Inside the Multiverse: 1994 Street & Smith's (Almost) NBA Preview

A look at the preview of a Bulls team that wasn't

I’ll never forget the day in September of 1993 when I didn’t buy a magazine.

I was at the start of sixth grade at Haven Middle School in Evanston, and a weekend neighborhood stroll led me to the nearby White Hen. I don’t remember what I bought. I only remember what I didn’t buy: the 1993-94 NBA preview issue from Street & Smith. I remember seeing it, thinking Dope, Bulls going for the four-peat, and then just… not buying it. No big reason. This was not an, I’ll go home and get money and come back, situation. I was definitely interested. The cover imprinted itself on my brain: MJ dunking on the Suns during the Finals a few months prior.

The ’94 issue broke down how the three-peat Bulls would incorporate the European Magic Johnson, as he was known to many: Toni Kukoc. No team had won three straight NBA championships since Russell’s Celtics finished their run of eight straight in 1966. That run was also the league’s only ever four-peat. The magainze would break that all down. Exactly the type of mag I would scoop up without blinking.

I just… didn’t.

I regretted that immensely on October 6. Michael Jordan retired. I rushed back to White Hen. The issue was gone. Whether it sold out or was pulled off the shelves, I never knew. What I did know: it was a collector’s item.

The exact type of issue that makes Raphael Leal’s collection so special.

Leal is an MJ superfan who specializes in one type of collection: Michael Jordan covers. Magazines aplenty. Programs, media guides, price guides, catalogs, brochures, paperback books, and some newspapers, both weekly and monthly. His collection is “somewhere over 2,000,” he notes.

He doesn’t just keep the cover. He keeps the full issue. Ralph and I met on Twitter in February 2021. He runs the account @MJ23covers. Once I felt comfortable, I had one question for him:

“Any chance you remember a 1994 preview issue that was published after we signed Toni but before MJ retired?”

I described it perfectly: “I recall it having an image of MJ in white slashing to the rim, and the cover title was about the impending 4-peat. … Might have been a Street and Smith. Not sure. So pub date was August or September of 1993.”

With three little words from Ralph, I knew I had met the authority on the matter:

“Is this it?”

There it was. The Street & Smith 1993-94 NBA preview issue. Memory can fail but this one didn’t. My thoughts upon seeing it for the first time in over 27 years:

Confirmation of a long-ago cover image aside, what I loved most was reading the actual issue, thanks to Ralph sending me the pages. Along with Phil Jackson’s preseason interview with Sam Smith that ran in the Tribune on Oct. 1, 1993, this Street & Smith issue is the most in-depth look I’ve seen at the could-have-been four-peat-pursuing Bulls.

Ralph later sent me a Basketball Forecast preview issue also published in this fleeting window. Sports Illustrated wasn’t so lucky. With all of its other editorial duties, S.I. saved its NBA preview issue for Nov. 8, three issues after their iconic “WHY?” cover for MJ’s retirement.

That leaves these hoops-centric magazines as markers of a season that wasn’t. Here is a look at my long lost Street & Smith issue, dated September 24, 1993, Volume 17.

HEADLINES OF ’93: MJ chases Russell

Sports is storytelling. We know the story of an up-and-comer trying to climb the mountain. We know the story of a first-time champ basking in their self-confidence. A back-to-back champ is supposed to find humility. To return to the pack. That’s the story we’ve been told. We hadn’t seen an NBA three-peat since Russell’s Celtics’ 8-peat, and hadn’t seen a major three-peat in any of the big four sports since the four-peat New York Islanders ending in 1983. 

The story that made sense in ‘93 was that the Bulls would do what the two-time defending champion Pistons and Lakers had done before them: bow out in year 3. When they didn’t, we were through the looking glass. By the time of the Street & Smith issue, the 1994 Bulls season brought two questions we didn’t have when Pax’s shot splashed through. How would the team incorporate Toni Kukoc? And how would MJ play after the horrific murder of his father and all of the rumors and innuendo from that?

Preparing for this, Street & Smith published “HEADLINES OF ’93: Read all about the biggest stories of the season before they happen,” a fantastic subtitle considering that the biggest story of the season definitely hadn’t happened when the ink set on that title¹.

Glen Macnow of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote the piece. Here is what he penned about Jordan:

(Sigh) Another Year, Another (Yawn) Title

The only drama here is which catch phrase will push the Bulls to their next title (and earn millions for some marketing genius). Four-peat? Trite. Quad Squad? Yecch. We’ll wait to see who comes up with the best idea.

Meanwhile, except for slogans, nothing much changes this season. The Bulls romp again. Michael Jordan is now chasing Bill Russell, having won three straight championships — a feat never accomplished by Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Julius Erving, or Wilt Chamberlain². There is no reason to believe that (1) Jordan will go soft or (2) anyone has figured out a way to beat him. And while Bill Cartwright, Stacey King, and John Paxson don’t bring to mind the word ‘dynasty,’ the fact is that the Bulls are much more than a one-man team. Scottie Pippen is a legitimate star. B.J. Armstrong is a top-notch point guard. New guy Toni (the Croatian Sensation) Kukoc, just 24, may take time to mesh with his new teammates in a new country, but figure on a long and brilliant career for him.

So don’t bet against the Bulls this season. Or next season, either. If general manager Jerry Krause wants to do some advance planning, he’ll go see if Chuck Noll’s copyright on “One for the Thumb” has expired.

The 1994 season would be a transitional one, with MJ as old guard and Shaq as new guard after his powerful rookie year.

Phil Jackson’s season preview

The editors at Street & Smith executed a unique season preview: they had the head coach of each of the 27 NBA teams write the preview for their own team. I can’t say how other coaches took the assignment but this was as much Phil Jackson’s wheel house as assigning books to read or not calling timeout when the Bulls allowed a 12-2 run.

After a routine opening, Phil offered the landscape: “We’ll have to contend with improving young clubs like Miami, Orlando and Charlotte³, as well as veteran teams like New York, Cleveland and Atlanta.” He ran through the ’93 playoffs (completing the three-peat was “one of the biggest wins of my coaching career”) and made his way to the rundown of the team:

Michael Jordan had one of his greatest seasons ever, overcoming injuries and distractions to play with great energy whenever was needed. He captured his seventh straight scoring title (32.6 ppg), was tops in steals (2.8 spg) and had a great run in the Playoffs.

Scottie Pippen also battled injuries, but he responded with a strong season (18.6 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 6.3 apg). He came up big in the Playoffs against New York, finally silence his critics.

On the rest of the team, Phil wrote:

• B.J. Armstrong: “stepped in and played well in his new starting role (leading) the NBA in three-point FG percentage”

• John Paxson: “slowed by knee trouble, but he came through for us with some big shots, especially in the Finals”

• Horace Grant: “once again our rebounding leader (9.5 rpg), and he drew tough defensive assignments every night. His strong defensive effort helped us defeat Phoenix.”

• Bill Cartwright and Scott Williams: “didn’t put up big offensive numbers, but then rebounding and defensive contributions were key factors for us in the postseason”

• Toni Kukoc: the “much-anticipated arrival (of) the most talented player in Europe should give our lineup a nice boost.”

“We’re going to be pressed this year into repeating our success of the past, and we’ll try to sustain a season-long enthusiasm and effort,” Phil wrote. “Our main goal will be to win a fourth straight championship, but we won’t focus our sights that far ahead. We’ll just play game-to-game.”

Terry Pluto’s Central Division Preview

Street & Smith also had a traditional season preview, pulling one writer per division. Covering the Central was Terry Pluto, who picked the Bulls to win the division, no surprise there. “Can we say dynasty?” he began, and moved to this unintentionally portentious quote from Cavaliers GM Wayne Embry: “As long as they have No. 23 and he stays healthy, they are a great team.”

Continues Pluto:

For the last three seasons, No. 23 has done something Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Julius Erving never could do. Jordan’s Bulls have won three titles in a row, a feat that ranks in history only with Bill Russell’s 1960s Boston Celtics⁴. But for the rest of the Central Division and the NBA at large, here is the scary thing about the Bulls .. and no, it’s not the addition of Toni Kukoc. What should worry the rest of the league is that on opening night, Jordan will only be 30. Scottie Pippen? Only 28. Horace Grant? Also 28.

“The core of our team is in their prime,” said Bulls general manager Jerry Krause. “That is why I’m surprised when people say we can’t win again. Why not? We’ve got a veteran team, a playoff-tested team, but it’s still a young team. So four in a row, I think that is something guys really want.”

Notes Jordan on the three-peat: “I never thought it would be this hard. I figured all the pressure would be off when we repeated as champs. But going for three, that just meant more pressure. Right now, all I want to do is go somewhere and play golf⁵.”

Pluto finds Krause in a complimentary mood. A man of his people⁶. “There was concern about the mental stress Michael was under last year,” Krause said. “But three months on a golf course usually gets his juices flowing. This guy is as competitive as ever.” He continues: “We have tough guys … The pressure doesn’t bother them. The media B.S. doesn’t bother them. They just know how to win the games that they must. We aren’t just a great team, we are a team with great character.”

After a short jaunt about the other teams in the Central, Pluto begins his team-by-team writups, starting with the Bulls. The spread has pictures of Pippen, Grant, Armstrong, Cartwright and Perdue (Jordan was on the Central Division main page), but the man without the photo is the first one mentioned.

“Our guys will welcome the attention being on Toni,” Krause said. “Given all that they have been through the last three years with the media, they’ll say, ‘Fine, get that B.S. away from us. You take it for a while.’ But the thing is, Kukoc isn’t an ordinary rookie. He has been ‘The Man’ in Europe for years. He knows how to handle the heat.”

He describes his prized rookie.

“You start with Toni being 6-11, but he has guard skills. Then add to that his reach is nine feet when he’s standing still, so you see how long his arms are. In our system, he can play guard or small forward.” Kukoc won’t dominate the ball like in Europe, Krause said, and that would be just fine.

“Toni didn’t bring the ball up the court — someone else did. Then he’d pop out, catch a pass and trigger the offense. Listen, he is a complimentary player, an outstanding passer who makes guys around him better. … This kid is sacrificing a lot of money to play for us, compared to what he made in Italy last season. That demonstrates how much he wants to show what he can do against the best players in the world.”

In his interview with Sam Smith, Phil would note his excitement in the Bulls running an “interchangeable” lineup with Kukoc⁷. The versatility of this impending ’94 Bulls team was not lost on Pluto. “Has any team ever saved more balls going out of bounds than Chicago?” he wrote. “With their long arms and legs (and attitude), these guys fly into the stands, spear the ball in mid-air and then pass it to a teammate before they land. They do it about five times a game, meaning five extra possessions.”

Also getting the focus would be surprise All-Star B.J. Armstrong. He would not have been an All-Star in ’94 if MJ didn’t retire, but his impact was already clear.

Scottie, B.J. & Horace: the story of our three 1994 All-Stars

“The baby-faced B.J. Armstrong has matured into a hard-nosed defensive point guard,” Pluto wrote. “Fans know he led the league in three-point shooting (he never misses from deep in the corner), but he put his body on the likes of Mark Price and Kevin Johnson in the playoffs, frustrating both of those premier point guards.”

In 1993, boldness meant picking against the Bulls. S.I. kept pushing a possible Knicks-Suns Finals. The doubt was here. No team would win three in a row.

Then one did. Entering ‘93-’94 was like watching Psycho in its original run. When the star dies, the rest of the movie is unpredictable. There was no percentage in opposing city hall.

“If Phil Jackson can keep them on the boards, on the floor for loose balls and provide enough motivational gimmicks (such as showing buffalo stampedes in the middle of game films) to keep his team interested,” Pluto wrote, “no one will stop the Bulls.”

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Salute to Ralph Leal, who created these incredible custom magazines of MJ covers. He’s selling them, so if you’re an MJ superfan, they’re can’t-miss! Hit him up here.

I’ll share the Basketball Forecast preview at some point too. Have a great weekend!

Best,

Jack

1. For everything on MJ’s retirement, click here.

2. Wild that there was no mention of Isiah Thomas, whose Pistons won the two titles preceding the Bulls. The Basketball Forecast preview issue does the same thing.

3. These were three of the last four NBA expansion teams, and they were all on the rise, the Hornets with LJ and Zo, the Magic with Shaq and now Penny, the Heat with Glen Rice.

4. Terry Pluto was missing George Mikan’s three-peat Minneapolis Lakers of the NBA’s early days, from 1952 to 1954.

5. MJ’s first public appearance after his father’s murder would be at a golf course: the Rose Elder Invitational golf tournament in Leesburg, Virginia. It was there that he likely told Bill Russell that the Bulls were going after the eight-peat. I really don’t think he fully decided to retire until September, which is what he has always said. Here is a look into his controversial 1993 summer.

6. While Jerry Krause’s ornery reputation is well earned, it’s not the full story. He was abundantly loyal to many people in the organization and around basketball, and there are plenty of people in the game who swear by his generosity. His little known complete history in sports, here.

7. Phil would finally bring his interchangeable lineup to fruition in the second three-peat.