Jordan, at first, didn't like the basic principles of the triangle system.
Upon entering the league in 1984, Michael Jordan became known as an explosive scorer. He had numerous offensive feats early on. As a rookie, he averaged 23.3 points per game, and in his sophomore year, he torched Larry Bird's Boston Celtics with 63 points.
But amid his scoring exploits, Jordan failed to carry the Chicago Bulls to an NBA Championship. They were stonewalled by multiple teams, most notably the Detroit Pistons Bad Boys.
However, things soon changed when Phil Jackson was promoted from assistant to head coach in 1989. The former New York Knicks forward utilized the triangle offense, a playbook developed by Tex Winter. Jordan was skeptical of the system and even called it "a white man's offense."
Something completely different
Jordan had good reasons to be hesitant. The offense relied on movement, spacing, and tons of passing — something MJ wasn't particularly fond of early in his career. "His Airness" was used to taking matters into his own hands most of the time.
Phil and Tex told Mike that the team would remain on offense for 20 of the 24 seconds of the shot clock, and when nothing came out of it, he could take over. This type of offense required other reliable scorers around Jordan.
Winter observed that the Pistons Bad Boys had so much success against the "Black Cat" because the defense quickly loaded up on him. In theory, the triangle could not just open up scoring opportunities for other players. Still, it would allow Mike to save his energy.
Was Tex Winter out of his mind?
Michael wasn't the only one who doubted the triangle. Most of the Bulls disagreed with the new system. Horace Grant recalled how crazy the first few practices were.
"We were stepping on one another's feet, falling down. Everybody thought Tex was crazy, and we thought Phil was crazy for listening to him," Grant said, per the New York Times. "In the beginning, we all rebelled. We wanted to run and dunk. Athletes don't want fundamentals. You want to run like a gazelle! Like a Doberman!"
The results were enough proof that Winter and Jackson weren't crazy. They were completely sane and created a system perfect for the team. In his second year as Bulls head coach, the Zen Master guided MJ to his first NBA Championship.
It was nowhere near a fluke. They won five more titles in seven years. Many felt they could've won more if Jordan hadn't retired in 1994 or if the Bulls didn't break up in 1998. Either way, it's a great story of how the GOAT came to love an offense he once doubted.
