© Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
John Salley remembered special demands Michael Jordan had to accommodate his style
John Salley can rightfully be very proud of his professional basketball career. Not only did he play with some of the greatest players of all time in Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Isiah Thomas, and others, but he was also a contributing role player for those teams. This eventually led him to winning 4 NBA championships. “Sal” even added a short overseas stint in Greece before his final ring with the Lakers.
GOAT style
On a recent episode of All the Smoke podcast, he shared some interesting stories from his time with the Chicago Bulls and most of them revolved around Michael Jordan and all the special adjustments that were being made constantly just for him.
“They had a special private jet, they had that MGM jet that had the TV screen and the big leather seats and the tables and it was just like a lounge. This was the most gangster thing because I pay attention to everything,” Salley shared.
Still, this was just a minor detail in comparison to other things that took place to make life easier for the GOAT. Since they involved his security crew, this example shows once again how huge of a star MJ was in his prime meaning that he rightfully had very special demands to accommodate his style.
“Michael would drive, there'd be tons of people, his security would get out, walk with him, walk him on the plane and a guy would take the [MJ’s] Ferrari. We parked outside, he parked obviously in a private spot. The security got on a [different] private jet and took off before we did so they can be there when we landed which I thought was expensive and gangster at the same time,” Salley concluded.
Phil knew and supported this
Head coach Phil Jackson was well aware of all the things that were going on and also of the reasons behind them. He knew that a happy MJ who was surrounded with happy teammates would result in more wins. This is why “the Zen Master” was not a stranger to letting his guys get special treatment whenever it made sense.
“One time we were smoking [on the team bus] and the guy turned around, and goes, ‘Hey no smoking on the bus!’ and Phil goes, ‘When we're on the bus they're smoking on the bus’ and had a cigar in his hand,” Salley recalled. “The dude couldn't say anything, we popped the vents I was like ‘Oh this is the best thing in the world!’ and Steve Kerr would be like ‘I hate these!’”
It certainly seems that the entire experience John Salley had with the Bulls was quite unique and that might very well be one of the reasons why many consider them to be the greatest team of all time. You can bet that there are tons of other great stories such as these ones and we hope to hear more about them in the future. Until then, we just hope Steve Kerr gets more used to smoking cigars with all the winning in Golden State.
