Michael Jordan says he would have returned to play for Chicago Bulls

Michael Jordan says he would have been willing to continue his record-breaking career with the Chicago Bulls and chase a seventh NBA title.

Jordan was speaking on the ESPN documentary The Last Dance, which chronicles his final season with the Bulls in which he won his sixth title.

“If you asked all the guys who won in �?98 ... �?We’ll give you a one-year contract to try for a seventh,’ you think they would’ve signed? Yes, they would’ve signed,” Jordan said in the 10th and final episode, which was broadcast on Sunday night. “Would I have signed for one year? Yes, I would’ve signed for one year. I’ve been signing one-year contracts up to that.”

The team – which was aging – knew they were likely to be broken up at the end of the season, and they were proved right. Coach Phil Jackson went on to decline an opportunity to return; Scottie Pippen and Steve Kerr were traded; Dennis Rodman was released, and Jordan retired before returning to play for the Washington Wizards in 2001.

However, Jordan said Jackson and the players could have been persuaded to return by team ownership. “Would Phil have done it? Yes,” he said. “Now, Pip, you would’ve had to do some convincing. But if Phil was going to be there, if Dennis was going to be there, if MJ was going to be there, to win our seventh? Pip is not going to miss out on that.”

Jordan, who was 35 in his final season with the Bulls, believes the team still had the ability to deliver a seventh title.

“It’s maddening,” he said. “Because I felt like we could’ve won seven. I really believe that. We may not have, but man, just to not be able to try, that’s something that I just can’t accept for whatever reason. I just can’t accept it.”

Even if Jordan had continued playing and won another title, he would have been some way off the record for most NBA championships in a career. That mark belongs to Bill Russell, who won 11 titles with the Boston Celtics in the 1950s and 60s.