A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE
Ex-poway star Buechler gives inside look at ESPN Bulls documentary
Jud Buechler is easy to spot on ESPN’S “The Last Dance” documentary. Whenever the camera follows the Chicago Bulls as they board a flight, there’s the smiling Buechler, in the front right row, on the aisle, seemingly the teacher’s pet sitting in the front row of class.
“I know it appears that way,” admits Buechler.
But the former Poway High star says his seating choice was simply a matter of following NBA protocol. The heavy card gamblers — Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Ron Harper — sat in the back. The middle of the plane was reserved for coach Phil Jackson and his staff. Everyone else was pushed to the front.
To Buechler, the plane scenes are a symbol of what that 1997-98 season was like for him then and what it’s like now to watch the 10-part series that chronicles the Bulls’ drive to win a third straight NBA title, Jordan’s second three-peat.
“We haven’t had a reunion,” says Buechler. “We won the championship, we had a parade, went to Grant Park to celebrate with the city of Chicago, had a final dinner that Phil set up at a downtown restaurant 22 years ago and that was it. There hasn’t been anything since.
“(The documentary) has been so enjoyable for me to take that walk down memory lane once again.”
Buechler won three San Diego Section titles at Poway High, was the 1986 Section Player of the Year, played four seasons at Arizona, then embarked on an NBA career that spanned 12 seasons and seven teams.
But the 6-foot-6 forward’s time as a pro is most recognized for his fouryear run with the Bulls, winning three rings as a role player who averaged about 10 minutes a game.
Now 51, Buechler is an assistant coach for the New York Knicks. Since the NBA season has been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic he has spent the bulk of his time living in Solana Beach with his 86-year-old father.
“The Last Dance” is six parts into the 10-part series and Buechler gives it two thumbs-up. (Episodes 7 and 8 will air at 6 and 7 p.m. on Sunday, with the final two parts showing at the same times May 17.)
“I’ve been unbelievably impressed on how they’ve pieced it all together,” he says.
While Buechler says, “We lived it, we were in it,” he says the documentary has revealed some things he didn’t know, including that Pippen intentionally put off foot surgery before the ’97-98 season because he loathed late General Manager Jerry Krause, who wouldn’t redo his contract.
“We were so focused on the day-today, living in the moment, the other stuff, we didn’t give it much thought,” says Buechler.
Nor did he know that Krause seriously considered trading Pippen.
“I knew that relationship had some tension, obviously. That was clear,” says Buechler. “But the thought of trading Scottie Pippen was so out-ofthis-world crazy, I just brushed that off as rumor. It seems like it was actually on the table. Now that’s a shocker to me because Scottie was so important to our success.”
Other thoughts Buechler has about the series include: no matter how competitive Jordan comes across it’s difficult to capture how driven he was; that Dennis Rodman was a partying freak of nature; that Pippen is one of his favorite all-time teammates; and that it was implausible that Krause was hellbent on breaking up the team.
To Jordan, everything was a competition, even something as routine as the Bulls shooting 50 free throws at the end of practice.
“Michael was like, ‘I’ll keep track of mine, your keep track of yours,’ ” says Buechler. “Usually there was some money on the line. There was going to be a winner and loser in this. Nothing was ever done just to do it. As he said, if he had a problem, it was that he was addicted to competition.”
Buechler says he “absolutely, 100 percent” enjoyed playing with Jordan.
“Obviously,” says Buechler, “he raised my level. He helped everyone’s career who was on that team. None of us have three championships without him.”
He says Jordan commanded a presence unlike anyone he’s been around.
“When he walks into a room everything changes,” says Buechler. “There is an aura about him that you can feel immediately. I played with a number of guys who had outstanding careers. David Robinson, Chris Mullin, Grant Hill.
“But Michael was on a different lev
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el, a different level completely.”
As for Rodman’s partying skills, Buechler says, “I’ve never seen anybody do what he could do. I call him the King of the Underground. He always was in these real funky underground bars and clubs. And he was a god. He was beloved in all these places. A kamikaze was his favorite drink and he’d buy the entire bar kamikaze shots. He was an incredibly generous person.
“But the thing that was amazing was that the next day he’d be the first one there in the weight room. He practiced super hard. And at 7 or 7:30, whenever game time was, he’d deliver.
“As a person, he was a great teammate and super fun to be around. He always wanted to involve us in his shenanigans. But I couldn’t hang with him. I just wasn’t built like that.”
In practice, Buechler and Pippen were often matched against each other.
“The respect he gave me ... he truly made everyone around him better,” says Buechler. “He had a lot more trust with all of us (than Jordan) and really kind of held everything together.”
Buechler feels it was incredulous that Krause said the Bulls could go 82-0 and Jackson still wasn’t coming back as head coach.
“People want credit, people have egos,” says Buechler. “Jerry had a hard time with all the credit going to Phil.”
The first six parts of the series covered the arc of Jordan’s entire Bulls career with director Jason Hehir deftly moving back and forth from the past to the 1997-98 season. Buechler anticipates the next four parts focusing more on the ’97-98 season.
“We’re going to get a lot of behind the scenes, all the juicy stuff,” says Buechler. “These guys were in the locker room with us, on the plane. I’ve loved the buildup, the history, all the Michael, Scottie and Dennis history.
“The last four episodes, I think, will dive into that last season. I think we’re going to get some really good stuff.”
Norcross is a freelance writer.