Suns on the Wrong Side of Jordan History

If it ever became public that former Chicago Bulls general manager Jerry Krause took a liking to you, it meant you were in for a world of hurt from Michael Jordan. That was the big revelation on basic cable over the weekend, and it tips off our look at the five biggest takeaways from the weekend in sports.

1. JORDAN HAD IT OUT FOR THUNDER DAN

Viewers of ESPN’s 10-part Bulls documentary The Last Dance are learning more about Michael Jordan’s competitive drive and the animosity he had for certain opponents. Some of that was self-inflicted, like in the case of Isiah Thomas. The rest was indirect, and those poor souls probably never saw it coming. Jordan put a target on a guy either because the media compared someone to him (like in the case of Clyde Drexler) or Jerry Krause had eyes for a player (like Toni Kukoc or Dan Majerle). The Majerle one hurts for Suns fans because it gave Jordan more motivation in that 1993 Finals series. If Krause liked you, Jordan hated you – and it was his mission to destroy you. In the latest episode, we learned that Jordan found out Krause liked Majerle (the player guarding Mike in the Finals) and you could almost hear the Valley let out a collective “oh no!” in response. Jordan’s Bulls ended up destroying the hopes and dreams of Suns fans that summer, and the team hasn’t reached the Finals since.

2. GOLF AND BASEBALL RETURNING TO LIVE TV

A couple promising news stories broke early Monday morning indicating live sporting events on TV are getting near to making a return. The PGA Tour announced a special 2 vs. 2 charity golf event for May 17. Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Matthew Wolff and Rickie Fowler will compete in a two-man team skins match from the super-elite and exclusive Seminole Golf Club in Florida, with a goal to raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts. ESPN has also announced it will begin to air Korean baseball league games live on TV starting at 10 p.m. Arizona time Monday night, airing for six nights total. (Korean baseball is one of the first professional sports leagues to return to play during the coronavirus pandemic.) It’s late at night and you won’t recognize many players, but it’s a real live sporting event, so that’s something.

3. NFL SCHEDULE IS NEAR

When the 2020 NFL Draft happened, it restored a sense of normalcy to the sports world. The next big step is to give fans the regular season schedule, perhaps a sign that the league is confident in being able to play games in the fall. The 2020 schedule is reportedly set to be released late this week (it typically happens on a Thursday night at 5 p.m. Arizona time) and will likely feature no international games due to coronavirus concerns. Either way, you can be sure the schedule will make for must-watch TV for sports fans.

4. RIP DON SHULA

The NFL lost one of the great ones Monday morning. Legendary Dolphins coach Don Shula passed away at the age of 90. Shula is the NFL’s all-time winningest head coach (347 wins) and led Miami to a 17-0 record in 1972, the only undefeated season in league history.

5. THE MOUNTAIN STILL HAS IT

As Ser Gregor Clegane, aka “the Mountain” on Game of Thrones, Thor Björnsson was absolutely terrifying and destroyed everyone in his path (except for the Hound, but no spoilers here). As a real person, the Icelandic strongman is equally impressive, breaking the world deadlift record this weekend, lifting 501 kilograms (nearly 1,105 pounds)! Now you understand how he did that to Oberyn Martell’s poor head.

Matthew Johnson is Director of Digital Content for PHOENIX. He writes about sports, craft beer and media.

Click here for last week’s High 5 on what we learned about the Cardinals draft.

Click here for our other takeaways on The Last Dance.