Bulls owner Reinsdorf: Dismantling team after '98 title the right decision

Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf was mostly a fan of "The Last Dance," the wildly popular ESPN documentary that centered on Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 season.

"Overall, I thought it was really good,” Reinsdorf said, via Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. “It was basically accurate. I think it showed beyond a shadow of a doubt that Michael is the greatest player of all time."

That's not to say Reinsdorf thought the 10-part series was perfect.

"My only objection to it was giving the impression that there was a way of keeping this team together after the sixth championship, which I think was not possible," he said. "But even if we had kept it together, we wouldn’t have won. If you really watched the last show with objectivity, you would see that we barely won. We barely got through the season."

Reinsdorf, 84, took over as majority owner of the Bulls in 1985, one year after Jordan was drafted.

The Bulls have not been back to the Finals since that 1998 team was dismantled. But Reinsdorf insisted there was no other option.

“We were fortunate to beat Indiana. And we were fortunate to beat Utah," Reinsdorf said. "Michael had to absolutely go above and beyond the pale. He almost willed us to win those games. Scottie Pippen had a back injury and was going to have surgery. And Dennis Rodman had gotten to the point where nobody could stand to have him around anymore.

"We couldn’t have kept the team together. Even if we had, their skills had eroded. So my only objection to the series was it really should have given a clear impression that it was over, that it was done and it was time.”

Sam Amico covers pro basketball for Sports Illustrated. Follow him @AmicoHoops.