March 8, 2015: 72-10

The best NBA team ever.

The 1995 playoffs did not end the way they were supposed to.  With the return of Michael Jordan to the court late in the regular season, the Bulls were going to storm into the playoffs, get back to the Finals, and win their 4th title in 5 years.  That dream ended vs the Orlando Magic.  Heading into that offseason, that loss had to sting MJ.  The loss the year before in the playoffs after a Hue Hollins horrible call had to sting Pippen.  The Bulls dynasty had been interrupted.  Now, with MJ back 100%, the Bulls were ready to begin the next chapter.

The next chapter would involve some new faces.  No Horace Grant.  No Bill Cartwright.  No John Paxson.  The move that was made in the summer of 1995 was one that I would have never imagined.  Talk about a player that I absolutely hated, Dennis Rodman was acquired from the San Antonio Spurs for Will Perdue.  By the way, this has to go down as one of the best Chicago trades in history.  But Rodman???  From Bad Boy fame, and etched in Bulls fans memories as a player we loved to hate, to brand, spanking new Chicago Bull.  How was this going to work out?  Would he be able to play and get along with MJ and Scottie?  Were we going to be able to get 100% behind him?  Would he be able to erase all the hate and become a player that we absolutely loved?  The answer to all of the above was a resounding YES.

So the stage was set.  With a starting lineup of Ron Harper, MJ, Pip, Rodman, and Luc Longley, and the eventual 6th man of the year in Toni Kukoc, the Bulls were back feeling hungry, and primed to take back what was theirs.  How does a 39-3 record through the first 3 months of the season suit you?  It didn’t take the entire 3 months to know this team was special…  They didn’t lose a game the entire month of January!!!  How about that home record in the house that MJ built, the UC?  Try 39-2.  They didn’t lose their first home game until April.  This team was fricking awesome.

Then on April 16, 1996, in Milwaukee, the Bulls went for history, trying to become the first NBA team ever to reach 70 wins.  Down by 6 entering the 4th quarter, the Bulls outscored the Bucks by 12, notching an 86-80 victory, and a piece of NBA history.  They went on to win 2 of their last 3 games, bringing them to the now famous record of 72-10.

Now that their place in the history books was official, it was time to finish the job.  We couldn’t be the best team in NBA history after winning 72 games only to be knocked out in the playoffs.  Was there really any doubt?
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A 3 games sweep over the Heat, included victories of 17, 31, and 21 points.  Next up was the New York Knicks.  Surely they wouldn’t stand in our way right?  With coach Jeff Van Gundy at the helm, a frontcourt of Ewing, Oakley, and Mason (rest in peace), and a bag boy by the name of John Starks at SG, they would give us a harder time… they won one game.  It was the Bulls in 5… on to the Eastern Conference Finals against none other than the team that eliminated the Bulls the year before…

There would be no Magic this year.  The Bulls dispatched of these one time wonders in 4 straight.  Going against Penny, Shaq, Nick Anderson, and ex-Bull Horace Grant, the Bulls and MJ got that sweet plate of revenge.  You think MJ was thinking about this moment each and every day since that elimination game about a year earlier?  If you know MJ, you know the answer to that.  So an 11-1 march through the Eastern Conference setup a dream NBA FInals matchup.

The Seattle Supersonics weren’t too shabby that year by the way.  They held a 64-18 record.  Led by the Glove, Shawn Kemp, and Detlef Schrempf, they would have been the favorites almost any other year…  The Bulls clocked them by 17 in game 1, and then a close 4 point win in game 2, before heading to the Pacific Northwest for game 3.  That was the best game of the series.  The Bulls absolutely dominated them.  I remember the MJ around the back save of the ball running downcourt and the scoop layup.  I remember Rodman getting into Frank Brickowski’s head… facing him… staring him down while players shot FTs.  An 18 point victory put the Bulls on the brink of #4.  Then the Bulls had to pump the brakes for NBC… throw the Sonics a couple bones, and bring Game 6 back to the UC on Father’s Day.  I would have liked to see them not worry about the ratings and see the Bulls sweep them like they could have, but it was a pretty fitting ending overall, and a 4th NBA title for our Chicago Bulls.

There will NEVER be another team that wins 70 games.  Even in this era of “superstar” teams, where guys are calling each other up, trying to make a super team, it won’t happen.  There is nobody that has the determination, the focus, the drive, to do what this Bulls team did night in and night out for 82 games.  Yeah, 82 fricking games.  Not turn it on for the playoffs…  not take a 2 week vacation in the middle of the season… not rest in back to backs to preserve energy…  not complain about the length of the season…. PLAY HARD EVERY SINGLE GAME FOR THE ENTIRE 82 GAME NBA SEASON.  No, no, nooooobody!

It’s a different world out there… a different generation.  This team was a one of a kind.  Led by the greatest player to ever play the game, with his sidekick that he groomed at the peak of his performance, with a crazy, all out, dirty work, hustle maniac by their side, and oh yeah, the zen master making sure to mix that pot perfectly, it was history.  The 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls basketball team was the greatest NBA team in history.  I love saying those words.  I love knowing that they’re true.  I love that they are ours.  72-10 forever!