1st 3 peat. Lakers had Magic with aids and, no Kareem. Drexler by himself. Then Barkley, and Kevin Johnson. 1995 Eatsern Conference Finals MJ choked on a key play in Game 6 and lost to Shaq and Penny. Oh MJ was rusty right? He dropped two 50 point games prior to that series. They desperately needed Rodman's help.
Rodman's offensive rebounding won the following 1996 series, most long time Bulls fans agree.
Jordan not only shot terribly from the field, he was absolute shit in the fourth quarters too (shot 33.3% in them, and only 15.4% in the fourth quarters of the three close games). In the two close wins of the series, Rodman averaged 11 offensive rebounds/game. He was setting records, and when MJ was shooting the team out of the game with bricks (rest of the team struggled shooting wise too), it was Rodman getting all those rebounds to give Bulls the extra possessions. Bulls as a team shot much lower than Sonics in that series...why do you think they still won? They got 34 more possessions from offensive rebounds (Rodman alone had 41!). MJ's scoring could have been replaced in that series, but Rodman's historic offensive rebounding? Not so much.
Rodman should have been the MVP of that Finals. The Bulls shot much worse from the field than the Sonics in the Finals but still won. How did that happen? Simple. The Bulls got more shot opportunities from offensive rebounds basically negating many of their misses. Rodman, by himself, secured and additional 41 possessions for the Bulls with his offensive rebounding including 2 games where he tied an NBA Finals record. That's like playing H-O-R-S-E and someone giving you multiple "do overs" after you've missed.
Jordan didn't have to contend with a generation behind him - go look at the drafts from '86-'95; there was very little top-end talent entering the league and a good number of 'em were on the Bulls.
Payton was injured in the NBA Finals in 1996. Horace Grant was also very underappreciated as a Bull, a key in the Magic beating the Bulls in '95, and injured in Game 1 in '96. Also, while people give Jordan credit for the titles he didn't win because he quit on his team (twice & Pippen stood tall without Jordan), they also don't factor in the extra wear and tear those years would've put on him in the later years, probably costing him a couple titles on the back end.
He also didn't have to exist in a social media world - he was prickly with the media and always felt maligned, even by the mostly flattering "The Jordan Rules" - imagine him exposed to the comments and 24-hour sports news cycle of today. He's a notoriously terrible talent evaluator - imagine if the Bulls had felt compelled to pick the players he wanted. We all know he didn't want Scottie Pippen; imagine if he had to play GM and coach and SG. Or if the Bulls weren't able to lock Scottie Pippen into a now-impossible ridiculously low contract. Jordan has a grand total of 1 playoff GAME win without Pippen. Jordan also played in a watered-down league as the NBA expanded from 23 teams to 30, and the West was the deeper conference back then.
So basically when Jordan was winding down his prime, all his competition was ALSO winding down theirs, and most were even older than he was. LeBron, meanwhile, has had to play his last two Finals against TWO league MVPs in their prime that partnered up while his "superstar" teammates are both guys who have won a total of zero playoff games without him.
LBJ's a pass first player. 10k+ assists 10k+ boards 30k+ points will NEVER be done again. LBJ GOAT no question. Bigger, stronger, faster. Rings are a team achievement, not an individual accomplishment. Facts.
Rodman's offensive rebounding won the following 1996 series, most long time Bulls fans agree.
Jordan not only shot terribly from the field, he was absolute shit in the fourth quarters too (shot 33.3% in them, and only 15.4% in the fourth quarters of the three close games). In the two close wins of the series, Rodman averaged 11 offensive rebounds/game. He was setting records, and when MJ was shooting the team out of the game with bricks (rest of the team struggled shooting wise too), it was Rodman getting all those rebounds to give Bulls the extra possessions. Bulls as a team shot much lower than Sonics in that series...why do you think they still won? They got 34 more possessions from offensive rebounds (Rodman alone had 41!). MJ's scoring could have been replaced in that series, but Rodman's historic offensive rebounding? Not so much.
Rodman should have been the MVP of that Finals. The Bulls shot much worse from the field than the Sonics in the Finals but still won. How did that happen? Simple. The Bulls got more shot opportunities from offensive rebounds basically negating many of their misses. Rodman, by himself, secured and additional 41 possessions for the Bulls with his offensive rebounding including 2 games where he tied an NBA Finals record. That's like playing H-O-R-S-E and someone giving you multiple "do overs" after you've missed.
Jordan didn't have to contend with a generation behind him - go look at the drafts from '86-'95; there was very little top-end talent entering the league and a good number of 'em were on the Bulls.
Payton was injured in the NBA Finals in 1996. Horace Grant was also very underappreciated as a Bull, a key in the Magic beating the Bulls in '95, and injured in Game 1 in '96. Also, while people give Jordan credit for the titles he didn't win because he quit on his team (twice & Pippen stood tall without Jordan), they also don't factor in the extra wear and tear those years would've put on him in the later years, probably costing him a couple titles on the back end.
He also didn't have to exist in a social media world - he was prickly with the media and always felt maligned, even by the mostly flattering "The Jordan Rules" - imagine him exposed to the comments and 24-hour sports news cycle of today. He's a notoriously terrible talent evaluator - imagine if the Bulls had felt compelled to pick the players he wanted. We all know he didn't want Scottie Pippen; imagine if he had to play GM and coach and SG. Or if the Bulls weren't able to lock Scottie Pippen into a now-impossible ridiculously low contract. Jordan has a grand total of 1 playoff GAME win without Pippen. Jordan also played in a watered-down league as the NBA expanded from 23 teams to 30, and the West was the deeper conference back then.
So basically when Jordan was winding down his prime, all his competition was ALSO winding down theirs, and most were even older than he was. LeBron, meanwhile, has had to play his last two Finals against TWO league MVPs in their prime that partnered up while his "superstar" teammates are both guys who have won a total of zero playoff games without him.
LBJ's a pass first player. 10k+ assists 10k+ boards 30k+ points will NEVER be done again. LBJ GOAT no question. Bigger, stronger, faster. Rings are a team achievement, not an individual accomplishment. Facts.
We still lead the NBA in off court injuries 