The Kukoc Conundrum

Set aside everything you know about Toni Kukoc. Forget about the slick passes, the mop of hair, the streaky shooting. Forget about the Sixth Man Awards, the funny accent, the three rings. Forget all of that.

In 1.8 seconds in 1994, Toni Kukoc converted the most important shot in Chicago Bulls history.

The Croatian Sensation

In 1991, Kukoc was one of the top players in Europe. With the success of Vlade Divac and Drazen Petrovic, NBA teams were frantically scouting across the Atlantic for the next Euro star, and as Sam Smith detailed in The Jordan Rules, former Bulls GM Jerry Krause was absolutely fixated on Toni Kukoc.

Unfortunately, this made Kukoc the second-most hated man for Chicago that season (just behind Krause himself). With John Paxson and budding star Scottie Pippen both lobbying for new contracts and Michael Jordan considering retirement, no one on the Bulls wanted to see Kukoc make his Bulls debut.

That year, of course, Kukoc stayed in Europe and the Bulls won their first NBA championship. But the stars of Kukoc and Pippen had become intertwined.

Life after Michael

In 1994, Kukoc finally signed with Chicago as the Bulls prepared for life without Jordan. With a couple of new additions and Pippen able to shine in his own right, it appeared they might be all right without MJ. Three Bulls made the All-Star team, and the Bulls finished with 55 wins, only two less than the previous season. Pippen led the Bulls in points, steals and assists per game and finished third in MVP voting.

As for Kukoc, he averaged 11 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists per game—and hit a few shots like this one.

To the surprise of some, the Bulls appeared set to defend their championship after sweeping the Cavs in the first round. However, a familiar foe awaited in Round Two: the New York Knicks.

The Refusal

In Game 3, the Bulls were down two games to none and Patrick Ewing had just made a hook shot in the lane to tie the game at 102. Chicago's lead had dwindled away and with 1.8 seconds left in regulation, Phil Jackson knew the Bulls couldn't afford overtime. The obvious choice to take the final shot was Pippen, the superstar, the team leader. But Jackson, the ever-cerebral coach, called the play for the rookie Kukoc.

Pippen, angered beyond belief, sat on the bench and refused to go back into the game.

The rest is history. Kukoc made the improbable shot for the win, Pippen famously posterized Ewing in Game 6, the Knicks won Game 7 and went to their first Finals since the '70s, and Jordan came back midway through next season to continue the Bulls dynasty.

So what happens in Kukoc's shot doesn't fall?

I wonder...

Pippen's heart and toughness had always come into question over his career. The Pistons routinely took Scottie out of the game by knocking him around during games, and Dennis Rodman's taunting of Pippen was as important to Detroit as Isiah Thomas. When the Pistons fell, the Knicks imported their strategy and drafted Xavier McDaniel to get inside Pip's head. But Scottie's refusal to go back into the game was on a different level. Lifetime Bulls fans who had watched Jerry Sloan and Norm Van Lier play undoubtedly were appalled.

This whole idea was borne from the mind of a Peoria friend of mine name Rodger, who said that the Bulls were considering trading Pippen after this stunt. Hard to believe after the Hall of Fame nod, but back in '94 with Jerry Reinsdorf at the reins, anything was possible. So consider Kukoc misses and the Bulls let go of Pippen. Here's some scenarios to consider:

1. With no Pippen to take the pressure off, Michael Jordan flirts with a permanent retirement.

2. No Jordan and no Pippen obviously means Dennis Rodman stays in San Antonio.

3. No Bulls nucleus = no Bulls dynasty. Chicago stays in the top eight of the Eastern Conference, but the Knicks, Heat and Pacers rise to the top.

4. Oops, forgot something: with no Jordan revenge in '96, Shaq stays in Orlando and matures with a healthy Penny Hardaway, giving the Magic a likely shot at a championship.

5. Knicks' "beat-'em-up" basketball stays in vogue without the Bulls' finesse game to beat it, meaning the rules enacted in the 2000s to open up the game (the no-charge circle, defensive 3 seconds, the modified illegal defense) probably are written even earlier. (In an unrelated story, a 22-year-old Kobe Bryant scores 103 points on the Vancouver Grizzlies.)

6. Speaking of Kobe, what does he do without legit superstar like Shaq to give him a cover to mature under?

7. Phil Jackson's 11 rings and "best coach ever" title? Gone. Phil's good, but he learned as much from his second three-peat players as they did from him. That experience of winning with an aging squad was absolutely necessary.

8. As for Scottie Pippen: he plays well for another team, then another team and maybe another team, none of which is Chicago. Hall of Fame is not a lock and neither is his title as "top all-around forward of all-time".

9. Finally, think of all the top players who either had to wait 'til after their prime to get a ring or never got one because of the Bulls: Barkley, Ewing, Malone, Stockton, Miller, Mourning, Starks, Payton, Drexler. Imagine that.

And to think, all because Toni K was a little off on his stroke.

Revisionist history

Without Kukoc's shot, the Bulls don't stretch the Knicks to seven games, the image of Pippen standing over Ewing after that epic facial never occurs, and Kukoc's star doesn't rise to Sixth Man of the Year potential. After the shot fell, people mostly glossed over the incident.

So even though all this is a stretch, it's always fun to ask "what if...?"

Just ask Bill Simmons.

JS