Sports fans are an odd bunch. When you've lived through an era, you tend to romanticize it as "the good ol' days." But Bulls fans are different. Bulls fans tend to lean towards the negative and to be fair, there haven't been many positives since the Jordan era ended. But the one bright spot in recent Chicago Bulls history is from 2010-2015 when Tom Thibodeau was at the helm of the Chicago Bulls. Yet, one of my favorite Bulls media personalities, "See Red" Fred Pfeiffer, recently declared Tom Thibodeau second on his seven most overrated Chicago Bulls of all-time. Fred, who is sometimes delusional in his Chicago Bulls optimism, has been on the attack for several years in regards to Thibs' time with the Bulls. Was Thibodeau really overrated? Did Thibs run his players into the ground? Was Thibs unwilling to shift into the modern era? Let's answer each question individually. Was Thibodeau Really Overrated?To me, this is an easy question to answer. Tom Thibodeau won nearly 65% of his games as Chicago Bulls coach per basketball-reference.com. His record was 255-139 and the Bulls were 23-28 in the Playoffs. This is notable because during Thibs' tenure, then-Bulls star Derrick Rose played 181 out of a possible 394 games and 34 of the Bulls' 51 playoff games. During Thibs' tenure, several individual Bulls saw success: Derrick Rose famously won MVP in the 2010-2011 season, but under Thibodeau Luol Deng, Jimmy Butler, Derrick Rose, and Joakim Noah all made their first All-Star appearances while Pau Gasol also made the All-Star team at age 34. Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah made their only appearance on the All-NBA First Team under Thibodeau while Pau Gasol made All-NBA Second Team for the last time under Thibs. Jimmy Butler (2x), Luol Deng, and Joakim Noah (3x) all made All-Defense Team under Thibs. And let's not forget, Joakim Noah finished 5th in MVP voting during the 2013-2014 season after refusing to let the Bulls tank. Are all these accolades a product of pure talent or Thibodeau's coaching? Obviously, a bit of both, but it's hard to discredit Thibodeau for helping develop these players into All-Star talent and bringing this group together as a perennial contender. One of the frequent criticisms of Tom Thibodeau was his seemingly archaic offensive system. During Thibs' tenure, the Bulls placed 11th, 5th, 23rd, 28th, and 11th in Offensive Rating. After Thibodeau's dismissal, Bulls management hailed incoming head coach Fred Hoiberg as the missing piece to a Bulls championship. The Bulls went 42-40 the next season, missing the playoffs, and had a putrid offensive rating of 23rd with essentially the same roster as the year before minus an injured Joakim Noah. It was reported at the time that the Bulls tried utilizing some of Thibs' offensive sets to help some of the veterans be more comfortable in the offense. In reality, the Bulls were a Tom Thibodeau away from appearing in the lottery, not a missing piece from a championship. Did Thibodeau Really Run Players Into The Ground?This is the most frequent criticism of Tom Thibodeau. If you weren't there for this era, you have to understand something first: "Load management" was not a thing in 2010. In fact, I don't really remember anyone wondering about how many minutes a guy played until Kobe Bryant infamously tore his achilles tendon after then coach Mike D'Antoni played him big stretches in the lock-out shortened 2011-2012 season. Even after that, the science on minutes and it's correlation to injuries was murky at best. Now, in 2020, it's considered standard practice to monitor stars' minutes. In the 2010-2011 season, the league leader in minutes per game was Monta Ellis at 40.3 mpg, then Rudy Gay at 39.9 mpg, LaMarcus Aldridge at 39.6, fourth was Luol Deng of the Chicago Bulls at 39.1 mpg, and fifth was Kevin Durant at 38.9 mpg. In 2011-2012, Deng was the league leader in minutes per game at 39.4, followed by Kevin Love at 39 mpg, Durant at 38.6 mpg, Kobe Bryant at 38.5 mpg, and Dwight Howard at 38.3. In 2012-2013, Deng led the league at 38.7 mpg, Kobe Bryant and Damian Lillard were tied at 38.6 mpg, then Kevin Durant and Nicolas Batum were tied for fourth at 38.5 mpg. In the 2013-2014 season, Carmelo Anthony and Jimmy Butler of the Bulls tied for first place at 38.7 mpg, Durant was third at 38.5 mpg, DeMar DeRozan was fourth at 38.2 mpg, and James Harden was fifth at 38 mpg. In Thibodeau's final season in 2014-2015, Butler led the league again at 38.7, Harden was second at 36.8, Kyrie Irving was third at 36.4, Andrew Wiggins was fourth at 36.2, and LeBron James was fifth at 36.1. I tell you all of that to say this: The biggest gap between one of Thibs' men (Butler in 2014-2015) and the next place is 1.9 mpg. Through an 82 game season, you're talking about 155.8 minutes or roughly 3 1/4 games. Was it really that brutal to average that many minutes per game? There are some egregious examples like Joakim Noah playing 48 minutes in game 82 against Charlotte in the 2013-2014 season with a bad knee. It was egregious because the game was literally meaningless and wouldn't improve or decrease their position in the playoffs so why burn out your star? Many people point to Jimmy Butler's 60 minute night against Orlando in triple overtime. Is that unreasonable to play one of your best players in three overtimes trying to win a game, especially when that player is only 24 years-old? Also, the Bulls finished with 48 wins that season, but #7 Charlotte won 43 games that year. One game in January might be the difference in making or missing the playoffs. Others point to Derrick Rose being in at the end of a blow-out in Philadelphia in the 2012 Playoffs and Rose tearing his ACL. Since then, I've seen Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich, and Brad Stevens do similar things in playoff blowouts, but nobody questions them. The minutes argument simply isn't as ridiculous as you're being led to believe. The league began changing on largely unproven science to that point and some decided to be cautious while most didn't. Also, the Bulls generally played at a slower pace and Thibodeau frequently pointed out to the media that he had been around the league long enough to know how to pace a team. To me, the minutes per game are justified though some individual games should be pointed out as questionable. Was Thibs Unwilling To Shift Into The Modern Era?Many people point out that Tom Thibodeau was stuck in his ways and didn't want to play with pace and space. I think the reasoning behind Thibodeau's decision-making was proved in Hoiberg's first year as Bulls coach with the same core: The Bulls were 15th in PACE, but only 23rd in Offensive Rating. The year before with Thibodeau, they were 23rd in PACE, but 11th in Offensive Rating. In Thibs' final season, the Bulls actually averaged 22 threes per game and shot only 35%. In Hoiberg's first year, they only averaged 21 threes per game and shot 37.1%. In 2013, it was reported that Taj Gibson would be shooting more threes at the request of the coaching staff and then after Thibodeau's dismissal, Zach Lowe casually mentioned on a podcast that Thibs had told him that they wanted Taj Gibson to shoot corner threes, but he just never felt comfortable in games (we eventually saw Gibson shooting threes in Minnesota under Thibodeau). Thibodeau wasn't ignorant of where the league was going, but with the personnel that he had, they had to play a certain way to win. We saw evidence of this in Minnesota. In the 2016-2017 season, the Timberwolves were 25th in PACE, 10th in Offensive Rating, and shot 21 threes per game at 36.6%. In the 2017-2018 season, they were 24th in PACE, 4th in Offensive Rating, and shot 22.5 threes per game at 35.7%,. In his final season thru 40 games, they were 12th in PACE, 14th in Offensive Rating, and 28.5 threes per game at 35.6%. The Timberwolves and Thibodeau evolved, but what was always certain about Thibs is that he would play whatever way that would win them the most games. Both Chicago and Minnesota saw evidence of this. The Bulls made their only Eastern Conference Finals appearance since the Jordan era while Minnesota snapped a 13 year drought by making the Playoffs under Thibs. Thibodeau has the second highest winning percentage in Chicago Bulls franchise history (under Phil Jackson obviously) and the second highest winning percentage in Timberwolves franchise history (under Flip Saunders). Overrated isn't the word I would use to describe Tom Thibodeau. The word I'd use is successful.
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The image above feels like it's photoshopped, but it's not. It's reality, but it's bizarre. For years, we watched Derrick Rose and our beloved Bulls fight against LeBron James. Whether LeBron was with the Cavaliers or the Miami Heat, the goal remained the same for Rose's Bulls: Overcome LeBron James. He was the roadblock in the Eastern Conference and he was the rival. Both of LeBron's teams had history with Jordan's Bulls, but it always felt like this rivalry was LeBron vs. the Bulls. He always got the better of us. Now, Derrick Rose plays with LeBron James in Cleveland and it's difficult to process.
When the Bulls traded Derrick Rose last year, I wasn't exactly heartbroken. Some fans were and they proclaimed that he was their guy and they would keep supporting him. Forgive me, but I'd rather eat a roach infested cake out of a dumpster than cheer for the New York Knicks in any fashion (except for the movie "Eddie"). Rose was gone, the Rose-era was dead, and the Bulls were moving on. Then allegations started to surface suggesting Derrick Rose was a rapist and Bulls fans were blown away. Fortunately, a jury found the claims of the woman against Derrick Rose were not credible and the controversy was over, but Bulls fans were asking, "How could this humble kid born and raised in Chicago be this way?" For residents of Chicago, it was similar to the shock the world faced when the allegations against Bill Cosby began to surface. "Cliff Huxtable?! The ideal TV dad?! This can't be!" This was DERRICK ROSE. The guy everyone felt bad for because of the injuries, the guy the entire NBA fanbase cheered for because he was a special player. We thought we knew him. Personally, I became disgusted by him and refused to even so much as tweet about him at all. I didn't watch him play except for the few games he played against the Bulls and I ignored the Knicks completely. This guy was Chicago's hero and it wasn't supposed to be this way. It was supposed to lead to championship parades at Grant Park, the coveted #1 hanging up alongside Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, and more banners being hung in the United Center celebrating our 7th and 8th championships. It never happened. Rose's ACL exploded and NBA history changed forever. I wrote about it in detail here. This past summer, Derrick Rose entered free agency and it seems like no offers came his way. He eventually signed for the veteran's minimum, around $3 million, to play with LeBron James and the Cavaliers. It's bizarre to see him in those colors. That #1 that so many of us have in our closets, that we wore to so many Bulls games, that we loved seeing on the court is now in wine and gold playing alongside LeBron James. It wasn't supposed to be like this. But Rose's new jersey also came with a new Derrick Rose. Watching him on the court, you can tell that his personality has changed and possibly for the better. He doesn't look burdened down by the expectation that he is the franchise and that he has a giant contract so he needs to produce. He looks relaxed, his hair is different (and still taking some getting used to), and he looks like he's happy to be playing basketball again. I find myself reluctantly pulling for him to have a great season and not relinquish that starting role to Isaiah Thomas. You can see glimmers of the former MVP on the court. Last night against the Bulls, he drove to the rim, switched hands, and laid it in. It perfectly encapsulated everything that Derrick Rose was at his peak: Fast, amazing handles, and the ability to finish beautifully at the rim. It was vintage Derrick Rose. I've forgiven him for the ACL tear, even though it wasn't his fault. I've forgiven him for not returning late in the 2012-2013 season as fans were frantically checking Twitter day after day hoping to get a glimpse of our fallen MVP. I've forgiven him for not fully returning to MVP form - who could after that many injuries? I've forgiven him for not totally meshing with Jimmy Butler, even if that never really made sense. I've forgiven him for not bringing home a championship. None of these things were his fault, but for some reason I held it against him and pinned the blame on him. I've finally forgiven Derrick Rose and now I can enjoy watching him play basketball again. Michael Jordan had many defining moments in his NBA career, but few were as surreal as "the move." Jordan had several memorable highlights throughout his first six seasons in the NBA - some unbelievable dunks, 63 points against the Boston Celtics, and the shot on Craig Ehlo - but great players come up big in the Eastern Conference Finals or the NBA Finals. They had those memorable shots or plays that future generations look back on and think, "That was unbelievable." Magic Johnson cemented his legacy with the baby sky hook against the Celtics. Willis Reed became an icon by hobbling out of the tunnel to play in game 7 of the Finals. Larry Bird stole the ball and gave it up to Dennis Johnson for a layup against the Pistons. Julius Erving had the surreal up and under layup where he literally brought the ball behind the backboard and on the other side of the rim. In Michael Jordan's first NBA Finals, he placed himself in that pantheon with the rest of the NBA's legends and cemented his place as an all-time great. The 1991 Finals started off rough for the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls dropped game 1 after Sam Perkins hit a game winning three at Chicago Stadium. The Bulls had to rebound strong and they came prepared in game 2. The game was close for about two and a half quarters before the Bulls broke it open. The Bulls wanted and needed to finish strong and with 8 minutes left to go in the game, the score was 95-71. The Bulls were in control, but something about it still felt uneasy. These were Magic and the Lakers and the Bulls were still largely unproven. It felt like something needed to be done to assert their dominance over the Lakers and for Jordan and the Bulls to make a statement. Then it happened: I've seen the clip a hundred times and it's incredible each time, but when I watched the game for the first time, I didn't know when it happened and it sneaks up on you. Jordan does this move so fast and so effortlessly that it catches you off guard. The first time I watched it in the actual game, he did it and I just froze. My brain had to catch up and comprehend what I had just watched. Again, I'd seen this clip hundreds of times and still seeing it in live action was just incredible. Jordan takes off and I think he thought someone was coming over to try and alter the shot, but instead Perkins, James Worthy, and Vlade Divac just stand there in awe of what they're witnessing. No one comes to contest it and Jordan, preparing for the shot to be challenged, switches hands and lays it in with the other hand. Phil Jackson's reaction is wonderful, like he can't believe what he's seeing. Scott Williams raises both arms in the air as he backpedals down court and Cliff Levingston makes sure he runs over and celebrates with Jordan as the Lakers call timeout. The play made Chicago Stadium explode and asserted the Bulls' dominance over the Los Angeles Lakers. It was the first memorable Finals moment for Michael Jordan and a play that we see during every NBA Finals. It is iconic and a timeless classic. It was the moment that Michael Jordan and the Bulls became iconic and a team for the ages. You've seen this clip a million times: Nick Anderson stole the ball from a rusty Michael Jordan wearing #45. Nick Anderson told reporters after the game: "No. 45 doesn't explode like No. 23 used to. No. 45 is not No. 23. I couldn't have done that to No. 23." The very next game, Michael Jordan returned to his old number 23, but simply throwing on what seemed like a retro jersey wouldn't be enough for the Bulls. The Magic defeated them 4-2 and sent the Bulls into an offseason full of doubt. There was plenty of reason for doubt. In the 17 games he played in the 1994-1995 season, Jordan only averaged 26.9 points per game, 6.9 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.8 steals while shooting a career worst 41.1% from the field. Yes, those numbers on the surface are fine for any other player, but this was Michael Jordan! The greatest player of all-time, the man who seemed unstoppable just a season and a half prior, but now he seemed human. Sure, we saw flashes of his brilliance: The Double Nickel at Madison Square Garden, rattling off 32 points at the Omni against Atlanta (18 in the 3rd quarter) and a buzzer beater. But we didn't see it consistently. He did pick it up in the Playoffs, averaging 31.5 points per game, 6.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.3 steals, 1.4 blocks, and shot 48.4% from the field, but he also averaged a career worst 4.1 turnovers per game in the postseason and his Playoff PER is the second lowest of his career other than his rookie season (24.8). Also, the Bulls lost for the first time in their dynasty. Were they too old? Could Jordan ever regain his magic? Local media was asking the same questions: "That is the challenge," he [Jordan] says. "It's a whole new beginning." I am afraid it is not. I am afraid that it is a story as old as time. Here is the truth. Jordan's hour has passed, as did Wilt's and Oscar's and Dr. J's, as did Bird's and Magic's. This is just the way it is. What was obvious between the Bulls and Orlando, between the Bulls and Charlotte for that matter, is the hunger and the wonder." "Oh, Jordan's skills are still considerable and he can have moments of rare spectacle, but not 82 games, not 164 games, not however many games Jordan has left as a Bull are enough to redo what was." "Pippen and Jordan are enough if they were only 25 again. But they are not. And there is not enough time and maybe neither enough commitment nor front office genius to figure this out before Jordan is gone again. This is what awaits him. Jordan is going to be the marquee attraction he always was. The United Center will fill and the Bulls will trot Jordan in and out of arenas around the league to be admired and to be remembered, kind of a living museum piece. But the league will belong to another generation, for worse or better. The next couple of years will be the farewell tour Jordan never had. Whether he will settle for that, only he knows. This was worth doing, this comeback of his, for now we know and so he does he what a brave thing it truly was. "Maybe expectations were too high," Jordan says. Impossible." - Bernie Lincicome. Chicago Tribune. May 21, 1995 Here's another Chicago Tribune article from Melissa Isaacson that mentions the possibility of trades and rebuilding. There was doubt that the Bulls could ever be those Bulls again, that Jordan's time had passed, and the new generation was about to assert its place in NBA lore. However, Michael Jordan wasn't ready to relinquish his throne just yet. The 1995-1996 season began with a bang from MJ. The Bulls started 5-0 and Jordan was reflective of his usual self averaging 32 points per game, 3.6 rebounds, 5 assists, 1.6 steals, 1.6 turnovers, and shooting a fiery 53.3% from the field, 45.5 from 3pt, and 85.7% from the free-throw line. No longer was Jordan's athletic ability his greatest weapon. Instead, his mind was and the results were evident: He picked spots more often of when and where he would attack the rim, he utilized his jumper more often, he was posting up more frequently and had become a master at it. He was mentally picking guys apart and destroying them on the court. Watch the video below and notice how much different this Michael Jordan looked than the one we are accustomed to before the 1995-1996 season: As Michael Jordan had done many times before, he had silenced his critics, he erased doubts of his and the Bulls demise, and began his path towards one of the most magnificent seasons in NBA history. The media has conditioned us to believe that guys who score 30 points a game, sell jerseys, and generally talk the talk are superstars. That’s why so many fans drool over the Carmelo Anthonys and Kevin Loves, even if they have never had any real NBA success outside of Carmelo’s Nuggets making the 2009 Western Conference Finals. There are guys that fall below the radar, but in reality are superstars and unless you’re a basketball nerd, you’d never really know it. Will and I have been really hard on Joakim Noah this season. He started off this season in a malaise. We openly wondered on Twitter if he had pulled a Kevin McHale. If you're not familiar with what we're talking about, McHale played the 1986 playoffs and into the Finals on a broken ankle and just never looked the same afterwards. We wondered if Joakim Noah had gutted out that Brooklyn Nets series last year in the playoffs and subsequently, the series against Miami and we weren't going to see that same guy anymore. Noah has taken that thought, slammed it in our faces, and made us eat our words. I couldn't be happier. Recently, Chad Ford of ESPN caused a stir by saying there were rumors that Joakim Noah is on the trade block. Immediately, I brushed it off and addressed it on Twitter. Frankly depending on how you look at it, Joakim Noah might be the best center in the National Basketball Association. Sounds absurd doesn't it? I decided to research it and used many different criteria: Raw stats, field goals made that were assisted and not assisted, field goal percentages from every area on the court, percentages of rebounds they get, Player Impact Estimate, how many 2nd chance and points they score in the paint, how many points their opponents score in the paint, All-Star Appearances, Defensive Player of the Year Awards, All NBA Defensive Team mentions, All-NBA mentions, and advanced metrics such as opponents field goal percentage at the rim and percentage of rebounds per chance. I ran these numbers for Joakim Noah, Roy Hibbert, Andre Drummond, Dwight Howard, Marc Gasol, Tyson Chandler, and Brook Lopez - the 7 best NBA centers I could think of and you know what I noticed? There's not a center on that list that I would take over Joakim Noah. His skills take a backseat to no other center in the NBA. He's been unreal the last 10 games, averaging 13.7 points, 13.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 2 blocks, and 1.3 steals in 36 minutes per game. His field goal percentage has been low - 44%, but he's getting to the line almost 6 times a game and shooting 76% from there. The Bulls are 7-3 in that stretch. They just came off of a 5 game winning streak and Noah is the catalyst. Fans keep begging for Gar Forman and John Paxson to find that second star. The Bulls have that second star and his name is Joakim Noah. What he does on the basketball court is unmatched. Watch the following videos and tell me there's any other big men that can do what he's doing. The first is from 2009 and is a famous highlight from the playoffs when he stole the ball from Paul Pierce, went the length of the court, and slammed it: The next one is from 2011-2012 and a game against the Hawks. The Bulls have run this play successfully numerous times, including this year, but Deng missed the layup. Remember, Derrick Rose was healthy and on fire in this game, but Thibs draws up this play for Noah and Deng: Watch these next two videos and keep in mind this is your CENTER throwing alley-oops to your POWER FORWARD: Bulls fans, we need to stop looking at Joakim Noah as this all-world energy guy and cheerleader and remember he's a phenomenal basketball player on both ends. He's a legitimate triple-double threat every night, he plays with passion and energy, he's one of the top 3 centers in the NBA in my opinion, and the Bulls are fortunate to have him. He's not some trade piece that can get us another star. He IS a star and he may not be what ESPN wants us to believe a star is, but he's a winner, he's a force in the paint, and he's a leader. What more can you ask for from a star? I still remember sitting in my recliner. The Bulls had an early tip and I settled in to enjoy the beginning of what looked to be a championship run. The game was chippy. There were shenanigans with Evan Turner running his mouth leading up to the game and I remember Boozer and Evan Turner getting into it and Derrick Rose running up and clapping with intensity and defiance in their face. The Bulls were dominant. Derrick Rose was dominant. I couldn't believe this was the same guy I had saw in person three days prior in Indianapolis. That guy finished with only 10 points and 7 assists. That guy looked passive and like he was trying to play hurt. But this Derrick Rose dropped 23/9/9 for a near triple double on the 76ers. This Derrick Rose had intensity and looked like he wanted another piece of LeBron James and the Miami Heat. This team looked ready to make that leap and they looked like they were a legitimate championship team. But then it all came crashing down. My wife came in mere minutes before. She was pregnant with our fourth child at the time and was at a training that day. She brought me a thoughtful gift - one I wrote about somewhat jokingly as being a cursed figurine - Little Scottie Pippen. I have him in a box downstairs and I don't even look at it anymore. It just reminds me of that one play: I went from being on top of the world and feeling excited to feeling like someone had just dropkicked my dog into the middle of a busy highway. I was just sick. Here was our star, the youngest MVP in NBA history, and the most dynamic player the Bulls had in years if not a decade lying on the ground in obvious agony. I remember all the optimism running through my brain. "He didn't twist his knee. He probably just hyperextended it. I'm sure he'll be back in Game 2, but maybe a little slowed. I doubt it's serious." But realistically, it was obvious this was something more ominous. The United Center went deathly silent. Doug Collins, the opposing coach, was one of the closest near Rose and went to check on him. Everyone was shocked and concerned for this young kid. Not long after Game 1 we learned that it was indeed a torn ACL and Derrick Rose was done for the Playoffs. The ripple effect of this injury remains to this day. NBA history was irrevocably altered. Does LeBron James actually win that first title in 2012 or do the Bulls prevent them making their second Finals? What if Derrick Rose remained "Jordan" to Jimmy Butler's "Pippen?" Do the Bulls then have a potential dynasty in the making? The Bulls took Marquis Teague in the 2012 draft because of the uncertainty of Derrick Rose's recovery. What if Gar/Pax listened to Thibodeau, who allegedly wanted Draymond Green at the time, and didn't have to worry about potentially placing Rose? What if Derrick Rose continued being the All-Star caliber player he was? What if the Bulls were truly in a position to tweak their roster in hopes of putting a contender around Rose instead of denying that their star player was no longer a star? Would the Bulls have evolved with the rest of the NBA in the pace and space era instead of just being frozen in 2012 and hoping that group would eventually bring a championship? Would they be better off now? There are so many unanswered questions. The Rose-era Bulls never reached their true potential after making the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals. Rose has suffered more knee injuries since then. The Bulls moved on and now have Jimmy Butler as their star player, Fred Hoiberg as their coach, and are desperately trying to replicate what they had with Rose. Five years ago and it still feels like yesterday. It feels like we're still waiting for Derrick Rose to return and maybe fans are frozen in time, still bitter about the way all the promise and the potential the early Thibodeau/Rose partnership presented and how it came crumbling down in one single play. We haven't fully turned the page. We still think about these things, defend Rose to the death, and Bulls media still tweets out updates on him like he's still "our guy." We refuse to believe this era ended so abruptly. But it did. Five years ago. The ghost of that injury hovers over the franchise and has hindered the franchise from moving forward because of the cap ramifications of Derrick Rose's contract. Now the Bulls are truly beginning the process of building...something. That ghost will only disappear if the Bulls are able to somehow replicate what we had and somehow atone for that gruesome injury. I've never re-watched that game. I actually haven't even watched the clip of his injury. I just copied and pasted the link. I can't watch it. It's too much. It's too difficult to look back and remember what was before us, but five years ago, the path of the Chicago Bulls changed forever. I'm not fully over it yet. The above image is an iconic one in NBA history: Michael Jordan shoving Bryon Russell into obscurity and draining the game-winning shot for ring number six. How many times have you seen this picture? How many times have you watched the shot? How many times did you practice this exact shot outside your house or on the playground as a kid? For me, it was millions of times. This shot was the storybook ending to Michael Jordan's illustrious career regardless of what he did in Washington. It's one of the greatest shots, if not the greatest shot, in NBA history. What makes this shot even more incredible to me is the story behind the game. If you've never watched Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals, it's available on YouTube here.It isn't one of Michael's finest statistical games - he only recorded 1 rebound, 1 assist, and only shot nearly 43% from the field - but to me, it's one of the defining games of his career. The game starts off well with Pippen recording a dunk, but unfortunately, he injured his back and wasn't the same the rest of the game. He played only 26 minutes that night and recorded 8 points. In fact, the Bulls only had two players in double figures that game: Jordan and Toni Kukoc, whom recorded 15 points. The reliable Steve Kerr never even took a shot in 24 minutes of action. The Bulls had all of 11 bench points that game. The balanced Utah Jazz were playing in their deafening arena and this series looked like a lock to go to Game 7. But the greatest player of all-time intervened. This seems like a good time to point out a few things: 1) Michael Jordan was 35 years old at this time and the 2nd three-peat Bulls were running on fumes. 2) Michael Jordan had played most of the season with a torn ligament in his right index finger 3) Again, Scottie Pippen hurt himself the very first play of the game and actually only played 44 games that year due to injuries and anger towards Jerry Krause. How could this Bulls team overcome these odds and win this game, much less this series, without Scottie Pippen? It had to be impossible right? Somebody forgot to tell Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan finished with 45 points that night - 23 in the first half, 22 in the second half. Watch the final 3 minutes of the game. Jordan just simply decided to leave it all on the court. He misses a three, produces an incredible steal, and then tries to create something before Rodman gets called for an offensive foul. You'll see that as a recurring theme throughout the end of this game: Jordan, who had 16 points in the fourth quarter, keeps trying to create something, but it just seems like the tank is empty. To make things worse, he bangs his knee on John Stockton, who tried to draw a charge, and limped out of the timeout. The Bulls dynasty looked over. Then he steps up and drains both free-throws. The final 59.2 seconds are a thing of beauty. Stockton nails a three to put the Jazz up 86-83 and it looks like Game 7 is merely a formality. 41.9 seconds left and Jordan takes the inbounds pass, drives past Bryon Russell and hits a difficult layup in the paint. The Bulls are down only 1 with 34 seconds remaining. And here comes a familiar sequence. One in which Phil Jackson told Michael Jordan simply, "Beautiful." It's one of the finest sequences in basketball history and if you could put Michael Jordan's career into one sequence, this is it: Defensive excellence, offensive brilliance, and pure will. Watch as Malone posts up, Jordan cheats off, and then punches the ball right out of his hands and just takes the ball as Karl Malone crumbles to the ground. 19 seconds left and Jordan drives up the court and everyone in the arena knew what was coming. Everyone was standing. Jordan drives, gives Russell a gentle shove that you could see on the subsequent replays, but would be difficult to see from Dick Bavetta's point of view, and hits the wide open shot holding his form in the iconic photo shown above. Ultimately, it was the game winning shot and sealed championship number six for the Chicago Bulls. Jordan finished with 45 points. The next closest Bull was Kukoc with 15. Pippen and Harper finished with 8 and then Rodman with 7. Jordan literally dragged this aging Chicago Bulls team, a team on fumes, to championship number six. It is one of the finest performances of Michael Jordan's storied career and one that often only gets remembered for the final shot. But the game in it's entirety should be considered iconic. It was the personification of Michael Jordan's legacy: Excellence, a competitiveness that set him apart from any of his peers and still does today, and that left him standing above the competition. The more I watch of Michael Jordan and the more I notice the nuances that made him unique, the more I'm certain we will never see another player like Michael Jordan. He was truly one of a kind. Game 6 of the NBA Finals boxscore Revisiting Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James: Who's the GOAT?I know, I know. This argument has been beaten to death. I've written about it twice myself: First, back in 2011 after LeBron melted down against the Mavericks, again in 2012 after LeBron won his first championship, again after LeBron said there was a ghost in Chicago he was chasing, and then after the 2016 Finals, in which LeBron's last three games cemented his legacy as at least a top 10 player of all-time. But factors such as LeBron's longevity, a growing generation of basketball fans that never experienced watching Michael Jordan play or never experienced watching him play for the Bulls, the YouTube generation and countless talking heads coronating LeBron James as the king of the NBA all-time makes this argument worth revisiting. First, let's just concede this: LeBron James has been incredible this season. Personally, I think he's the MVP of the league. I know the narrative points towards James Harden, but have you seen the cast of characters LeBron just led to 50 wins? His statistics are fantastic: 27.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, 9.1 assists, 1.4 steals, 54% FG shooting, and...this is year 15, which is unheard of. LeBron's season is the highest PER of all-time for players in their 15th season or later and that played at least 300 minutes. It's been unbelievable. Some use this as evidence: Jordan in his 15th season (with the Wizards) was nowhere near this statistical level averaging 20 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.5 steals, and shooting a low-for-him 44% from the field. Four things to remember:
Now, what if you took Jordan and increased his 1997-1998 stats by 9.2%? Here's the comparison:
Also, Jordan never relented on defense. During Jordan's career, he was named All-Defensive team nine times (first team every time) including 1997-1998 and won Defensive Player of the Year in 1987-1988. In comparison, LeBron James has made All-Defensive team six times (five times first team, once on the second team) and hasn't been on there since he played in Miami in 2013-2014. As Jordan declined, he still brought it on defense and this is an area where you can clearly watch LeBron James today and see he's declined on it. For the record, I've always stated that LeBron is not a great on-ball defender (talking heads wanted to compare him to Scottie Pippen, which is an insult. LeBron was never that level), but LeBron was a great off-ball defender and the greatest play of his career, the block on Andre Iguodala, perhaps captures that. Likewise, Jordan's poetic ending before he valiantly returned to boost the country's morale after 9/11 started with a steal on Karl Malone and then a beautiful jumper to seal a final championship. To the point of Jordan never relenting on defense, even as he aged, it should be noted that in 1997-1998, he averaged 38.8 minutes per game and played all 82 games for the 9th time in his career (3,181 minutes that season total). This year, LeBron averaged 36.9 minutes per game (which led the NBA) and played all 82 games for the first time his career (3,026 minutes total for this season). It's just remarkable the level of intensity Michael Jordan could bring on both ends of the floor at age 34 and carrying the burden that he did. None of this is to discredit LeBron James. I'm on record as saying he's the third best player of all-time with a clear path to surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (longevity will ensure it statistically). But Michael Jordan is still the greatest of all-time. He always will be. But the biggest takeaway you should get from this is stop trying to compare LeBron to Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant or anyone else. Enjoy the experience of watching one of the greatest players ever to play the game. There's going to be a generation one day that won't have this experience, just like the generation that never saw Michael Jordan play. Enjoy what LeBron has been able to do and stop forgetting how great Jordan was. |
AuthorBrandon Pence is the founder & author of "The Bulls Charge." Pence has been a Bulls fan since 1993 following the shot by John Paxson, believes Michael Jordan is undeniably the GOAT, and has Derrick Rose as his all-time favorite Bull following Scottie Pippen's weird feud with Michael Jordan. "The Bulls Charge" was established in 2011. Archives
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