Sellers to the Bulls
Brad Sellers was selected as the 9th overall pick of the 1986 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls. Sellers was a 7-foot forward out of Ohio State with an above-average ability to shoot the basketball. Only 351 miles separates Sellers’ hometown of Warrensville Heights, OH and his new home, Chicago. It’s pretty much a straight shot on I-90 East. That lead him to Michael Jordan.
Sellers was a good player, but never stood out with the Bulls. He averaged about 9 points in 23 minutes per game during his first three years in the league. The problem was, the Bulls drafted two big names the year after they got Sellers: Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant. Chicago was building a winning team. Sellers felt he was the odd man out.
After the Bulls’ loss to the Pistons in the 1989 Eastern Conference Finals, Sellers reached out to Jordan. He asked for his help in approaching the front office because it wasn’t “going to work for [him] here anymore.” Jordan wanted Sellers to be 100 percent certain this was the right move. “Absolutely” said Sellers.
Ask and You Shall Receive
The next day, Sellers is enjoying endless salad and breadsticks at the local Olive Garden. In the middle of the meal the restaurant manager tells Sellers he has Michael Jordan on the phone and that he would like to speak to him.
“They’re trading you to Seattle tomorrow. Good luck, B.”
Sellers eventually landed in Seattle and immediately thought to himself “What did I just do?”
The rest of his career was spent with Seattle, Minnesota, and Detroit as well as some time overseas. Sellers would never play more than 13 minutes per game with another team the NBA. In 1991, a little less than two years after that fateful day in Olive Garden, the Chicago Bulls won their first of three consecutive NBA championships. The grass is not always greener on the other side.
Sellers is currently the mayor of his hometown of Warrensville Heights, and a basketball analyst for the Cleveland Cavaliers. His life has turned out just fine in the long run, but it always begs the question of “what if?” What if he had stayed on the Bulls? What if, rather than leaving for more playing time, he became the sixth man on one of the greatest basketball dynasties of all time? Playing time doesn’t matter as much as championships do.
Iron Sharpens Iron
As a coach it has always bothered me when players leave a team by choice. I understand sometimes it just isn’t a right fit and sometimes guys get homesick. I don’t understand leaving because someone is going to push you to become a better player. Great teams only form when there is competition within, so athletes push one-another to get better every day.
I think this is why Jordan never had an issue going in and talking with the front office about trading Sellers. He wanted to win. If Sellers was not willing to scratch and claw for time and points, it would be difficult to see him scratch and claw for a championship. We must fight for the things we want, no matter what our situation is. It makes us much better people in the long run when we are able to persevere.
