Hey everyone, sorry it's been a while since I've posted anything, but to be honest I haven't had that much to write about these days. There's just so much that one could complain about, and I didn't want to be one of those people that only write to complain about something they have zero chance in changing. This one's about good times, about good people, and great memories for me.
As has been stated numerous times, I love basketball. It's my favorite sport, it's what I ended up coaching, and it's what I watch, when I can.
These days, the idea that professional basketball could happen for the following season is looking less likely by the day. With the pros signing deals to play in Europe, it's looking like owners and players aren't seeing eye to eye and the fans are going to be the ones that suffer because of the nonsense. Does anyone remember when the NBA was fun, and there were teams that were good because they had the best players, and the idea of money wasn't what made them good, but it was the way the played on the court? I do, it's called the nineties.
This is when the greatest dynasty (my opinion) in professional basketball was dominating the game. Of course I am referring to the Chicago Bulls. It's been a long time since the Bulls were dominant, and for those of us who were privileged to see them, we saw greatness. We saw hope. We saw, Michael Jordan.
For years, the comparisons have been made between Jordan and Kobe, Jordan and Lebron, Lebron and Kobe. I'm sorry, but Michael is a class that stands alone. The man went to the NBA Finals six times, won the title six times, and won MVP of the Finals six times. There is no comparison. From the position of leader, Michael Jordan is far and away better than both of those two men combined. Talent alone, dictates that, but character too. I'm not referring to Michael nowadays where he has let his life spin out of control, but when he was a players, and when he was the standard for excellence.
As good as he was, he was one man, and didn't win the title by himself. He was surrounded by a group of players that no one else wanted, and when they beat the Lakers (YAY!) in 1991, for their first title, little did they know that this was the beginning of what I feel was the greatest dynasty of the modern era. From 1991-1993, the Bulls were hands down, the best team in Basketball. They beat the Lakers, Blazers, and Suns for their first 3-peat and did it with style, class, and more highlights than any of todays teams. The Bulls were a team. Yes they had the greatest player on the planet, but they weren't Michael Jordan and the four guys who pass to him, they were the World Champion Chicago Bulls.
Michael retired in 1993 to play baseball. (Very bad move) but he returned in 1995 the next 3-peat that came for the Bulls was more impressive than the first one. In the 95-96 season they went 72-10, a record for wins that still stands to this day. They lost three games in the post season and won by twenty points in the championship game against the Seattle Sonics. (Or what you might know today as the Oklahoma Thunder) Then, the following year they went 69-13 and beat a very good Utah Jazz team in six games to win the title. Michael even scored 38 points in game five with food poisoning. Are you kidding me? In the clincher, he didn't even score the winning basket. It was a little guy named Steve Kerr, (great name) who hit the shot with four seconds remaining to lift the Bulls over the Jazz. The next season, they went 62-20, and beat the Jazz again in six games to win their third title in a row and sixth overall for the decade. In game 3 they set the record for the biggest margin of victory, beating the Jazz 96-54.
I mean, they are the greatest dynasty the sporting world has ever seen since the Celtics of the 1960s when they won nine in a row. The Bulls passed the ball, played defense, believed in one another, and Phil Jackson, took five men, and seven that no other team wanted and turned them into the greatest show on earth. For three years no matter where they played, it was a sell out crowd. They were cheered wherever they went, and when they won, they won with class. When they lost, they lost with class too.
Was Michael Jordan hard to play with? Probably. The man set impossible standards to measure up to. Was it rewarding to play with Michael Jordan? Do I really need to answer that? If you played with him in that decade, you won a title. It doesn't get any better than that.
Who knows what might have happened to that team had the owners decided not to resign Jordan, Jackson, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman? The Bulls could have become the first time since the Celtics to win four or maybe even five in a row. They were that good and had that much potential.
They reminded me why I loved the game, why I had passion for it, and inspired me to be the best coach I could. I miss those days. I like the game, but I can't say that the league today is better than it was back then. The Players are not the same caliber, at least not all of them, and the style of play isn't the same. I am grateful I grew up in the era of Michael Jordan and the Bulls, and wish so badly that people who are seeing what's going on today could see the game back then for what it was, pure, great, and fun to watch.
Hopefully it can get there again someday, and that we can be treated to a man with the passion and talent of Michael Jordan. Maybe someday.
Until next time
P
