#4
The 1996-97 Chicago Bulls
Regular Season: 69-13 (84.1)
Playoffs: 15-4 (78.9)
Total: 84-17 (83.2)
Award Winners;
Michael Jordan: Finals MVP, 1st Team All-NBA, 1st Team All-Defense, All Star
Scottie Pippen: 2nd Team All-NBA, 1st Team All-Defense, All Star
A couple things stand out about this team. First is just how old they were, with four guys in their starting five being over 30 and the fifth being 28. The other is that they won 69 games and still weren’t as good as the year before! Bill Simmons made the case that the ‘97 team could actually be just as good or better than the ’96 team, because despite their core being a year older and having accomplished everything a team could the year before, they still found the motivation to produce almost as great a season. I’ll have more on the ‘96 Bulls later.
This year’s squad was of course led by shooting guard Michael Jordan, who turned 34 in February and still led the league in scoring with 29.6 points to go with 5.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.7 steals on 48.6/37.4/83.3 shooting. Their second best player was 31 year old small forward Scottie Pippen, who averaged 20.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.9 steals. 35 year old power forward Dennis Rodman was still one of the league’s best rebounders, averaging 16.1 per game. Their sixth man was the 6’10 Croatian small forward Toni Kukoc, who brought 13.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.1 steals in 28.2 minutes a game. Point guard Ron Harper and center Luc Longley rounded out the starting five and Steve Kerr was a dead eye shooter off the bench. The team started off red hot, winning their first 12 games, which was their longest winning streak that year. They were 68 and 10 through their first 78 games, with a chance to tie their NBA record of 72 wins they’d set the year before, but lost three out of their last four games in the closest thing to a slump they’d had all season, for a final record of 69-13.
In the first round of the playoffs, the Bulls met the 44 win Washington Bullets, led by Chris Webber, Juwan Howard and Rod Strickland. Although the series was a three game sweep, games two and three were surprisingly close at 109-104 and 96-95. Jordan had an incredible game two, with 55 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals on 22 of 35 shooting in one of his best games of the playoffs. Kukoc and Rodman both did well in game three; Kukoc had 16 points on 7 shots plus 5 rebounds and two steals, and Rodman had an efficient 14 points, 10 rebounds and a block.
Their next challenge was the much tougher 56 win Atlanta Hawks, featuring Mookie Blaylock, Steve Smith, Christian Laettner, and the 7’2 Congolese center, Dikembe Mutombo. The Bulls took game one, but to the Hawks’ credit they won game two in Chicago, 103-95. Blaylock had 26 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds and 3 steals while shooting 9 for 13. Steve Smith led the scoring with 27 points and Mutombo put up 19 points, 15 rebounds and 2 blocks. The next three games Chicago won by between 9 and 20 points; the biggest win was 100-80 in game three in Atlanta. Jordan had 21 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks in the win.
The NBA was headed into a lower-scoring, more defensive oriented era by the late ‘90s that lasted into the mid 2000s, and that was clear in the ‘97 Eastern Finals. The Bulls faced Pat Riley’s 61 win Miami Heat led by Tim Hardaway and Alonzo Mourning. In game two, the teams combined for just 143 points as the Bulls won 75-68. The Bulls took a 3-0 lead, winning two fairly close games before blowing the Heat out 98-74 in Miami. Jordan was the hero again, scoring 34 points to go with 8 rebounds and a steal on 14 of 25 shooting. The Heat took game four at home but the Bulls closed them out 100-87 to end the series in five.
The Bulls had some formidable competition in the NBA Finals. Their opponents were the 64-18 Utah Jazz, who only lost four games after the All Star break. They were led by 33 year old power forward and League MVP Karl Malone, 34 year old point guard John Stockton, who was one of the best PGs of his generation, and 34 year old two guard Jeff Hornacek. Malone’s often considered one of the best power forwards of all time as well as one of the best players never to win a championship. He peaked late, playing some of his best seasons in the late ‘90s when he was in his mid 30s. At 6’9 and 250, he was built similar to LeBron James, albeit with a different playing style. Stockton and Malone had been teamed up in Utah since ‘85-86 and were one of the NBA’s best duos during the late ‘80s and ‘90s.
Although the Bulls won the series in six, it was one that could’ve gone either way. Game one was a close call in Chicago, with Michael Jordan hitting the game winner to give the Bulls an 84-82 win, and he had 31 points plus 8 rebounds and a steal. Scottie Pippen may have had the best game though, with 27 points, 9 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 steals while shooting 11 of 19, including 3 for 7 on threes. Game two was a bit more comfortable, with the Bulls winning 97-85. Jordan had a huge night, scoring 38 points to go with 13 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 steals on 55% shooting. The next three games were played in Utah and the Jazz won the next two, including a 104-93 win in game three. Malone had a big night, with 37 points, 10 rebounds and 4 steals on 15 of 29 shooting. Stockton also put up 17 points, 12 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and a block.
Game five in Utah, also known as the “Flu Game,” has taken on almost mythic status in Michael Jordan’s career. He played despite suffering from flu like symptoms, and the sweat-covered, visibly exhausted Jordan dropped 38 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and a block and shot 48.1% from the field and was 10 of 12 at the line. It took one of the most memorable performances of MJ’s career, but the Bulls gutted out a 90-88 win and led 3-2 going back to Chicago. Jordan had 39 points in game six along with 4 assists, a steal and a block, and Scottie Pippen put up 23 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals. Steve Kerr was the unlikely hero though, and he scored the last shot of the series, a mid-range jumper from Jordan that put the Bulls up by four with only a few seconds to go, putting the game out of reach for Utah. Jordan was the Finals MVP for the fifth time, averaging 32.3 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 1.2 steals in the series.
The Bulls won their sixth championship in eight seasons in 1998, again defeating the Jazz in six games, with Jordan famously hitting the winning shot and picking up yet another Finals MVP. And then everything shit the bed at once. It wasn’t like the Celtics and Lakers of the ‘80s who went into a slow decline until eventually fading away in the ‘90s. After the ‘98 season, head coach Phil Jackson retired (or was forced out by management), and since Michael Jordan didn’t want to play for anyone but Jackson, he retired for the second time. He returned to basketball in 2001, playing for the team he was now part-owner of, the Washington Wizards. He played two more All Star seasons in DC, averaging over 20 points both years before retiring for the third and final time at age 40 in 2003.
Scottie Pippen was traded during the lockout-lengthened off-season (that lasted until early February of ’99) to the Houston Rockets for Roy Rogers and a second round draft pick. Rogers was released by Chicago before ever playing a game for them. Dennis Rodman was released by the Bulls in January of ‘99 and signed with the Lakers a month later. Center Luc Longley was traded to the Phoenix Suns for three players and a draft pick, which was later used to select Ron Artest, but go figure, he too was traded during the 2002 season. Steve Kerr was traded as well in January ‘99 to the San Antonio Spurs, where he’d win two more championships. In exchange for Kerr, the Bulls got Chuck Person, who somehow signed with the Charlotte Hornets five days later. I’m not sure how that happened.
All that was left of of the Bulls championship core was Toni Kukoc and Ron Harper, and they went just 13-37 in 1999’s 50 game season. Many opponents relished the chance to beat the team that’d terrorized them throughout the decade. As someone who was a kid in the ‘90s, when Michael Jordan and the Bulls defined basketball, it was weird when they suddenly sucked. It wasn’t until the Derrick Rose era that Chicago got close to contention again.
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