“The Last Dance” documentary has yet to get into Toni Kukoc, but he was a modern-style player in the 1990s Chicago Bulls dynasty and an important piece of their second three-peat.
After that 1997-98 championship, the final title those Bulls would win, Phil Jackson organized invited coaches, players and families to a dinner to celebrate the dynasty.
Jackson and the players removed themselves for a private session to hang out and make toasts, Zach Lowe wrote in an ESPN article.
Then-Bulls guard and current Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr made his toast to Kukoc.
“Nobody had to go through what he did — the pressure from Michael (Jordan) and Scottie (Pippen) to earn his keep,” Kerr told Lowe. “Michael and Scottie are all over him about being (general manager) Jerry (Krause)’s guy. And Toni just (wanted) to play.”
Lowe dives into Kukoc’s entry to the Bulls and the “vitriol,” as Lowe put it, that the two stars gave him.
Krause loved Kukoc, and drafted him in 1990. Kukoc made more money than Pippen did. And Kukoc stayed overseas until 1993.
During the 1992 Olympics, Jordan and Pippen argued over which one of them would get to guard Kukoc. They limited him to just 2-for-11 shooting.
After joining the Bulls, they harped on him for being Krause’s guy and for not playing defense well. But as they realized he was legitimately good and could help them win, Kukoc earned their trust.
Kerr, at this dinner at the end of the dynasty, remembered those moments and how Kukoc overcame them.
I just said a toast to Toni, because I thought he was such a great player,” Kerr said. “I wanted him to know how much he meant to our team.”
After that dinner, the team went its separate ways. Jackson did not return as the Bulls’ coach. Jordan retired. Pippen joined the Houston Rockets, Dennis Rodman the Los Angeles Lakers and Kerr the San Antonio Spurs. Kukoc remained in Chicago until he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in February 2000.
“It was so special,” Kerr said. “That was the last moment we were ever all together.”
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