CAN THE BULLS STAY TOGETHER? : NBA CHAMPIONS MUST KEEP JORDAN, RODMAN AND JACKSON TO REPEAT.

Byline: Mike Nadel Associated Press 

There never has been a team quite like these Chicago Bulls, and the coming months will determine if there will be another anytime soon.

Can the Bulls uphold the NBA's decade-long tradition of repeating as champions? The answer is obvious: Yes, if Michael Jordan is still scoring, if Dennis Rodman is still rebounding and if Phil Jackson is still running the show from the sideline.

They were the three main cogs as Chicago won an incredible 87 of the team's 100 games. And only by retaining them can the Bulls hope to come close to duplicating their dream season.

``I don't do promises of repeats,'' Jordan said Sunday after the Bulls wrapped up the title with an 87-75 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics. ``I'd like to see us together so we can win another championship.''

That would be typical NBA. The Lakers won in 1987 and again in '88. The Detroit Pistons won in 1989 and again in '90. The Bulls won in 1991 and again in '92 and '93. The Houston Rockets won in 1994 and again in '95. Can the Bulls make it two in a row and five in seven years?

``Great players, led by the greatest player that ever played this game and the greatest coach in the league,'' was how Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf described the Bulls immediately after the game to a sellout crowd at the United Center and an international television audience. ``Obviously, we want to keep this team together if we possibly can.''

Jordan's future probably won't be decided for months. His agent, David Falk, represents most big-name free agents on the market this summer and has said he wants to save Jordan's contract for last. Falk also said Jordan's stated demand for a two-year, $36 million contract was absurd - as in absurdly low.

He might be right.

All Jordan did this season was win an unprecedented eighth scoring title, turn an MVP triple play (NBA Finals, regular season, All-Star Game), lead the Bulls to the best regular-season record ever (72-10), reaffirm his status as the best player of his era and conduct perhaps the greatest return from retirement in sports history.

He doesn't want his Chicago career to end now.

``I'm very positive. I believe we'll be back,'' Jordan said. ``We. I did say we. That includes Phil (Jackson) and hopefully Dennis (Rodman).''

With the draft approaching and with many other plans to be made, the Bulls must come to terms with Jackson soon or decide to go in a new direction. The Bulls have offered him $1.65 million, about twice what he made this season but about half of what untested John Calipari will receive from the New Jersey Nets.

Jackson, the NBA's career winning-percentage leader, wants closer to Calipari's salary, and put more and more pressure on Reinsdorf as the season progressed.

With the sellout crowd of 24,544 still cheering wildly after the Bulls won Sunday, Jackson said over the public-address system: ``If management wants me back, I'll be back.''

Jordan, who has said he would strongly consider leaving if Jackson goes, credited the coach for most of the Bulls' success. While guiding a team with Chicago's talent might seem simple, it couldn't possibly have been easy dealing with the egos and divergent agendas of Jordan, Rodman, Scottie Pippen, Toni Kukoc, Ron Harper and others.

``As far as wanting to come back, who wants to go through this again?'' said Jackson, who was named NBA coach of the year. ``This is a little insane. The playoffs, the energy level, the duress on the personal life and the professional.

``But I've committed to some players on this team and that's why I feel confident I'll be back.''

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Photo: (color) Michael Jordan celebrates after the Bulls' f ourth championship.

Associated Press