"I'd take a cut" - When Michael Jordan said he'd "love to see" Larry Bird on the Chicago Bulls in 1990
Can you imagine Michael Jordan teaming up with an aging Larry Bird on the Chicago Bulls? That possibility emerged in 1990 when the Boston Celtics legend was a trade candidate, with the Bulls being suggested as a destination.
The news reached Jordan, who said that the Celtics entertaining the thought of trading Bird to a different team was idiotic. He followed that up by declaring, "If they want to trade him, we'll take him." MJ was also apparently willing to sacrifice financially to make the salaries work.
"I'd take a cut," he stated. "I make enough money on outside stuff."
Jordan on the recruiting trail
One of the reasons many people have "His Airness" as their GOAT is that he didn't form superteams or recruit other in-their-prime rivals to Chicago. But that didn't mean he wasn't willing to team up with them if given the chance.
So, when Jordan said in 2010 that he wouldn't have called Bird or Magic Johnson to look if they had wanted to chase a ring together, with the context being LeBron James bringing his talents to the Miami Heat, it seemed genuine.
However, MJ probably can't deny that he had thought of sharing the court with "Larry Legend." He even told reporters he would "love to see" his former rival wear the same uniform.
Of course, nothing of the musing came to fruition. Fortunately for the Celtics icon, former team president Red Auerbach chose loyalty rather than send him and Kevin McHale for younger players and other possible assets. That was despite other people, particularly Danny Ainge, urging Auerbach to push through with the trades.
The Bulls stuck with their Robin
It wasn't clear if Jordan was actually pushing the Bulls' management to acquire Bird. There is also the possibility that the five-time MVP was just being respectful of his fellow legend, as saying that he didn't want to be teammates with "the Hick from French Lick" would have been bad optics.
In hindsight, it turned out better for Chicago not to deal for Larry because the organization would have needed to include then-up-and-coming star Scottie Pippen in the trade package. Bird was still a 20-point scorer and a nightly double-double threat at the time, but Pippen was starting to become the two-way player Jordan needed as a running mate.
A duo of Jordan and Bird could have competed for a few championships, but Scottie's presence on the Bulls helped MJ amass six rings.
Jordan still managed to play alongside his buddy from Boston in the All-Star Games and for the Dream Team in 1992. At least those stints didn't require him to take a pay cut.
