Updated May 21st, 2020 at 18:34 IST

Bulls had Playboy models deliver cake to Jazz hotel rooms before the Finals: Antoine Carr

While talking to ESPN about staying in Chicago, Antonie Carr recalled how the Bulls would send Playboy models with cake to distract the players.

Reported by: Devika Pawar
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The Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz faced each other in back-to-back NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998. The Bulls won both the Finals, securing a repeat three-peat while the Jazz are yet to win an NBA title. In a recent interview with ESPN, then-Jazz forward Antoine Carr revealed how the Bulls would try and distract them before the NBA Finals. 

Also read | Scottie Pippen 'beyond livid' at Michael Jordan for negative portrayal in The Last Dance

Bulls used to send Playboy models with cake during Bulls vs Jazz 1998 NBA Finals: Antoine Carr

While talking to ESPN about staying in Chicago, Carr recalled how the Bulls would send Playboy models with cake to distract the players. He explained that late at night before a game, the Playboy models would arrive at their hotel rooms with cake. They would apparently show up in trench coats, present them the cake and then revealed the message which read 'Welcome to Chicago'.

Carr added that if one was a young man who could only think about a beautiful girl a night before the NBA Finals, it was going to 'throw you all the way off'. In the end, Carr revealed that though the technique did not work on him, it was a 'good cake'. He added that it happened more than once and that Chicago was always 'trying to do something'. During the same interview, Carr revealed that the 'toughest part' about playing the Bulls was figuring out how to play and deal with the referees during the same time. He added that if they touched Jordan, they would be fouled. 

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Fans on Twitter commented on Carr's statement, stating that Chicago sent them cake through Playboy models, while Utah sent bad pizza for Michael Jordan. Jordan's food poisoning story from the famous 'Flu Game' went viral after The Last Dance, where people refused to believe that Jordan ate one pizza all by himself. Many Bulls fans, including Jordan's trainer Tim Grover, hinted that the pizza must have been tampered with.

The Last Dance's last two episodes covered both the Jazz championship runs against the Bulls. Carr scored 12 points and four rebounds for during the Bulls vs Jazz 1998 NBA Finals Game 5 and averaged 10.5 points during the final two games even though he scored only four points during the first four games of the series. Over the course of two years, the Jazz played six Finals games in Chicago, out of which they won only one. 

Also read | Bulls vs Jazz 1998 NBA Finals: ESPN Game 6 The Movie to serve as epilogue to The Last Dance

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Published May 21st, 2020 at 18:34 IST