By Dan Lust for LVSportsBiz.com

In 1997 and 1998, Michael Jordan — at the forefront of the American media thanks to a 10-part, five-week documentary series on ESPN — was not just the highest paid player in the NBA. He earned more than most teams’ entire rosters.

As the greatest of all time, Jordan deserved it. But it was exposing a flaw in the CBA.

For the NBA 1996-97 season, the salary cap for each team was set at $24.3 million. But keep in mind that teams were allowed to exceed the cap to re-sign their own players without penalty.

Jordan signed a one-year $30.1 million deal, shattering the $18.7 million contract set by Patrick Ewing the year before for the NY Knicks.

Jordan’s deal, at the time, pointed to greener pastures for athletes across the professional sports landscape. Owners took notice that he had clearly reset the contract market. To offer context, Jordan’s one-year $30.1 million deal was:

• five times the highest paid player  in the NHL (Wayne Gretzky)
• three times the highest paid player in Major League Baseball (Cecil Fielder)
• two times the salary of the highest best plater in the NFL (Deion Sanders)

Chicago’s ability to give Jordan an uncapped contract, made the Bulls the highest paid team in the league both years. Teams felt this CBA loophole provided an unfair advantage.

For example, when the Bulls played the Jazz in the 1997 and 1998 finals, Jordan made more than the entire Utah team.

When Jordan retired after 1998, owners wanted to change rules to slow down the progression of salaries. A battle ensued with the union and led to the 1998–99 NBA lockout. It lasted from July 1 – Jan. 20, shortening the season to 50 games. It forced the All-Star Game to be cancelled.

When the smoke cleared, the NBA had instituted a “maximum salary” rule. It capped salaries, topping out at the maximum of 35 percent of the team cap, 105 percent of the player’s previous salary, or $14 million for players with 10+ years of experience. Existing contracts were to be “grandfathered” in. This new rule dramatically curtailed salaries, allowing Jordan to hold the highest salary record for nearly 20 years. In 2017, Steph Curry ($34.7 million)and LeBron James ($33.3 million finally broke Jordan’s one-year salary mark. It took them that long to reach Jordan’s single-season salary because of the max salary rules in place.

Later CBA’s fortified an additional rule known as the “luxury tax,” which penalized teams monetarily that went over the salary cap to pay their players.

The 1997 and 1998 Bulls championship teams violated both of these rules and may have been the reason behind their creation.

It begs the question of whether a team in the modern NBA, bound by these CBA restrictions, can ever replicate Chicago’s six championships in eight years.

Until that happens, it will be hard for any new contender to challenge the Chicago Bulls place in NBA history.

#TheLastDance