Ron Harper joined the Chicago Bulls while the franchise was rebuilding after Michael Jordan's first retirement. While Harper was tweaking his playstyle to fit into Phil Jackson's triangle system, he noticed that MJ was in the facility often.
Mike wasn't just watching practices; he regularly played pickup with his old Bulls teammates. This led Harper to believe that Jordan was mounting a comeback — and he repeatedly interrogated MJ about it.
Pickup games with the Bulls
"I did know MJ was gonna return—MJ, he was there more than me!" Harper said, per SLAM . "MJ, he came in about four days [a week] to hoop. I said, Man, you have to be comin' back. 'Nah, nah, Ron' I said, Man, stop lyin', man. And then he said he's comin' back."
Jordan's return to professional ball was a massive spectacle. MJ was regarded not just as the GOAT but also as someone who turned basketball into a global sport.
In his first game back, MJ struggled with 19 points on a horrendous 7-of-28 shooting. However, later on, His Airness found his groove and even dropped 55 points in his fifth game back from retirement. This was a tangible sign that Mike was back. Unfortunately, this meant Harp wouldn't be playing as much.
Harp reinvents himself
Numbers reveal that Harper played some 25-30 minutes per game before Jordan's return. There were games when he seemed like his old self, dropping a casual 15 to 25 points per contest. But he was chipping in five or ten points most of the time. When Jordan returned during the latter part of the 1994-95 season, Harp's minutes dropped to 5 to 10 minutes per contest.
But when the Bulls played the Orlando Magic in the Conference Semifinals, the Zen Master suddenly called for Harper's help, and this was his chance to show that the team needed him.
"And then in the Playoffs, we played Orlando, and we had BJ Armstrong and we had Steve Kerr," Harper said . "And Orlando had Penny Hardaway. Phil said to me, 'You got Hardaway.' I was like, You can't just go from not playing to guarding Penny. He's like, 'You got Hardaway, that's all you need to know.' I said, All right, cool."
From averaging 19.9 minutes per game in his first season with the Bulls, Harp played 23.6 minutes per contest in his second season. He tweaked his game from a proficient scorer to someone who can defend, rebound, and play point guard, among other things. Ultimately, Harp snagged three out of five titles with the Bulls for his efforts.
Related: "I'd probably score 35 a game!" - Ron Harper on how easy it would have been for him to play in today's NBA
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