Chicago Sun-Times - All2020-05-11T14:35:20-05:00https://chicago.suntimes.com/rss/stream/210187492020-05-11T14:35:20-05:002020-05-11T14:35:33-05:00The Last Dance: Michael Jordan is the talk of Sarasota
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<img class="Image" alt="Michael Jordan works on his batting on the first day of White Sox spring training camp Saturday, Feb. 18, 1995, in Sarasota, Fla. " srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/b715ed5/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1248x700+0+650/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.vox-cdn.com%2Fthumbor%2FCnOtD4cNp5Y_3nVfmAEeytjjtFA%3D%2F0x0%3A1248x2000%2F1248x2000%2Ffilters%3Afocal%28615x265%3A616x266%29%2Fcdn.vox-cdn.com%2Fuploads%2Fchorus_asset%2Ffile%2F19961173%2FWHITE_SOX_JORDAN.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/133a9bf/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1248x700+0+650/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.vox-cdn.com%2Fthumbor%2FCnOtD4cNp5Y_3nVfmAEeytjjtFA%3D%2F0x0%3A1248x2000%2F1248x2000%2Ffilters%3Afocal%28615x265%3A616x266%29%2Fcdn.vox-cdn.com%2Fuploads%2Fchorus_asset%2Ffile%2F19961173%2FWHITE_SOX_JORDAN.jpg 2x" width="490" height="275"
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<div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>Michael Jordan works on his batting on the first day of White Sox spring training camp Saturday, Feb. 18, 1995, in Sarasota, Fla. </p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Pat Sullivan/AP</p></div></div>
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<p><i>Originally published February 13, 1994.</i></p><p></p><p>SARASOTA, Fla. — The video cameras are out in force and the autograph hounds are combing the streets, all searching for a glimpse of the phantom in cleats.</p><p>Yep, Kilroy is here.</p><p>Johnny Kilroy, that is, a.k.a. Michael Jordan, a.k.a. the best marketing device to hit Sarasota since suntan oil.</p><p>“Everyone just wants to touch him or something,” said a manager of In Extremis nightclub, where Jordan danced with the regulars until 2:30 a.m. Friday. “He’s given us the kind of advertising you can’t pay for.”</p><p>Jordan, one of 13 non-roster players the White Sox have invited to spring training, officially begins his improbable baseball career Tuesday, when he will work out at the Sarasota Sports Complex before meeting the media once again.</p><p>But Jordan has been in this baseball-crazy retirement community since Wednesday, by all reports, and his presence has sent normally sedate Sarasota into a star-struck frenzy.</p><p>Naturally, Jordan’s workouts have been conducted under maximum security. But that didn’t stop a television station in St. Petersburg from hiring a helicopter to fly over Ed Smith Stadium.</p><p>The camera crew aboard hovered over the infield and managed to film Jordan sliding into second base, but as soon as the culprits were spotted, practice was moved indoors.</p><p>Sources say the Sox have filed a complaint against the station, but a representative at Channel 10 in St. Petersburg said he knows nothing of such an objection. Sox officials could not be reached for comment.</p><p>So what has Jordan done since arriving at the genesis of his new career? Well, he pretty much has acted like a guy on vacation.</p><p>On Wednesday, he stopped by the Sports Page Bar and Grille, where he sipped on ginger ale and shot a few games of pool with friends.</p><p>“A super nice guy,” bartender Wayne Rentmeester said. “(Sox general manager Ron) Schueler called ahead to make sure there wasn’t a mob scene, and he came in the back door. It worked out great.”</p><p>Oh, and while he was at the bar, Jordan set up a golf date with another bartender. And speaking of golf, Jordan already has played at one local course and has been rumored to have played at the prestigious Long Boat Key Club.</p><p>“Nope, he hasn’t been here,” a golf pro requesting anonymity said. “One of the higher-ups said he was supposed to stay here, but our biggest room is 2,200 square feet. Jordan wanted 8,000.”</p><p>Jordan’s residence in Sarasota remains a mystery, prompting local realtors to field many calls from fans requesting details. But Jordan has hardly been a hermit.</p><p>One of the many sightings occurred at the Outback Steakhouse, where one of Rentmeester’s friends is employed.</p><p>“He called me the next day and said, `You’ll never guess who was in here last night,’ “ Rentmeester said. “Everyone is talking about Michael Jordan, wondering where he’ll show up next.”</p><p>Jordan’s most conspicuous appearance, however, was at In Extremis, where the manager claims Jordan sipped on draft beer and danced until closing time.</p><p>“He was not signing autographs,” the manager said. “But he was receptive to everyone, in a real good mood. And every time he moved, the whole crowd moved with him.”</p><p>Anything else?</p><p>“Oh, yeah,” the manager said. “He was bragging that Charles Barkley doesn’t draw this much attention.”</p><p>Not a chance, even in retirement. </p><p></p>
https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-last-dance/2020/5/11/21254989/michael-jordan-last-dance-spring-trainingSun-Times2020-05-11T14:34:33-05:002020-05-11T14:34:45-05:00The Last Dance: Scottie Pippen on Toni Kukoc and sitting vs. the Knicks
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<img class="Image" alt="“In that situation there was a lot of pressure,” Scottie Pippen said. “We were down 2-0 in the series; I wanted to be a threat. Whether I was taking the shot or not, I didn’t feel like I should be the one obligated to take the ball out.”" srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/4bc962c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1036x581+0+459/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.vox-cdn.com%2Fthumbor%2FrKLtwRJewlEPCqu4uKqga-nvay4%3D%2F0x0%3A1036x1500%2F1036x1500%2Ffilters%3Afocal%28549x288%3A550x289%29%2Fcdn.vox-cdn.com%2Fuploads%2Fchorus_asset%2Ffile%2F19961163%2F6_5_SALL_Bulls_late_2_S.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/68ee29a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1036x581+0+459/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.vox-cdn.com%2Fthumbor%2FrKLtwRJewlEPCqu4uKqga-nvay4%3D%2F0x0%3A1036x1500%2F1036x1500%2Ffilters%3Afocal%28549x288%3A550x289%29%2Fcdn.vox-cdn.com%2Fuploads%2Fchorus_asset%2Ffile%2F19961163%2F6_5_SALL_Bulls_late_2_S.jpg 2x" width="490" height="275"
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<div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>“In that situation there was a lot of pressure,” Scottie Pippen said. “We were down 2-0 in the series; I wanted to be a threat. Whether I was taking the shot or not, I didn’t feel like I should be the one obligated to take the ball out.”</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Jon Sall/Sun-Times</p></div></div>
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<p><i>Originally published May 31, 1994. </i></p><p></p><p>In his first public comments since leaving the locker room after the Bulls’ season ended in New York on May 22, Scottie Pippen said it was frustration at being asked to inbound the ball, not jealousy of Toni Kukoc, that caused him to sit out those infamous 1.8 seconds in Game 3 of the Bulls’ Eastern Conference semifinal against the Knicks.</p><p>He also stated that he is not a quitter during an interview taped Sunday that aired Monday on NBC-TV.</p><p>“In that situation there was a lot of pressure,” Pippen said. “We were down 2-0 in the series; I wanted to be a threat. Whether I was taking the shot or not, I didn’t feel like I should be the one obligated to take the ball out.</p><p>“I don’t think it was a fact that I didn’t want to play; I think it was the fact that I didn’t want to be the one to take the ball out. The pressure throughout the whole season has been whether or not I was going to perform or whether or not I was going to show up. I didn’t want to go through that series and lose 4-0. I wanted to be a threat out on the court. I felt like I was playing pretty well throughout the game. I felt like I shouldn’t be the one taking the ball out. I don’t think I wanted the ball; I wanted to be a threat.”</p><p>After Pippen went to the bench, the Bulls called another timeout, coach Phil Jackson sent Pete Myers in for Pippen and Myers inbounded to Kukoc, who hit the winning basket. Pippen denied any jealousy toward Kukoc.</p><p>“Toni has made a lot of big shots for this team over the season,” Pippen said. “It wasn’t about anyone being the hero or being crowned for anything because we all will be rewarded the same. It didn’t matter who was the hero, really. We all were the hero. He made the winning basket, but it was a team effort to win the game.</p><p>“I’m as close to Toni as I am with any player on the team. I don’t have great relationships with too many players off the court because we spend so much time together when we’re on the court. It’s very tough to establish a relationship away from the game.”</p><p>Pippen admitted that it was difficult to assume Michael Jordan’s role as team leader and unofficial spokesman.</p><p>“I mishandled a few things,” Pippen said of a year in which he made ill-advised comments.</p><p>Pippen’s advice to young players who watched him sit out the final 1.8 seconds: “Don’t make that same mistake. It wasn’t that I refused to go back in the game; I think Phil realized my frustration, and he just left me sitting there, and that was pretty much it. If the game went to overtime, I would go out and play and give it my best. My advice would be to any kid to do what your coach tells you.”</p><p>For a player with his resume, it’s unusual to be accused of being a quitter. But that’s the charge he’ll have to face after the incident.</p><p>“I don’t think you can consider me a quitter,” Pippen said. “I think you can look at it and say I made a stupid mistake. That’s pretty much it. I haven’t been a quitter. I think I go out and approach the game as hard as anyone. I play smart, I play hard and I play as a team player.”<br></p>
https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-last-dance/2020/5/11/21254984/scottie-pippen-toni-kukoc-sit-knicks-playoffs-last-danceSun-Times2020-05-09T19:58:06-05:002020-05-11T11:35:55-05:00James Jordan murder trial: Suspect found guilty in killing Michael Jordan’s dad
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<div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>Lord D.A.A.S. U’allah, formerly known as Daniel Andre Green, looks upward as he is escorted into the Robeson County Courthouse in Lumberton, N.C., Tuesday, Nov. 14, 1995, as jury selection continues in the James Jordan murder trial. Green could face the death penalty if convicted in first degree murder of NBA basketball star Michael Jordan’s father. Green, who changed his name in jail to reflect his Muslim faith, carries a rug for prayer. </p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Associated Press</p></div></div>
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<p><i>This story was originally published in the Chicago Sun-Times on February 29, 1996.</i></p><p></p><p>A 21-year-old man was convicted today of murdering basketball star Michael Jordan’s father, who was slain as he awoke from a nap in his luxury car.</p><p>Daniel Andre Green was convicted of first-degree murder, first-degree robbery and conspiracy in the July 23, 1993, attack. Jurors deliberated 4 1/2 hours over two days before returning guilty verdicts on all charges this afternoon.</p><p>Green could get life in prison or the death sentence. The same jurors will decide the sentencing phase, scheduled to begin Monday.</p><p>The six-woman, six-man panel deliberated 1 1/2 hours Wednesday, after electing a gospel disc jockey as its forewoman. Jurors requested photos of James Jordan dead and alive as well as an aerial photo of the highway where he was shot.</p><p>They resumed deliberations this morning after receiving another item they had requested, copies of the judge’s instructions.</p><p>Green’s chief accuser, boyhood friend and co-defendant Larry Demery, said he watched Green fire the fatal shot.</p><p>Demery also could face the death penalty despite pleading guilty earlier and helping prosecutors in the Green case.</p><p>As Green was led out of the courthouse in shackles, he told reporters: “This is Robeson County. What do you expect in this county?”</p><p>Asked why he thought the jury convicted him, he replied: “Your guess is as good as mine.”</p><p>Jordan, 57, had been driving to Charlotte from Wilmington and parked his $ 40,000 red Lexus coupe — a gift from his son — to take a nap.</p><p>Demery said he and Green happened to be nearby, preparing to rob a motel, when the car caught their eye and they changed their target.</p><p>“The motivating factor behind this murder was the defendant’s desire to have money, to have nice material objects, to have a nice car,” District Attorney <a class="Link" href="https://advance.lexis.com/document/?pdmfid=1519360&crid=e6843626-55b3-47cc-9f96-80dead006aaa&pddocfullpath=%2Fshared%2Fdocument%2Fnews%2Furn%3AcontentItem%3A3TBC-1390-005J-B1G7-00000-00&pdcontentcomponentid=11064&pdteaserkey=sr65&pditab=allpods&ecomp=kzJ3k&earg=sr65&prid=90a173c8-e158-47b3-9da0-e990f0775d31#" target="_blank" >Johnson Britt</a> said in closing arguments.</p><p>They sneaked up to the car just as Jordan was awakening, according to testimony.</p><p>“He made a statement like, ‘What is this?’ or ‘What’s going on?’ As soon as these words were out of his mouth, Daniel cut him off. By that I mean he shot him. Daniel just shot him,” Demery testified.</p><p>“We both stood there and watched the man die,” he told the jury.</p><p>He said they had no idea who the driver was until they rifled through his possessions an hour or so later.</p><p>“I believe we’ve killed Michael Jordan’s daddy,” Demery testified Green said.</p><p>Over the next three days, witnesses testified, Green wore a watch and two NBA rings Jordan had given his father. He even made a rap videotape of himself flaunting the jewelry. The jury saw part of the tape, but without the sound.</p><p>Green and Demery drove around in the Lexus, picking up dates and making calls on Jordan’s cellular phone, witnesses testified. The first call was to a sex line, records showed.</p><p>Demery said they took Jordan’s body to a swamp near Bennettsville, S.C.</p><p>In addition to Demery’s testimony, prosecutors produced records of calls to Green’s friends and relatives that were made from Jordan’s cellular phone after his death.</p><p>Demery said Green took two suits belonging to Jordan and wore the trousers of one suit to court.</p><p>Green, who has changed his name to Lord D.A.A.S. U’Allah but was called Green in court, did not testify.</p><p>Defense witnesses testified to an alibi — that Green was watching television with them the night of the killing.<br></p>
https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-last-dance/2020/5/9/21253411/james-jordan-murder-trail-guilty-michael-jordan-fatherSun-Times2020-05-09T19:44:10-05:002020-05-11T11:35:37-05:00James Jordan murder trial: Phone tripped pair after killing Michael Jordan’s father: Police say
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<div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>Larry Martin Demery, who has pleaded guilty to murdering and robbing James Jordan, father of Michael Jordan, leaves the courthouse in Lumberton, N.C., Wednesday, Jan. 24, 1996, after testifying at a hearing in the Daniel Green murder trial.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>AP</p></div></div>
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<p><i>This story was originally published in the Chicago Sun-Times on Aug. 16, 1993.</i></p><p>The two men charged Sunday with killing James Jordan were caught because they left electronic footprints, police said.</p><p>Larry Martin Demery of Rowland, N.C., and Daniel Andre Green of Lumberton, N.C., both 18, were charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery on Sunday, three weeks after they allegedly could not resist using Jordan’s cellular phone.</p><p>The suspects are being held without bail.</p><p>Jordan’s murder was portrayed by law enforcement officials in North Carolina as a case of his being in the wrong place, and not a case of his being the father of Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan or because of any financial or personal problems.</p><p>“What happened to Mr. Jordan was the kind of random violence that all the public are concerned and afraid of,” said Jim Coman, director of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations.</p><p>“The men were waiting to commit a robbery and Mr. Jordan just happened to be the victim,” said Joel Schulte, an FBI agent.</p><p>Green, who was paroled from a North Carolina prison two months ago after serving time for armed robbery and assault, turned himself in to Robeson County, N.C., authorities in Lumberton about 9 p.m. Saturday, Sheriff Hubert Stone said. Demery, who is under indictment on other armed robbery charges, surrendered about 3 a.m. on Sunday, officials said.</p><p>They are scheduled to appear in court on the murder charges today. Police would not say which of the men they believe fired the shot that killed James Jordan.</p><p>Jordan’s disappearance became public Thursday when police in North Carolina announced that his 1992 Lexus had been found stripped and vandalized.</p><p>Sometime between 2 and 3 a.m. July 23, Jordan ”pulled off the side of the road obviously to rest awhile,” said Capt. Art Binder of the Cumberland County (N.C.) Sheriff’s Department.</p><p>Jordan was winding up a long day that included attending the funeral of an old friend, Willie J. Kemp, and then driving another friend, Carolyn Robinson, to Wilmington, N.C.</p><p>After leaving Robinson’s home, telling her that he was going to Charlotte so he could catch a plane for Chicago the next day, Jordan made a fatal mistake, police said.</p><p>He fell asleep with his car’s right window down, enabling his killers to enter the car. Demery and Green allegedly were “out in the area for the purpose of robbing someone,” Binder said. They allegedly shot the sleeping Jordan once in the chest with a .38-caliber weapon.</p><p>The senior Jordan died in Lumberton, off Interstate 95’s Exit 14 on a shoulder of Highway 74. There were no signs of a struggle and no blood found in the car, police said.</p><p>After rummaging through the car’s contents, police said, the suspects realized that the dead man was the father of the world’s most famous basketball player.</p><p>The two men drove the Lexus about 150 miles in two hours with the body, police said. Then they allegedly dumped Jordan’s body in Gum Swamp, just over the border in South Carolina. Police said the body was found less than a mile downstream from where it was dumped.</p><p>Police said the suspects used Jordan’s cellular phone between July 23 and July 26 as they criscrossed North Carolina in their victim’s car.</p><p>“One of the things that helped us the most was the car phone,” Binder said. “They took (the phone), they made telephone calls, and we traced them.”</p><p>They allegedly parked the car on a road outside Fayetteville, N.C., where it remained between July 26 and Aug. 5 for vandals to strip.</p><p>Jordan’s body was found near McColl, S.C., by a fisherman on Aug. 3, snagged on a branch. It was badly decomposed and officials said they could not identify him.</p><p>The body was cremated three days later because, officials said, the Malboro County, S.C., coroner did not have the resources to keep a decomposing body. But dental impressions were made and they led to the identification of the body. Cumberland County officials identified the remains as Jordan’s on Friday.</p><p>Jordan’s family reportedly was not concerned with his extended absence. That he never made it to Chicago in July did not raise any questions because he would take extended trips without regularly checking in with his family, police said.</p><p>Four other young men have been charged with stealing and vandalizing Jordan’s Lexus.<br></p>
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/5/9/21253403/last-dance-james-jordan-murder-trial-michael-jordanLee Bey2020-05-09T19:15:07-05:002020-05-11T11:35:17-05:00James Jordan murder: Looking back on the killing of Michael Jordan’s father
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<div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>James Jordan, the father of Bulls great Michael Jordan.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Sun-Times</p></div></div>
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<p><i>This story was originally published August 15, 1993 after James Jordan’s body was found, but before the killer was found.</i></p><p></p><p>Who killed James Jordan?</p><p>The mystery remained on Saturday. But the trail warmed a bit as North Carolina authorities arrested four men and were searching for others in the theft and vandalism of Jordan’s red $ 45,000 Lexus SC400.</p><p>Funeral services for the murdered father of the world’s most famous basketball player are scheduled for today in Wallace, N.C.</p><p>“The Jordans have always been a very tight-knit family,” said Michael Jordan in a statement. “The death of our dad is shocking.”</p><p>As authorities try to piece together what happened and where, several pieces of the puzzle came together. Police believe the murder may not be directly connected to the car theft and vandalizing, but Cumberland County (N.C.) Sheriff’s Department Capt. Art Binder said car thieves may have “crossed paths” with the killer or killers. Binder also said Jordan was a “random victim,” killed in a “spur of the moment” crime that may have started as a car theft and escalated to murder. Authorities are discounting a report that Jordan talked to his wife, Deloris, on July 26, pinning the likely date of death closer to July 22, the last time he was seen alive. Also put on the back burner were theories that Jordan’s death was linked to financial difficulties.</p><p>Police were pursuing the case in two states Saturday: A team led by FBI agents visited the site near McColl, S.C., where Jordan’s body was found. And sheriff’s police arrested suspects near the site where Jordan’s car was found on a dirt road outside Fayetteville, N.C.</p><p>Charged with breaking and entering a stolen vehicle were Kenneth Connell Farrior, 20, a pipe layer, and his brother, Gary Rodel Farrior, 16, a high school sophomore and part-time janitor.</p><p>Terrellius Marnicus Teasley,, 22, a school custodian was charged with breaking and entering, larceny and possession of stolen goods - cassettes, four tires and rims valued at $ 1,625.</p><p>Jovan Carter, 18, was charged with felony possession of a stolen vehicle. Binder said it was not clear if Carter stole the vehicle. Carter allegedly drove the car to the site where it was found. Another person believed to be involved with stealing the car is being sought.</p><p>In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Kenneth Farrior said he told police he helped steal items from the car with his brother and other youths.</p><p>The car was on a dirt road less than a half mile from his home. Farrior said the auto was there since July 26 - earlier than police, who found it on Aug. 5, first indicated.</p><p>On Aug. 11, police announced that the stripped and vandalized car belonged to James Jordan, triggering the search for Jordan that led to Friday’s identification of the body found in a South Carolina creek Aug. 3, shot once in the chest with a .38-caliber pistol.</p><p>Joyce Farrior, mother of the brothers charged with car-stripping, said that she repeatedly contacted police about unusual activity in late July on the dirt road in front of her trailer. But it took until Aug. 5 for an officer to respond to the call. Police said they had no record of such calls.</p><p>Farrior said she became suspicious when she saw unidentified white men drive at high speeds down the rural road where the residents are nearly all black.</p><p>The mother of suspect Jovan Carter, Dorothy, told reporters that “a bunch of guys” came up to the door of her home sometime last month and her son drove off with them. She said the auto they were driving was “the car” - the Lexus.</p><p>Reporters on Saturday discovered that police had not sealed off the site where the car was discovered. At the site, they found items believed taken from Jordan’s car, including a Lexus owner’s manual.</p><p>The Charlotte Observer reported Saturday that Jordan’s company, JVL, faced financial problems.</p><p>JVL’s checking account was overdrawn by $ 1,082 as of July 18, the paper said, and an apparel company said it was owed about $ 7,000.</p><p>But South Carolina Law Enforcement Division spokesman Hugh Munn said his agency met with FBI agents on Saturday and that there there was “no connection at this point” between JVL and the murder.<br></p>
https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-last-dance/2020/5/9/21253382/last-dance-james-jordans-murder-michael-jordanLee Bey