Randy Brown was an Illinois native who lived the dream.
Brown was selected with the 31st overall pick in the 1991 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings but returned to his hometown Chicago for the 1995 season.
The 6ft 2in guard provided valuable energy and aggressiveness off the bench during the Bulls’ second three-peat between 1996-1998.
Brown recently sat down and discussed what it was like joining the dynastic Bulls and Michael Jordan at the start of their quest for a second three-peat, having already won three straight between 1991-1993.
“I signed up as a free agent at the right time,” Brown said.
“Michael had just come back, the Bulls had just lost a playoff game to Orlando Magic, so he was upset that they lost a playoff game to Orlando.
“I came at the right time, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and Toni Kukoc were all in their prime and we were hungry.”
Brown also revealed what it was like practising with those guys every day and how he learned from them.
“We were destined for a championship, and I really didn’t understand what I was getting myself into from day one. Those guys were like machines,” he reflected.
“Those guys WORKED, and I had to get on their level. I wasn’t prepared for the intensity level that came with just practice with Michael, Scottie, Dennis and even the likes of Ron Harper and Steve Kerr.
“I was surprised that all these guys practice all the time.
“Phil Jackson was really good with us. Being a former player, he understood what practice was all about and it became a running joke that our practices basically were harder than the games.
“It’s funny, we’d have a game to 20 and we would never make it to 20 because both teams were very competitive.
“There were defensive players on both sides of the ball and that’s why I said it was so intense. It was a grueling hour and a half.
“We got to the games, and we were like ‘wow, this is easier than practice.’ So, practice became a staple for us.
“We were lucky that we didn’t have a lot of injuries and like I said before, I was shocked to see one through 15 guys practicing so hard, but this prepared us for the games.
“So, I learned a lot from all of them. They all took me under their wing, and it was a special moment for me playing with some Hall of Fame players.”
Brown was hardly the most integral cog in the Bulls’ winning machine, but he more than played his part.
He received minimal airtime in hit documentary The Last Dance, but did briefly appear when asking Jordan for tickets to a game.
Brown really came into his own during the 1998 season, particularly in the playoffs.
In the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals, Brown played in five games with the Bulls, going 3-2 in those games. In Game 1 against the Indiana Pacers, Brown had four points and an assist to help the Bulls win 85-79.
Brown played two games during the 1998 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz with the Chicago Bulls going 1-1 in those games.
In Game 1, he played 2 minutes, 25 seconds with one rebound. Brown played 5:22 in Game 3 with two points, one rebound and one steal, and his basket came with 1:15 remaining to put the Bulls up 94-52.
The Bulls ultimately beat the Jazz in the 1998 Finals, securing the repeat three-peat and their place in history.
It would be the Bulls’ final glory as the team broke apart amid the latter stages of the owner-induced lockout of NBA players.
Phil Jackson’s contract was expiring, the pending departures of Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman were looming, and former Bulls general manager Jerry Krause wanted to rebuild the Bulls and go in a younger direction.
Jordan retired for the second time in January 1999, and Brown was one of the few veteran players who stayed with the team after the 1998–99 lockout.
However, the now 56-year-old believes the Bulls could have easily achieved a historic four-peat if certain things had gone their way.
“It was weird because after that season there was a strike. If there wasn’t a strike, Phil Jackson probably would have come back because he was hurting physically during that season,” Brown explained.
“He talked about having surgery and possibly not coaching anymore, so the NBA going on strike pushed him to say, ‘let me go ahead and do the surgery while there’s no basketball at all’.
“We clearly would have won another championship. We were in our prime, we were healthy, and we were hungry.
“The two years Michael went away to play baseball, that’s two more possible championships. During those winning seasons, we were mentally tired, but somehow during every season, we’d find our groove to championship.
Brown believes three things would have led to a fourth straight world championship.
“If Phil Jackson hadn’t had that surgery, Michael comes back, we have the same core and we get a chance to defend our championship until somebody knocks us off.”
“Yeah, it was disappointing [the team didn’t get to defend the championship with the same core], but I can’t speak for all the guys,” Brown went on
“We had a reunion back in January of last year and yes, it was kind of surprising and disappointing that we couldn’t defend our championship.
“I don’t think this has ever happened in sports where a championship team is just dismantled and not given an opportunity to defend that title.
“It was disappointing. For me, I took it for granted. I thought that machine would be together for a long time and to come into the following season, which it was only 50 games and not seeing any of my teammates was weird.
“I was just talking to Toni Kukoc the other day about it. The only people who were left were me, Toni, Ron Harper and Dickey Simpkins. So, it was disappointing that we weren’t giving a real opportunity to defend what was ours.”
Brown ended his NBA career by playing two seasons with the Boston Celtics (2000-02) and one season for the Phoenix Suns (2002-03). He retired from the NBA in 2003 with 3,148 career points and 1,420 career assists.
However, Brown returned to the Bulls in 2009 as the director of player development — a role he was in for two seasons.
In 2011, he became the Bulls’ special assistant to the general manager. After three seasons in that role, he received a promotion to assistant general manager.
Brown became a Bulls assistant coach in 2015, a position he remained in until 2018.