Price Is Right--If It’s $36 Million

What’s the going rate for a most valuable player these days?

The Bulls got an MVP on Monday when the NBA announced that Michael Jordan had won the award for the fourth time. They got the bill in the Chicago Tribune, which reported that Jordan, soon to be a free agent, called a $36-million, two-year deal his “absolute bottom figure” and threatened to leave if he doesn’t get it.

“If they mess around with me here, which I don’t think they will, I’ll go elsewhere for whatever,” Jordan told the Tribune’s Bob Verdi. “I’ll play on another team for $10 million less if I have to, just on principle.”

Monday afternoon at a news conference to announce his MVP selection, Jordan didn’t take anything back. Instead, he complained about the timing, saying it would be “selfish” of him to discuss his own situation now.

“I can’t regret something I’m not in control of,” Jordan said. “There’s a lot of speculation about what’s going to happen to me, what’s going to happen to Phil [Jackson, the coach, whose contract is also up], to a lot of players.

“I felt it was bad timing in terms of when it should be published, but that’s your guys’ [the press] prerogative. . . . I think it’s good for people to read and create more interest.”

Why did he make the comments then?

“I think the quotes were kind of taken a little bit out of context,” Jordan said. “I wasn’t meant to be quoted in terms of conversation. . . . I didn’t understand the intentions of what was happening.”

Verdi says he talked to Jordan in the hall outside the Bulls’ dressing room after Sunday’s game, and that at one point Jordan asked him not to use a specific piece of information--which Verdi says he withheld.

Aside from that, Verdi says, Jordan made no stipulations about his comments.

“If he thought it was off the record or that I’d save it until July, I’m sorry,” said Verdi. “But I write for a daily.”

In other words, it was just like the old controversy-a-week days before Jordan went away. This one pales compared to the others, such as the ’93 playoffs, which were dominated by stories about his gambling.

Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, with six, and Bill Russell, five, have won more MVP awards than Jordan. This one was a landslide, with Jordan named first on 109 of 113 ballots.

“I think it’s more meaningful because I was away from the game, came back and learned a lesson,” he said. “I learned a lesson: No matter how long you were away from the game or how great you were before you left the game, you just can’t come back and think you can turn it right back on and take up where you left off.”

The game just taught him another lesson: Don’t tell your plans to reporters if you don’t want to see them in print. However, the Bulls are used to distractions.

“What timing?” asked Verdi. “They had a forward dressed up as a woman a week ago.”

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NBA MVPs

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1956 Bob Pettit St. Louis 1957 Bob Cousy Boston 1958 Bill Russell Boston 1959 Bob Pettit St. Louis 1960 Wilt Chamberlain Philadelphia 1961 Bill Russell Boston 1962 Bill Russell Boston 1963 Bill Russell Boston 1964 Oscar Robertson Cincinnati 1965 Bill Russell Boston 1966 Wilt Chamberlain Philadelphia 1967 Wilt Chamberlain Philadelphia 1968 Wilt Chamberlain Philadelphia 1969 Wes Unseld Baltimore 1970 Willis Reed New York 1971 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Milwaukee 1972 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Milwaukee 1973 Dave Cowens Boston 1974 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Milwaukee 1975 Bob McAdoo Buffalo 1976 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Lakers 1977 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Lakers 1978 Bill Walton Portland 1979 Moses Malone Houston 1980 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Lakers 1981 Julius Erving Philadelphia 1982 Moses Malone Houston 1983 Moses Malone Philadelphia 1984 Larry Bird Boston 1985 Larry Bird Boston 1986 Larry Bird Boston 1987 Magic Johnson Lakers 1988 Michael Jordan Chicago 1989 Magic Johnson Lakers 1990 Magic Johnson Lakers 1991 Michael Jordan Chicago 1992 Michael Jordan Chicago 1993 Charles Barkley Phoenix 1994 Hakeem Olajuwon Houston 1995 David Robinson San Antonio 1996 Michael Jordan Chicago

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