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Probably the 97-98 Pacers tbh
Sonics?
Didn't get to catch all the series in depth...
Probably the 97-98 Pacers tbh
Phoenix. Portland was good too. Had a 17-pt 4th quarter lead in Game 6 but blew it. They hold on and they get another Game 7 in their building. Sonics were down 3-0 then the Bulls coasted so they could win at United
Definitely either the Suns or Knicks in '92-'93, imho.... Jazz are up there too....
1999 Spurs. If the Bulls didn't chicken out and disband.
This. 1993 Phoenix Suns for me, but in regards to Portland Games 6 & 7 were in Chicago I believe.
the Jazz got this one imho. Remove bulls from the table and the Jazz would've probably dominated the late 90s pretty much the same way. Jazz complemented the legendary status of the bulls imho
Eh, that Portland team lost in 5 to the Pistons the year before. I'd probably take the 96 Sonics as the best team those Bulls beat. Payton/Hawkins/Schrempf/Kemp was a nasty 1-4 and they won 64 games. On paper though you'd probably say the 93 Suns.
I love the way Malone dominated Brian Grant
http://www.basketball-reference.com/...905270POR.html
I'd say Utah. They got a rematch with Chicago, which they also lost. By that virtue, they should be considered the best team that Chicago has faced en route to a championship.
Also, best team doesn't fall 0-2 at home or go down 0-3.
He only lost because of Jordan
The Utah Jazz should have been the 1996, 1997, and 1998 NBA Champions. Typical fixing of games to allow MJ's Bulls to win the championships that year. I give no credit to Jordan for those les. It was more about Utah losing than Chicago winning those years.
98 Jazz, 97 Pacers
Seriously?
Top of my head the 97-98 pacers and 94-95 Magic
Malone always shriveled up during the biggest moments. Ill always remember him for having 30 pts and like 9 rebs to end the 3rd and finish the game with 34 pts and 11 rebs. Dude was a scrub during money time.
Barkley bless his heart gave it his all against Jordan except he was waaaayyyyy too good and matched his output and then some. He always played his best against Barkley, probably because he sniffed him out as a potential rival. That changed after that series tho.
I'll give Orlando the benefit of the doubt considering there the only team to knock out the Bulls (even though Jordan wasn't really in prime form during this series). too bad that shaq got shat on in the finals by the dream.
As for the Pacers, they pushed the Bulls to the limit, however by this point the Bulls were extremely fatigued/old by the series end. However both Jordans/Pippens will to win against them outmatched the Pacers youth and energy. Pretty sure that Jordan and Pippen combined for something like 12/36 but grabbed like 25+ rebs between the two of them.
Jordan was in a class of his own, its really unfair to label any team as the "best team" because they ultimately all fell short to the greatest player of all time. No shame in that.
Jesus. Sabonis-Wallace-Grant. I forgot how huge that front line was...
In other words, the Bulls never faced a great team in the finals.
utah jazz all day long
This.
All the teams that lost to them in the finals are overrated as
The 1997 and 1998 Western Conference was in a weak transition period. The Payton Sonics and Olajuwon Rockets had peaked and were going downhill, the Barkley Suns were dismantled, and the Drexler Blazers were long gone. Meanwhile the Duncan Spurs and Shaq Lakers hadn't hit their stride yet. It was a fluky two year period the Jazz capitalized on when they previously couldn't get by the Rockets or Sonics. Thus the late 90's Jazz are one of the most overrated teams in the modern era.
We lost to Detroit 2 years before that. We lost to the Lakers in the WCF the year before we played the Bulls. What a shame. That was our best team and we crushed the Bulls twice during the regular season that year.
1992 Portland. That team was badass. Second would have been 1993 Phoenix.
Looking back on some of Jordan's performances in videos, etc. he really isn't all that different from guys like Allen Iverson, Vince Carter, and Tracy McGrady. No disrespect to Jordan. He just wasn't all that great. I think he was just the first NBA player to put the NBA on a worldwide, mainstream, pop culture level. So when we think about Jordan we think about him being the symbol of the NBA on a worldwide level. Doesn't mean he was the best. 6 championships was an accomplishment, but the first 3 were against a Magic Johnson at the end of his career, Clyde Drexler, and Charles Barkley. And it's well known that the 1996-1998 championships were all handed to the Bulls for Stern's agenda.
As with all things, when we look back on them, whether it be athletes, eras, and events, we tend to make things better than they really were. Jordan was a great player, don't get me wrong, and in the Top 5 of all time based on championships, but not the greatest of all time. He was just the main player the NBA marketed. And seriously, who retires from the NBA at 30?
Here's how I rank the 5 greatest NBA players of all time.
1. Magic Johnson
2. Tim Duncan
3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
4. Shaq
5. Michael Jordan
Again, no disrespect to Jordan, I just fail to separate him from Iverson, Vince Carter, and Tracy McGrady when I see videos. Players were just afraid of him. Tim Duncan wouldn't be afraid of Jordan.
Suns, Pacers Sonics or Jazz but I lean towards Suns Chick was the best player on Any of those teams
Sonics. Jazz didn't sniff the finals until the late 90's.
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