It’s hard to call it a ring when the two biggest pieces of the circle are absent.
Still, the festivities for the Bulls’ inaugural Ring of Honor proceeded Thursday night without Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
Dennis Rodman also was an unexpected no-show at the gala, but the hope was the Hall of Fame rebounder would make it to the halftime festivities when the Bulls host the Warriors on Friday.
Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf was hoping for a better turnout, one that would’ve included the two main foundation pieces of the dynasty.
Reinsdorf was asked about the effort to bring Jordan and Pippen in and said, “I actually don’t know how much effort went into it. Obviously, it would be better if everybody were here, but we knew going in that not everybody could be here. I believe Michael recorded something.”
Jordan’s video message was played during the dinner. He said several times that he was “bummed” he couldn’t be there.
Jordan thanked the Reinsdorfs for the honor and also congratulated all his former teammates, but there’s no doubt that his absence left a huge hole in the evening.
Make that two.
While coaching legend Phil Jackson — who did make it — did his best to continue mending things between Jordan and the organization, the Pippen situation remains a much tougher fix.
The six-time champion was fired from his ambassador/adviser role in 2020, and while the organization did try to patch up the hard feelings and get Pippen in town, it was a no-go in the end.
“I would be excited for everyone to come, but we announced it six weeks ago,” president/CEO Michael Reinsdorf said. “People have schedule issues, and so this is just our way of saying thank you to the players and the staff, so that’s what we’re looking forward to.”
Jerry Reinsdorf has always taken the show-must-go-on approach, and so it did. There was a red-carpet area before the gala started, a dinner, then Michael Reinsdorf gave the welcoming speech and explained the idea behind the Ring of Honor and what it meant for the organization.
“It’s something that we’re really proud of,” he said. “Having all the guys come back, seeing guys like Ron Harper, Luc Longley and Toni [Kukoc] here.
‘‘It’s a big part of our history. We won six championships in eight years, and these players, the staff members that are here, Phil Jackson coming back, it means so much to the Chicago Bulls, but it also means so much to our fans.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr stole the show. He took the stage with broadcaster Adam Amin to introduce Kukoc, Rodman, Jordan and Pippen.
Kerr had stories about each and talked about their importance in basketball history.
Jerry Reinsdorf shared his fondest memory with the media beforehand.
“Every one of these guys that is here played a significant role in this franchise, and it’s good to see people you haven’t seen in a long time,” Reinsdorf said. “I just wish Jerry Krause was alive and he could be here.
“The best memory I will ever have is the shot [Jordan made] on [Craig] Ehlo [in 1989 against the Cavaliers] because that’s really what started everything off.
‘‘I remember being in whatever the name of the arena was [Richfield Coliseum] with Jerry Krause and Karen Stack, and Michael made that shot. The three of us started hugging each other and jumping up and down.
‘‘Then all of a sudden, I remembered where we were. I said, ‘Jerry, we gotta get the hell out of here.’ Cleveland fans are usually not the most hospitable.”
