able to keep in touch since retiring from the NBA?

Luc Longley: We hadn’t caught up for ten years before this week. I haven’t been back to the States very much and this is the first time in Australia for Ron and Horace. We went out and had a meal together last night and went over all the old stories. They reminded me how much Michael used to scold me.

So what would Luc get scolded by Michael for?

Horace Grant: We’d all get scolded all the time!

Ron Harper: Luc? Oh, for almost everything. Once, Luc had this great game against Utah in the play-offs. Well, he had a great first half ...

Luc [laughing]: Seventeen and ten ‒ right, Harp?

Ron: Right. Luc had something like 17 points, ten rebounds, three blocked shots – and all this in the first half. At the break, MJ’s all over him: “Luc, you keep playing like that and we’re going to win this championship, easy!” Michael says to him. “Damn, you’re out there beating Karl Malone! You’re doing great!”

When the game was over, Luc had ... 17 points, ten rebounds and three blocked shots. Michael comes straight up to him after and says, “I’m never complimenting your big ass again!” I was in tears laughing. I was telling MJ to leave him alone, but Michael’s saying to Luc, “I’m never complimenting you again, any time! You damn fell asleep out there after the half!”

Luc: I was feeling so good after what Michael had said to me at the half that I forgot to play ...

Ron: I was telling Luc not to worry about it, but I don’t think he minded. We were laughing so hard. I don’t even think Luc shot the ball in the second half.

Luc: They didn’t get me the ball. Michael must’ve been worriedI’d end up as the leading scorer!

Horace: You see, Harp, Scottie, MJ, all those outside guys would get their shots. Us big guys, we had to go out and find ours.

Ron: Me? I’d only get three shots a game. No one was letting me have a shot! My job on the Bulls was to pass and run back and guard somebody. I’d get my instructions from the coaches: “Go out there and guard John Stockton.” “Okay, can I shoot?” I’d ask them. “What do you mean, shoot?” they’d say. “You only get three shots. Now get out there on Stockton!”

Luc: [Team-mate] Steve Kerr used to run a book before our games about how many shots Michael would take. We’d all be chipping in money. The line was always around 21 or 22. I was smart; I always bet the over.

Horace: With MJ, you’re always going to take the over on that bet. MJ used to tell me when he was hot, he was going take all the shots. And yes, he did.

Was it ever anyone’s job to tell Michael Jordan not to take too many shots?

Luc: When you’re playing with the greatest player in the world, you don’t really want to tell him not to shoot the ball.

Horace: There was a better chance of us winning if he was taking 20 shots than having someone like me take 20 shots ...

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You all spent a lot of great years in the NBA. Did you miss all of it when it was over? Luc, you moved all the way back to Perth. What was that like?

Luc: As far as the basketball was concerned, it was a long way from where I’d played. I did miss it, and I missed the guys. And I also missed the real-time winning and losing. Each day you’d have a mission: you’d succeed or fail. It’s fun, it’s interesting. Even those days you’d lose, you would’ve been out there trying with your mates to do something.Every day it was like that. And that’s what I missed. I don’t miss necessarily the practices, or the travel, or the first three quarters. But the fourth quarter, the game on the line, that’s what I loved.

Ron: The main thing I missed was being around my team-mates. They’re the guys you’re with for seven or eight months, working closely together. You’d have your highs and your lows, but it was really a great bunch we had [at the Bulls]. And you can’t take that away. We will always be able to talk about the great run we had.

Horace, when he was with the Bulls and they won those three championships, they became rock stars. And then when we came along, especially when Rodman came on board, it went crazy. It was like being rock stars times five.

Horace: I agree with that. Ron’s got it right; it was mad.

Luc: I don’t think any of us bought a beer in Chicago for about five years.

Ron: Hey, I still don’t have to buy one now.

Can you keep your network of friends when you finish playing basketball? Or does time away from your sport change those relationships?

Horace: That’s a good question.It’s okay to have that time away,and find your own space. But when you need to call one of the guys,it’s very important to have tried to keep some contact with them. When I leave Australia, of course,I’m going to make sure I have these guys’ numbers.

Ron: So when I get home, I’m going straight out and getting a new phone!

Luc: All I can add is the thing about a team is ... half of them are dicks, always. So you’ve really only got to try keeping in touch with half of them, anyway.

Ron: When you’re around guys you truly like to be around, it makes the experience, great as it is, even better. Now, there was a team [the Lakers] I’ve been on that won championships and the guys on that team all wanted their own thing.

I definitely stopped because the Lakers, I didn’t have fun playing for them. I’d be asking [my Lakers team-mates] all the time, “Why aren’t you happy? The team’s doing great.” And they’d be saying back to me, “I should be shooting more of the basketball.” Or complaining, “What’s that guy doing on court with me?” And I’d be back at them, “Hey, we’re winning, who cares? It’s a team game.” And the guys would still be mad.

Horace: I should’ve been the most upset guy in the league playing with guys who shot the ball all the time. I’d get two shots a game. The rest I’d get from offensive rebounds. But, for me, it was all about the team. And I think that’s what a lot of guys today have gotten away from.

Luc: It’s an amazing fact; when you win 72 games and lose ten, you like all your team-mates. When you win ten and lose 72, they’re all dicks. Those two things are inseparable.

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Do you have a favourite Dennis Rodman story?

Luc: It really is more a question of whether there’s a Dennis story we’re prepared to see published! But this one probably explains him a bit. We were playing the Utah Jazz in the NBA Finals. We were in Salt Lake City for a week, for three straight games. Dennis plays awful the first game. [Utah legend Karl] Malone cleans him up. Same thing in the second game; Dennis just isn’t himself.

Remember, in Salt Lake, you can’t buy alcohol after about 5 o’clock, the night clubs aren’t happening. In the end, we decide to send Dennis to Las Vegas for the night. I think all of us players chipped in to get him there. And he came back in the third game and killed Malone ... we had to send Dennis to a party town to find his mojo again. He came back to us, played great and we ended up winning the series.

Horace: If you let him be himself, he’d play hard and be self-motivated. You might need to tell him to go out there and scream at the referee, to stir up the crowd; you had to let him be himself.

Ron: He was a unique kind of guy who loved to play, but he also loved the nightlife just as much. I enjoyed some of the nights out, too, but I couldn’t do it like Dennis.

Luc: With Dennis, those two things were intertwined, weren’t they? They were him. You couldn’t separate those two parts of his life. That was him.

Ron: He was a guy who had this big house, and in it he had a big-screen TV, a kitchen table, and a bed. And that’s about all he had in his house. And his door was unlocked all the time. That was the kind of free spirit he was.

An NBA fan’s question: can you give me the three best players you ever played against, and your three favourite team-mates?

Ron: The best players I ever played against were Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Magic. The best three team-mates I had were ...

Luc: Mate, you won’t embarrass me by throwing my name in ...

Ron [pausing]: I repeat ‒ the best three team-mates I ever had were probably Larry Nance, Mark Price and Scottie Pippen.

Horace: I would have to say MJ, Hakeem Olajuwon and Magic Johnson. As for team-mates, present company excluded, I’d have to say Scottie Pippen, Matt Harpring and Luke Walton.

Ron: Scottie, he’s the boy. But the last two? Luke Walton? Matt Harpring? Should he ask you again?

Horace: Hey, he didn’t ask how good they were, just if they were good team-mates. For me, “best team-mate” means a good guy on and off the floor; doesn’t tease you for getting a hotel manicure like you guys did earlier today, never calls you a sheila ...

Luc: Toughest players to play against, in this order, were The Dream [Olajuwon], The Admiral [David Robinson] and Shaq. That’s straightforward for me – [Patrick] Ewing and Alonzo [Mourning] were easily below those guys.

Team-mates? It depends if you go with the Horace style of guys you really like or the Harp style of guys who help you win games. So Scottie, because he was both of those things. Then I’m going with Ron’s idea, guys who help you win games. After Scottie, Jason Kidd. Loved playing with Jason for my two years in Phoenix. And [Australian team-mate] Mark Bradtke.

Ron: Who?

Luc: Mark Bradtke. He’s my Matt Harpring.

Ron: Hey, can I change my list? I loved playing with Mookie, Pookie, Ray-Ray ...

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Luc, a friend of yours from Perth said to make sure I asked you what it was like to play with Michael Jordan. He said you’ve never been asked that before ...

Luc [laughing]: I think it’s more like I’ve never not been asked that.

Horace: The same for all of us. Everyone always wants to know about Michael.

Luc: Hey, that’s what it was, right? It was Michael’s show and if we’re regarded as sidekicks, I’m really cool with that. But, sometimes, you know, you think maybe people could back off just a bit.

Like when the Sport Australia Hall Of Fame inducts me [in October 2009]. I go up on the stage: suit, black tie, cameras on me, my family there, my special moment. And I get this interviewer on stage and all she wants to talk about is Michael. Now, usually this doesn’t bother me. But this is my one night, right? So I tried to politely answer the question and quickly move on, and she pulled me straight back in to the Michael thing. Then, when that’s finally done ... we move on to talking about Dennis!

When she finally finished with me, I walk off stage and I’m told to go and sit next to [Aussie rules legend] Kevin Sheedy, who was inducted into the Hall just before me. I sit down, really deflated, and Sheeds just turns to me and starts laughing. “You poor bastard,” he says, and we both just sit there smiling about it. He could see how frustrated I was. That’s cool.

Ron: Luc, Horace and me, we’re in the same boat, baby. We did our thing, Michael did his thing; he got his rings, we got our rings. That’s what it’s about.

Luc: Yep, Michael, he was the engine, and we all understand that. Anyone who wants to argue that just isn’t thinking straight.

Ron: Wait. Luc, did you say they put you in the Hall Of Fame?

Luc: Yeah, remember there’s only one of me around here.

Horace: Since he’s in the HallOf Fame, we’re going to have to make sure not to say anything bad about him.

Ron: Yeah, we want a Luc Longley Day here in Australia.

Horace: A day? We want a Luc Longley Month! Who do we call to get a Luc Longley Month?

‒ Travis Cranley