Michael Jordan Once Opposed Phil Jackson's Triangle Offense: 'F--king Bulls--t'

Michael Jordan is heard saying multiple times on ESPN's The Last Dance documentary that he wouldn't play for another coach outside of Phil Jackson during the 1997-98 campaign.  

Turns out, he didn't always feel that way.

The fourth episode of the 10-part documentary detailed the Chicago Bulls' coaching transition from Doug Collins, who led them to the 1989 Eastern Conference Finals, to Phil Jackson prior to the 1989-90 campaign.

"Doug's approach was more catered to Michael, and Phil's approach was more catered to the team," Scottie Pippen said in the episode.

Jordan wasn't a fan of that at first, going as far as to say, "Everybody has an opportunity to touch the ball, but I didn't want Bill Cartwright to have the ball with five seconds left. That's not equal-opportunity offense, that's f--king bulls--t."

That mentality clearly changed, though, as Jackson led the Bulls to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals in his first season and six championships during his tenure. The triangle offense and a more team-based approach helped Chicago finally get over the "Bad Boys" Detroit Pistons hump in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals and win the first of those six titles.

Convincing the best player and scorer in the league to be the focal point of the offense but not the entire offense was surely no easy task, especially in the prime of Jordan's career. Jackson did it to near perfection.