With the 1990s Chicago Bulls back in the national spotlight thanks to the premiere of ESPN’s “The Last Dance” documentary, the Houston Rockets took to social media Sunday night 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.
With a caption of “the record speaks for itself,” the Rockets posted a video montage showcasing their five wins in six regular-season games against the Bulls from 1991 through 1993. (By the time Jordan unretired in March 1995, all four regular-season meetings during Houston’s title seasons of 1993-94 and 1994-95 had already taken place.)
As the video plays, the narrator reads:
If you want to get a real Rocket fan angry, tell them they only won those two banners because Michael Jordan decided to play baseball. The truth is, he was there the second year and couldn’t get past Orlando. Yeah, he ‘wasn’t back yet.’ Explain the 55 points against the Knicks.
The truth is, it wasn’t Jordan. It was Luc Longley. Olajuwon would’ve eaten him up, and [Vernon] Maxwell would’ve guarded Jordan beyond belief. Look at the head-to-head matchups. The Rockets would’ve won those banners.
And it’s okay, Jordan fans. Even [Babe] Ruth didn’t win the World Series every year. But the Rockets were the best team in 1994 and 1995.
Many around the Rockets, led by Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon, have long bristled at those suggestions. Though Houston didn’t face Chicago in the playoffs during the 1993-94 and 1994-95 championship runs, the Bulls didn’t face the Rockets in any of their six title runs, either.
In the regular-season meetings, Chicago’s nondescript centers such as Bill Cartwright and Luc Longley offered little resistance to Olajuwon in the regular season. 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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If the transitive property were applied, the Bulls could argue that they beat the Sonics and Jazz in the NBA Finals from 1996 through 1998 after those teams beat the Rockets in the playoffs. But on the other hand, the Rockets could point out that they beat Orlando in the 1995 NBA Finals only weeks after the Magic had beaten the Bulls, with Jordan. That’s the exact point that Olajuwon and Kenny Smith recently made.
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.
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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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