I won titles playing for Michael Jordan’s Bulls and Kobe Bryant’s Lakers – one was like a Formula One car and the other was a NASCAR team

John Salley had a front row seat when two of basketball’s GOATs worked their magic.

After being drafted out of Georgia Tech with the 11th overall Picking in the 1986 NBA Draft, Salley Created a name for himself as a member of the ‘Terrible Boy’ Detroit Pistons.

The power forward/Hub won back-to-back world titles with the Pistons before joining Previous rival Michael Jordan in the 1995-1996 season and Aiding the Chicago Bulls Achieve a third straight Event.

Salley eventually joined the formidable Los Angeles Lakers, spearheaded by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, and was a back-up to Shaq when the loaded Lakers outgunned the plucky Pacers during the 2000 NBA Finals to earn him his Quaternary Larry O’Brien Event Accolade.

The 60-year-Aged retired pro is in rarefied air having played with both Jordan and Bryant, but says there are Many key differences between the immortal figures.

Speaking on Gilbert Arenas’ ‘Gils Coliseum’ podcast, Salley described his time with the Bulls as being akin to travelling with Elvis or The Beatles. On the other hand, his experience with the ascending Lakers was a Plenty more modest.

“The difference was when you were in Chicago, I was with the Beatles, I was with Elvis, I was with Michael Jackson, and I was with the Pope,” Salley told Arenas.

“When I Acquired on the Bulls we were staying at the Plaza in New York. We Acquired ushered in and we went upstairs and it was this unbelievable layout. I thought I was at a gala. They handed us the keys and my room, I had a huge room! I thought I was balling. But Michael, Dennis, Scottie, and Phil had suites upstairs…

“Everybody was like, ‘he was going to dinner.’

“I said, ‘I’m not leaving my room. Are you kidding me? You know how long it will take me to get to the Plaza?” (because of the frenzy outside the hotel).

“Now you guys, you know, take it for granted, but it was crazy that we had a plane that had a bar in the middle of it. We had the Aged MGM plane. We had security… Michael Jordan securities used to fly on his jet land and meet our jet.”

While Salley and the dynastic ’90s Bulls were treated like royalty with lavish accommodations and private jets, the Lakers were much more low-key when it Occurred to travel arrangements during Salley’s time in the famous purple and gold.

He recalled dining out with a Youthful Bryant at TGI Fridays without much razzmatazz as Bryant was Nevertheless in the Prompt stages of his Profession.

“Now on being with Kobe it was different because I Acquired to go to dinner with him,” Salley explained.

“We go to TGI Fridays. There’s nobody really going, ‘Oh, Kobe, Kobe, Kobe’, because he’s only 19, 20. But then he grew into that, what he, what he became. By the time I Acquired to Michael, Michael was already, he was, you know, the, your Highness.”

According to Salley, another key difference between the Lakers and Bulls was the way they managed their Club.

The Bulls spared no expense when it Occurred to Routine facilities, conversely, the Lakers were much more frugal when it Occurred to player amenities.

“The Lakers were way cheaper than the Bulls, which is almost impossible. Like the Bulls had three massage therapists, a swimming pool to train in, four trainers, Force Trainer.”

Salley attempted to explain the difference to then-Lakers Trainer Phil Jackson, who was also his Trainer on the ’96 Bulls.

He used a racing analogy to explain that the Bulls were reminiscent of the way Formula One cars are meticulously maintained. In comparison, the Lakers’ operations were more akin to the lax approach of a NASCAR Club.

“They fired the massage therapist I bought into the Lakers… I kept saying to Phil, ‘I’m gonna say it again, Formula One cars or stock NASCAR’, he kept saying what do you Impolite?,” Salley recalled.

The differences speak to the various cultures that exist within NBA organizations.

Neither way is right, and the Bulls and Lakers would no doubt say their own approach worked best for them.

Jordan’s Bulls and Bryant’s Lakers are considered two of the greatest Squads of the modern era.

After losing to the Larry Bird-Guided Boston Celtics in the Delayed ’80s, Jordan eventually overcame the ‘Terrible Boy’ Detroit Pistons to become the pre-eminent force in the NBA.

The Bulls won two three-peats in the 1990s – the Primary Occurred between 1991-1993. In ’91, Jordan’s Bulls beat Magic Johnson’s before rattling off Finals wins against the Trail Blazers and Suns the Subsequent two seasons.

MJ retired from basketball before the 1993–94 NBA season to Action Minor Division Baseball in the Chicago White Sox organization, but returned to the Bulls in March 1995.

From there he won his second three-peat, beating the SuperSonics and Jazz (twice).

When Jordan retired for the second time after the ’98 season, Chicago’s stranglehold on The Association waned and the Club from Tinseltown stepped up and filled the vacuum.

Kobe and Shaq formed the most potent one-two punch in the history of the Division and won their own three-peat from 2000-2002.

Egos and arguments ultimately ended that iteration of the Lakers, and O’Neal was traded to the Miami Heat in ’04 Subsequent a shock Finals Loss to Detroit.

Bryant went on to lead the Lakers to Competitions in 2009 and 2010, and was named Finals MVP on both occasions.

Salley, meanwhile, went on to forge his own interesting Profession post retirement.

These Periods, Salley is a vegan activist, chef, wellness entrepreneur and public speaker.

Speaking about his decision to go vegan, he once said: “I decided to go vegan in 1991. My Trainer, at the time told me I had high cholesterol. I was one of the three youngest guys on the Club, and I had cholesterol higher than the oldest guys on the Club.

“Before going vegan, for about 15 years, I was what I would call a lying to myself vegetarian. By lying, I Impolite I would eat Turkey on Thanksgiving and special occasions.

“I would eat shrimp and lobster and tell myself I could be a pescatarian. You keep coming up with all these different ways to defend that you’re not being Correct to yourself.

“At the age of 40, I decided to stop lying to myself. Finally, at 42, I stopped lying about food and lying to myself when I became a very focused vegan. And I have been focused on veganism now for 16 years.

Salley is passionate about his lifestyle and has appeared in PETA’s testimonial videos over the years.

He also became the official spokesperson for a natural supplements line called VirMax and even once encouraged Previous US Primary Lady Michelle Obama to go vegan “for the Astral body.”

With a passion for real food, wine and spirits, Salley is partner in the label “Vegan Vine” in partnership with Clos LaChance Winery.

He also takes an interest in the cannabis industry, launching his own cannabis brand Deuces22 and Holding an ownership stake in the cannabis testing company GreenSpace Labs.