Dominique Wilkins shares why there’s no way Michael Jordan wins six NBA titles without his teammates: “Mike doesn’t get six championships without those other pieces” originally appeared on Basketball Network.
Everyone remembers Michael Jordan as one of the greatest winners not just in basketball, but in sports history overall. His perfect six titles in six NBA Finals with the Chicago Bulls will forever be written with golden letters in the NBA’s history books. However, before those championships, Jordan unsuccessfully chased the Larry O’Brien trophy for six seasons.
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During that period, he had a playoff series record of 3-6 — including two consecutive sweeps — and an overall losing record in playoff games, with 24 wins and 29 losses. Even though Scottie Pippen joined the team after the 1987 draft, it took some time for all the pieces to fall into place before a championship run could even begin.
Dominique Wilkins, one of Jordan’s fiercest rivals from that era and a player who, mainly because of MJ, never got a ring himself, knew well that one player alone can’t bring a team a title — it takes a healthy, unified squad, which is precisely what MJ had in the ’90s.
“If you look at the championship with Chicago for example,” Wilkins said on the Jaxxon Podcast. “Mike doesn’t get six championships without those other pieces – Scottie, Horace Grant, Kukoc and eventually Dennis Rodman. Also Kerr and Paxson. Them all are special pieces to a championship team. You can’t win without it, you can’t,” Nique concluded.
Behind all those brilliant stars stood one name
It’s hard to argue with Wilkins when you look at some of the key moments those players delivered. Kukoc was Sixth Man of the Year, Rodman was a seven-time rebounding champion and two-time NBA champion before coming to the Bulls, and everything about Pippen is already well known.
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Still, it’s also important to mention the legendary shots by John Paxson and Steve Kerr. Paxson hit a crucial 3-pointer in Game 6 against the Phoenix Suns to win the title. Without that shot, there would’ve been a Game 7 — and history might’ve been different. On the other hand, Kerr hit a nearly identical shot in the 1997 Finals against the Utah Jazz in Game 6 to seal the Bulls’ fifth championship.
But behind all those brilliant stars stood one name — Jerry Krause. Sadly, the architect and mastermind of one of the greatest teams in basketball history never got the recognition he deserved, mainly because of his broken relationship with Jordan. Krause was also a very stubborn character, and he met his match in Jordan. The roots of their befriended relationship go back to one controversial statement made by Krause.
“This kid [Jordan] has had his butt kissed by everybody in the world except his parents and me. If we listened to him, we’d have [former Tar Heel guard] Buzz Peterson on the team! My goal is not to be his friend. My goal is to win titles,” Krause told Sports Illustrated in 1993.
Jordan and Krause needed each other
Two geniuses in their own fields, as it often happens, were also major egomaniacs. Everything fell apart after the sixth and final title, when Krause said mid-season that Phil Jackson was gone regardless of the final outcome. Jordan responded by saying that if Phil goes, he goes too.
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History will forever remember the Bulls’ six titles.
Who knows — maybe it could’ve been even more. But even as it stands, it’s an incredible achievement. Jordan can be mad at Krause all he wants, and vice versa, but the truth is they would’ve never been what they were without each other.
Just ask Wilkins what he would’ve given to have someone as capable as Krause to build a winning team around him.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 12, 2025, where it first appeared.