It’s that time of year. I’m sure I’ve written about this before, but that’s OK; I can write about this over and over and over… just like Uncle Rico reliving the glory days. Yes, this may be my favorite part about Twitter, when all the old highlights of the Bulls come up on my timeline. On this day, the Bulls did this… on this day, Jordan did this… Yeah, back about 30 years ago, the Bulls and MJ were busy making all-time memories on a regular basis in the NBA playoffs. It’s a good distraction from today’s postseason, where the Bulls are notably absent… again.
April 30 was the first one that came across my timeline recently. Back in 1991, the Bulls were busy putting the finishing touches on the Knicks on their way to their first NBA title. On this particular day, MJ painted one of his most magical pictures. Yes, it was the baseline dunk over Ewing in MSG, after blowing by 3 other Knick defenders. For my money, it doesn’t get any better than this one. There were many, and I mean many, many, many great Jordan dunks, whether it be in-game, regular season, postseason, or in the Slam Dunk competition. I could probably make a top 50 list off the top of my head. But in the spirit of anniversary season, I’ll just watch this dunk another couple times. It’s my favorite dunk of all-time. This day also brought us the Joakim Noah 3OT game against the Celtics in 2009. Yes, there wasn’t a happy ending to that series, or for that Bulls team overall for that matter, but the way those young Bulls battled the #1 seed Celtics… I just knew #7 was coming… OK, let’s keep this upbeat.
May 1 was the day Jordan became the first player to score 50 in back to back playoff games in 1988 vs the Cavs. Ah, the Cavs… MJ loved to torture them. It’s funny… You notice every time a player today turns in a historic performance, they show on the screen the last person to do this… You notice how it’s MJ time and time again, especially in the postseason, his personal stage. He continues to be the gold standard to this day. Everyone is compared to him. You don’t hear anybody being compared to LeBron do you? 6 days later on May 7 in 1989, MJ hit “the Shot” against, yep, the Cavs again. Poor Cleveland… I know that was one city that hated Jordan back in the day.
May 3 was the day Derrick Rose was awarded MVP back in 2011, and in 2015 on May 8, Rose hit the game winner against the Cavs in the playoffs; yes, the Cavs again! Of course, there wasn’t a happy ending to that series, and Rose’s career for that matter. Still, when people want to talk about prime this person, prime that person, I’ll tell you what. Prime D-Rose… was an absolute beast. If only he could have stayed healthy… close to the very top of the list of worst Chicago sports injuries. Hey, I thought we were keeping this upbeat?
Thankfully, the Bulls have provided us of a certain age with many, many great memories. With MJ, we have enough to last us a lifetime. That’s why I can’t be too mad (well, most of the time) about the lack of playoff success since those teams. The Thibs Bulls with Rose and Noah were great for the soul, but unfortunately, did not bring us another banner. When will the next Bulls team come around to do so? Patiently waiting. Go Bulls!
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