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1996 NBA Champions Chicago Bulls: Record-Setting 72-10

*Originally published on Suite101.com in 2010; minor revisions made pertaining to Search Engine Optimization (SEO). 

Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Phil Jackson led a new cast of characters to the 1996 NBA Championship.

From 1991-1993, the Chicago Bulls were NBA Champions.  Guard Michael Jordan, forward Scottie Pippen, and Coach Phil Jackson headlined a Bulls team that overcame the challenges of teams such as the Detroit Pistons, Cleveland Cavaliers, and New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference and then defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers, and Phoenix Suns from the Western Conference in three consecutive NBA Finals. 

Then, on October 6, 1993, the unthinkable happened: Jordan announced an early, premature retirement from basketball.  Jordan was still coping with his father’s murder during the offseason.  He decided to pursue his childhood dream to play professional baseball, joining the minor league ranks of the Chicago White Sox.  Meanwhile, speculation arose about Jordan’s gambling habits, upon which an NBA investigation revealed no wrongdoing. 
 

Bulls without Jordan 

Without Jordan, the 1993-1994 Bulls had a solid season.  Led by Pippen, Horace Grant, and B.J. Armstrong, the Bulls finished 55-27.  Coach Jackson successfully integrated new players into the team's system, including forward Toni Kukoc from Croatia, guard Steve Kerr, and centers Luc Longley and Bill Wennington.  Pete Myers quietly filled Jordan’s role as starting shooting guard. 

However, Chicago fell to the rival New York Knicks, 4-3, in the 1994 Eastern Conference Semifinals.  This included an incident where Pippen asked out of the final play of Game 3, in which Kukoc hit the game-winning shot on a play designed by Jackson.  Seeing the team’s championship era fading, Grant signed with Shaquille O’Neal and the up-and-coming Orlando Magic.  Guard John Paxson retired after 10 NBA seasons, while Bill Cartwright left to play his final season with the Seattle Supersonics. 


1995: Michael Jordan Is Back

In 1994-1995, the Bulls managed to add star guard Ron Harper, but Harper was no longer the prolific scorer he once was.  He also needed time to adjust to the Bulls’ triangle offense.  At 34-31, the Bulls were scrambling to qualify for the 1995 NBA Playoffs.  Then, the unthinkable happened again. 

A baseball strike had put Michael Jordan’s mediocre baseball career on hold, leaving him free to think about playing basketball again.  On March 19, 1995, Jordan returned wearing #45.  Despite a loss that night to the Indiana Pacers, Jordan led the Bulls to a 13-4 record in their final 17 games.  A 47-35 record gave the Bulls the #5 seed, to which they upset the Charlotte Hornets in the first round.  However, former teammate Grant and Orlando would eliminate Chicago, 4-2, in the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals.   


Bulls Trade for Dennis Rodman, Win 1996 NBA Championship

Recognizing the need for a power forward to fill the void created when Grant left to join the Magic, GM Jerry Krause traded backup center Will Perdue for All-Star forward Dennis Rodman, who had won two championships with the rival Detroit Pistons.  Former All-Star B.J. Armstrong was lost via the 1995 NBA Expansion Draft, so the team also added guard Randy Brown.  Brown joined Steve Kerr and swingman Judd Buechler (who had signed one day after Ron Harper in 1995) on Chicago’s effective bench.  During the season, the Bulls added veteran centers John Salley and James Edwards, who would round out their playoff roster. 

With the NBA Championship in sight, the Bulls finished the 1995-1996 season with a record of 72-10—which is the best regular season record in NBA history.  Jackson was named 1995-1996 NBA Coach of the Year.  Likewise, Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman were all named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team.  The Bulls bulldozed through the playoffs, beating the Miami Heat 3-0 and the Knicks 4-1.  In a highly anticipated rematch with the Magic, the Bulls swept the series, including blowout victories in Games 1 and 3 of the 1996 Eastern Conference Finals. 

In the 1996 NBA Finals, the Bulls remained hot, running out to a 3-0 series lead over the Seattle Supersonics.  However, Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton, and the Sonics would not go down quietly, with Kemp and Payton leading 5 scorers in double figures in Game 4 and 4 double-digit scorers in Game 5 to make the series 3-2.  Despite this valiant effort, Jordan and Pippen led Chicago to a clinching Game 6 victory as the Bulls had 5 double-digit scorers.  Cementing his place as power forward of the new championship era Bulls, Rodman added 9 points, 19 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block. 

While Pippen and Jackson maintained their roles on the 1996 NBA Champion Chicago Bulls, it was again Jordan who received the most recognition, winning MVP honors in the 1996 NBA Finals to go along with his MVP awards from the 1995-1996 NBA regular season and the 1996 All-Star Game.  Together, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Phil Jackson had won again—their fourth NBA Championship in six years—with Dennis Rodman, Toni Kukoc, and a new cast of characters.  As they did with their old cast of characters, Jordan, Pippen, and Jackson won two more championships to complete a second three-peat.  It is difficult to say which of the six championship Chicago Bulls teams was the best, but it is definite that the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls made their way into history as a record-setting team.    


Sources:

Associated Press.  “Bulls general manager Krause resigns.”  April 7, 2003.  SI.com.  Accessed July 5, 2010. 

Basketball-Reference.com.  Accessed July 5, 2010. 

Berkow, Ira.  “Pro Basketball; Disgusted Pippen Sits Down For Game-Winning Play.”  The New York Times.  May 14, 1994.  From NYTimes.com.  Accessed July 5, 2010.   

“Coach of the Year.”  NBA.com.  Accessed July 5, 2010. 

Dykstra, Erika.  “Michael Jordan.”  Part of “Big Shot Boomerangs.”  Fast Company.  October 31, 1999.  From FastCompany.com.  Accessed July 5, 2010.      

“Michael Jordan Career Retrospective.”  NBA.com  Accessed July 5, 2010. 

“NBA Postseason Awards: All-Defensive Teams.”  NBA.com.  Accessed July 5, 2010. 

[Other player profiles.]  NBA.com.  Accessed July 5, 2010. 

Wise, Mike.  “1995 N.B.A. Playoffs; Bulls Burst In the Air As Magic Moves On.”  The New York Times.  May 19, 1995.  From NYTimes.com.  Accessed July 5, 2010.  

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