Each of the three days that Geno Auriemma observed the Chicago Bulls’ training camp back in 1996, Michael Jordan — already with multiple NBA titles and MVP trophies in tow — was the first on the floor before 10 a.m. practice, his shirt tucked in, his socks fitted perfectly. The consummate competitor, Jordan wanted to win every drill, and the expectations for his teammates were just as high.
The trip to Chicago, a birthday gift for Auriemma’s son, didn’t just leave the younger Auriemma in awe. Auriemma the Coach was soaking in everything he could from having a front row seat to the inner workings of arguably the greatest basketball player of all-time and one of basketball’s greatest dynasties.
“(Jordan looked) like the picture of ‘draw the greatest basketball player,’ what you think it would look like. It was unbelievable,” Auriemma said. “I was like a little kid — forget what my son was doing — I was like a little kid sitting there watching.”
The country is getting a closer look than ever before at Jordan’s intensity and the brilliance of the ‘90s Bulls thanks to ‘The Last Dance,’ ESPN’s 10-part documentary series on Jordan focusing heavily on his final year in Chicago (the fifth and sixth episodes air on Sunday). Much of what Auriemma’s seen from the series reflects what he witnessed those three days over 20 years ago at Bulls training camp.
Auriemma returned to Storrs with more than a newfound appreciation for Jordan. The trip was a learning opportunity for the then up-and-coming coach. Though the Bulls may have made it famous, Auriemma grew up watching teams play with the triangle offense, which revolves around moving and cutting without the ball. Heading into the 1994-95 season, he thought he might have the right personnel — posts who were strong passers in Kara Wolters and Rebecca Lobo as well as guards Jen Rizzotti and Nykesha Sales who could dribble-penetrate — to use it himself.
The team’s trip to Europe during the summer provided the perfect opportunity to test out the new offense. “It worked like a charm,” Auriemma recalled, in what ended up being the prelude to UConn’s 35-0 run and the program’s first national title.
Looking to perfect what he was doing in Storrs, Auriemma showed up to Bulls camp eager to learn all the offense’s nuances. After consulting with Tex Winter, then an assistant coach in Chicago and the scheme’s foremost expert, Auriemma developed a deeper understanding on how his team could most effectively bring the ball up the floor and take away ball pressure and double-teams. UConn used a version of the triangle offense all the way through 2004, Auriemma estimates, though he’s held onto parts of it to this day.
“My son came out with incredible pictures of the cars Jordan was driving every day and the fish that were inside this giant tank that was in the Bulls practice facility,” Auriemma said, “so we each got what we were looking for.”
But as the documentary showcases, the mastery of the triangle offense was only part of what made the Bulls’ dominance possible. Most evident in the episodes centering around Dennis Rodman, Chicago coach Phil Jackson managed his players’ often discordant personalities and needs while uniting them together around a common goal, a challenge he’d face years later with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal in Los Angeles.
“From what I’ve been able to gather from people that have been in that world, that’s the major part of why some professional coaches are so successful, is the way they manage it,” Auriemma said. “How they handle every situation that comes up and how they can get the most out of each player, allowing that player to be who they are while at the same time conforming to what the goals of the team are.
“And Phil Jackson probably is as good as anybody who ever lived at that.”
Auriemma got a glimpse of this at camp, too. There wasn’t any drama or antics, he recalls. The Bulls just did their work and looked like the best team in the world doing it.
“It didn’t look like (Jackson) went around stressing ‘We want to win again,’” Auriemma said. “It’s almost like ‘This is what we do. Everybody’s got their job to do. Everybody’s got their role to play. Everybody understands who Michael Jordan is, everybody understands who Rodman is.’”
Auriemma had been watching Jordan since both of their ACC days — Auriemma was an assistant coach at Virginia when Jordan played at North Carolina. What impressed Auriemma most about seeing Jordan’s work firsthand was his intensity toward what most others would view as seemingly insignificant drills and how he elevated everyone around him. At one of the practices, Jordan was working with Scottie Pippen and Ron Harper on one end of the floor but yelled at a teammate at the other end when he missed a layup in a way that suggested ‘You better not miss a layup that costs us a NBA title.’
But Jordan didn’t just hold his teammates accountable — he made those around him better and believe they were better. That’s something all great players do, Auriemma says, each in their own ways.
“You have to have people that you can inspire to come along with you,” Auriemma said. “You’ve got to get the best out of them, too, not just the best out of yourself.”
Jordan and the Bulls won six NBA titles in eight years. At UConn, Auriemma has added another 10 of his own. Jordan would retire for good in 2003, and Auriemma has gotten to know him more over the years through basketball circles. Both gave eulogies at Bryant’s memorial in February.
Through it all, time has only made clearer the significance of what Auriemma saw in Chicago back then.
“At the time, you’re not quite sure what it is, but you know, this is pretty spectacular,” Auriemma said. “You kind of know that you’re watching the guy that may be the greatest player to ever live.”
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