Magic Johnson blamed Jerry Krause for destroying the Bulls dynasty: 'They probably would have won 10,11,12 championships'

More than a quarter of a century later, it's still mind-boggling how the Chicago Bulls blew up their dynasty team at the peak of their powers.

The Bulls won their third straight championship in 1998, and it was their sixth title in the previous eight campaigns. With Michael Jordan only 34 years old, Scottie Pippen just 32, Toni Kukoc a mere 29, and the team's average age of 32.1, the Bulls decided to break up and enter a rebuild.

According to Los Angeles Lakers great Magic Johnson, who faced the Bulls in the 1991 NBA Finals, then-general manager Jerry Krause made a massive mistake in breaking up the Bulls. Magic said Krause wanted to foolishly prove that it's management who makes the calls, not players.

"I think Krause destroyed a dynasty," said Magic. "I think if they were able to keep the team together, give Scottie Pippen his money, keep Michael happy because he was very happy with Scottie and with Phil Jackson as the coach, and he knew he had great role players around him, they would have probably won 10,11,12 championships. They had that type of run in them. But when you start making the superstars unhappy, thinking that management is more important than the guys that play on the basketball court, they get to see a chance to see that it was a great mistake."

The franchise has never been the same since

There were many stories about the Bull's future and how things might pan out for them. Before the 1998 season, Krause clarified that it was Phil Jackson's last year. Even with Jordan telling the world he wouldn't play for another coach, management stood firm with its decision on the Zen Master.

Pippen had been complaining about his contract for years. Although nobody forced Pippen to sign that deal, it was clearly one-sided in favor of the Bulls. They could've reworked his deal after he helped bring the franchise numerous titles as MJ's trusted sidekick. But again, Krause didn't budge.

"The franchise has never been the same since," added Magic. "Rose brought a lot of excitement but he wasn't able to bring the championships to Chicago like Michael Jordan was able to do and so I think that really hurt the franchise even today. I think they made a huge mistake, and they found out who had the real power, whether that's the owner and general manager or the superstar athlete and player, and Michael Jordan showed them he had the power."

MJ felt they could've pushed it further

Jordan received backlash after claiming during The Last Dance documentary that he wanted to run it back in 1999 and chase a 7th NBA championship. Many didn't think the circumstances surrounding the team during that time favored the Bulls. However, in an interview with Michael Wilbon the morning before his Hall of Fame induction in 1999, MJ spoke about pushing it further and possibly chasing Bill Russell's legendary 11 rings.

"We'll take it year by year," Jordan said. "I do believe we could win seven… We'll never know but it's' great for thinking, great for conversations, great for debating. But in my mind, I really believed we could've won seven. And then if we won seven, then, our competitive nature would be 'Just keep going. Let's get to eight, let's get to nine till someone beat us, till I actually lose in the Finals, which never happened."

MJ was already 34 in 1998, so it's highly unlikely he would've caught up with Russell and the Celtics. However, given how good they still were during the 1998 NBA Finals, seven was probably highly probable, with eight and nine still being a possibility. Unfortunately, Krause did not allow the team to chase immortality.