Rockets post more videos of their success vs. Michael Jordan’s Bulls

With “The Last Dance” ongoing, the Houston Rockets posted two more videos reminding fans of their success versus the 1990s Chicago Bulls.

With the 1990s Chicago Bulls back in the national spotlight thanks to the premiere of ESPN’s “The Last Dance” documentary, the Houston Rockets continue to utilize social media channels to defend their legacy as the NBA’s only champion outside of Chicago from 1991 through 1998.

Specifically, the Rockets are pushing back on the popular notion from some fans that their titles were largely due to the 18-month retirement by legendary Bulls guard Michael Jordan, which began in October 1993.

Prior to Jordan’s retirement, Houston went 5-1 against the Bulls in six regular-season meetings during Chicago’s three championship seasons from 1991 through 1993. The Rockets had yet to reach their peak, so they never made it through the Western Conference to meet the Bulls in those NBA Finals. But they clearly viewed it as a favorable matchup, as evidenced by their latest two video compilations.

Unfortunately for NBA fans, the Bulls never made it through the East in the two seasons that Houston won the West — including in 1995, when Jordan had unretired in March. The Bulls lost to Orlando in the semi-finals, and the Magic were later swept by Hakeem Olajuwon’s Rockets.

In the earlier regular-season meetings when Jordan played, Chicago’s nondescript centers such as Bill Cartwright and Luc Longley offered little resistance to Olajuwon. By contrast, many of the teams the Bulls defeated in the NBA Finals — such as Charles Barkley’s Phoenix Suns, Karl Malone’s Utah Jazz, and Shawn Kemp’s Seattle Sonics — lacked the offensive production at center to challenge the Bulls at their weakest position.

Olajuwon clearly earned Jordan’s respect, as evidenced by Jordan selecting the Houston legend for his all-time NBA team. Recently, former Rockets head coach Rudy Tomjanovich shared a story in which Jordan told him that Houston was the team that gave the Bulls the most trouble.

“He gave our team great respect,” Tomjanovich told The Athletic. “He didn’t feel that they could contain Hakeem [Olajuwon]. They just didn’t have the personnel to do it. And he said he thought we were the team that gave them the most trouble.”

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One popular theory is that Jordan was “rusty” in the 1995 playoffs after only playing in 17 regular-season games. But that’s not shown in the data. Jordan averaged more points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks per game in the 1995 playoffs than he did in the 1996 playoffs (when Chicago won the title), all on superior shooting from the field.

Ultimately, the Rockets and Bulls peaked at different times, and NBA fans never got to see the matchup in the playoffs. As it is, though, the 1990s Rockets are happy with their two titles — and they remain ready to push back against any fans trying to diminish their accomplishments.

Fortunately for Houston, it appears that even Jordan himself acknowledges that the Rockets have a valid argument.

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