1995–96 Chicago Bulls season
The 1995–96 Chicago Bulls season was the 30th season for the Chicago Bulls in the National Basketball Association. During the off-season, the Bulls acquired controversial All-Star forward and rebound specialist Dennis Rodman from the San Antonio Spurs season|San Antonio Spurs], and signed free agents Randy Brown, and James Edwards. At mid-season, the team signed John Salley, who was previously released by the expansion Toronto Raptors season|Toronto Raptors]; Rodman, Edwards and Salley were all teammates on the Detroit Pistons during the "Bad Boy" era, where they won two consecutive NBA championships between 1989 and 1990. The Bulls had the best team offensive rating and the best team defensive rating in the NBA, and are widely regarded as one of the greatest teams in NBA history.
The 1995–96 Bulls were named one of the Top 10 Teams in NBA History during the celebration of the league's 50th anniversary in 1996. The team set the record for most wins in an NBA regular season in which they won the championship, finishing with 72 wins and 10 losses. The 2015–16 [Golden State Warriors season|2015–16 Golden State Warriors] set a new milestone by finishing with a 73–9 regular season record, but did not win the championship; despite their remarkable performance, the team ultimately fell short in the 2016 NBA Finals. Notably, the Warriors' head coach, Steve Kerr, had a significant link to the 1995–96 Bulls team, having previously played as a point guard for the Bulls during that time.
The Bulls' started 37–0 at home, part of a then-NBA-record 44-game winning streak that included games from the 1994–95 regular-season. Their 33 road wins were the most in NBA history until the 2015–16 Warriors won 34 road games. The season was the best 3-loss start in NBA history at 41–3, which included an 18-game winning streak for the team. The team also went undefeated in January with a 14–0 record, and held a 42–5 record at the All-Star break. The Bulls became the first NBA team to ever win 70 regular season games, finishing in first place in the Central Division, in the Eastern Conference, and the entire league, and posted a league best 39–2 home record at the United Center. They are also the only team in NBA history to win more than 70 games and an NBA title in the same season. The Bulls qualified for the NBA playoffs for the 12th consecutive year.
In his first full season with the Bulls since the 1992–93 season, Michael Jordan averaged 30.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.2 steals per game, contributed 111 three-point field goals, and was named the [NBA Most Valuable Player|NBA Most Valuable Player of the Year]. In addition, Scottie Pippen averaged 19.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game, and also led the Bulls with 150 three-point field goals, while Rodman averaged 5.5 points and 14.9 rebounds per game, but only played 64 games this season, and served a six-game suspension for head butting a referee during a road game against the New Jersey Nets season|New Jersey Nets] on March 16, 1996, and Croatian small forward Toni Kukoč played a sixth man role off the bench, averaging 13.1 points per game, and was named the NBA Sixth Man of the Year. Meanwhile, Luc Longley provided the team with 9.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, three-point specialist Kerr contributed 8.4 points per game and 122 three-point field goals off the bench, while shooting.515 in three-point field-goal percentage, Ron Harper provided with 7.4 points and 1.3 steals per game, and Bill Wennington averaged 5.3 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.
During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, Jordan and Pippen were both selected for the 1996 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Eastern Conference All-Star team, while head coach Phil Jackson was selected to coach the Eastern Conference; Jordan scored 20 points in 22 minutes, and won his second All-Star Game Most Valuable Player">National Basketball Association All-Star Game">All-Star Game Most Valuable Player award, as the Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference, 129–118. Meanwhile, Kerr participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout for the third consecutive year.
Jordan and Pippen were both named to the All-NBA First Team, and NBA All-Defensive First Team, with Rodman being selected to the latter team, and Jackson was named the NBA Coach of the Year. Pippen finished in fifth place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Rodman finished in 15th place; Pippen also finished in second place in Defensive Player of the Year voting, behind Gary Payton of the Seattle SuperSonics season|Seattle SuperSonics], while Jordan finished in sixth place, and Rodman finished in seventh place, and Kerr finished in ninth place in Sixth Man of the Year voting.
In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1996 NBA playoffs, the Bulls faced off against the 8th–seeded Miami Heat season|Miami Heat], a team that featured All-Star center Alonzo Mourning, All-Star guard Tim Hardaway, and Rex Chapman. The Bulls won their first two home games over the Heat at the United Center, before winning Game 3 on the road, 112–91 at the Miami Arena to win the series in a three-game sweep.
In the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, the team faced off against the 5th–seeded New York Knicks season|New York Knicks], a team that featured All-Star center Patrick Ewing, Anthony Mason and John Starks. The Bulls won the first two games at home, before losing Game 3 to the Knicks on the road in overtime, 102–99 at Madison Square Garden. After winning Game 4 on the road, 94–91, the Bulls won Game 5 over the Knicks at the United Center, 94–81 to win the series in five games.
In the Eastern Conference Finals, and for the second consecutive year, the Bulls faced off against the 2nd–seeded, and Atlantic Division champion Orlando Magic season|Orlando Magic], who were led by the trio of All-Star center Shaquille O'Neal, All-Star guard Penny Hardaway, and former Bulls forward Horace Grant. The Bulls won the first two games at the United Center to take a 2–0 series lead, and then won the next two games over the Magic on the road, including a Game 4 win at the Orlando Arena, 106–101, in which Jordan scored 45 points; the Bulls won the series over the Magic in a four-game sweep to advance to the NBA Finals.
In the 1996 NBA Finals, the Bulls faced off against the top–seeded Seattle SuperSonics season|SuperSonics], who were led by the All-Star trio of Payton, Shawn Kemp and Detlef Schrempf. The Bulls won the first two games over the SuperSonics at the United Center, then won Game 3 on the road, 108–86 at the KeyArena at Seattle Center to take a 3–0 series lead. However, the Bulls then lost the next two games to the SuperSonics on the road. With a 3–2 series lead, the Bulls won Game 6 over the SuperSonics at the United Center, 87–75, thus winning the series in six games, and also winning their fourth NBA championship in six years; Jordan was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player for the fourth time, after scoring 22 points in Game 6, despite struggling as he only made 5 out of 19 field-goal attempts. The Bulls have the best combined regular and postseason record in NBA history at 87–13.
The Bulls finished second in the NBA in home-game attendance behind the 1995–96 [Charlotte Hornets season|Charlotte Hornets], with an attendance of 969,149 at the United Center during the regular season. Following the season, Edwards retired, and Salley left to play overseas in Greece. For the season, the Bulls added new black alternate road uniforms with red pinstripes; eventually, they would remove the pinstripes from their jerseys in 1997.
Off-season
Before the 1995–96 NBA season, the Bulls acquired Dennis Rodman and Jack Haley from the Spurs in exchange for Will Perdue and cash considerations to fill a void at power forward left by Horace Grant, who left the Bulls before the 1994–95 NBA season.In his book Bad as I Wanna Be, Rodman wrote that Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen had to approve the trade. Rodman chose the number 91 for his jersey since #10 was retired by the Bulls in 1995 in honor of Bob Love.
Haley played in one game, the final game of the regular season, and didn't participate in the playoffs. He was best known for his friendship with the enigmatic Rodman.
NBA draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | School/Club team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | 20 | Jason Caffey | PF |  United StatesSCGRosterStandingsCentral DivisionEastern ConferenceRegular seasonNovemberThe Bulls began the 1995–96 season on November 3 against the Charlotte Hornets and defeated them, 105–91, with Michael Jordan scoring 42 points. The next day, Chicago defeated the Boston Celtics season|Boston Celtics] in a 22-point blowout, 107–85, behind Scottie Pippen's 21 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists. On November 7, the Bulls defeated the Toronto Raptors behind Jordan's 38 points. In Gund Arena, Chicago defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers season|Cleveland Cavaliers] on November 9, where Scottie Pippen accumulated a triple-double with 18 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists. After defeating the Portland Trail Blazers season|Portland Trail Blazers] on November 11, the Bulls reached a 5–0 start for the season. On November 14, Chicago's undefeated streak ended with a loss to the Orlando Magic, despite a double-double performance by Pippen who recorded 17 points and 10 rebounds. Jordan also scored 23 points and grabbed 7 rebounds for the Bulls Following their first loss of the season, Chicago bounced back to defeat Cleveland on November 15. The Bulls would continue their winning ways by defeating the New Jersey Nets on November 17. Toni Kukoc recorded a game-high 19 points and 7 assists for the Bulls.The Bulls went on a road trip to play against seven Western Conference teams. On November 21, Chicago played in its first overtime game of the season in a win against the Dallas Mavericks season|Dallas Mavericks], 108–102, backed by a double-double performance by Pippen who recorded 26 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists and 36 points from Jordan. On the next day, the Bulls defeated the Spurs season|San Antonio Spurs] behind another triple-double by Pippen who recorded 15 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists. and Jordan's 38 points and 9 rebounds. Chicago then went to Delta Center to play against the Utah Jazz season|Utah Jazz] on November 24. In the game, the Bulls defeated the Jazz, 90–85. On November 26, the Bulls headed to Seattle and led the Sonics 64–51 after the first half, but the Sonics mounted a comeback outscoring the Bulls on the next two quarters, thus handing the visiting Bulls their second loss of the season, 92–97. Jordan led the Bulls with 22 points and 5 rebounds. The next game, the Bulls would visit the Trailblazers. Jordan led all scorers with 33 points to go along with 8 assists, as the Bulls won, 107–104. In their last game of the month, the Bulls went to Canada to play against the Vancouver Grizzlies season|Vancouver Grizzlies] and defeated them, 94–88. DecemberChicago's road trip ended in Los Angeles on December 2 after defeating the 1995–96 [Los Angeles Clippers season|Clippers] behind Jordan's double-double of 37 points and 11 rebounds. On December 6, the Bulls headed back to the United Center to play the New York Knicks and had defeated them despite Jordan's struggle that night who shot just 8-for-27 from the field. In that game also, Rodman grabbed a game-high 20 rebounds. The Bulls won their fifth straight game on December 8 against the Spurs, behind Jordan's statline of 28 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. On the next day, Chicago defeated the Milwaukee Bucks season|Milwaukee Bucks] behind Jordan's 45-point performance and Pippen's 28 points and 6 assists. On December 13, the Bulls were visited by the Orlando Magic. Jordan recorded 36 points and 6 rebounds, Pippen recorded 26 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists and Rodman recorded 8 points and 19 rebounds as they got their 17th win of the season, beating the visiting Magic, 112–103. The next day, the Bulls traveled to Atlanta to take on the Hawks on the road. The Bulls outscored the Hawks 65 to 55 in the first half, thus fueling them towards their 8th straight win and 18th win of the season. Pippen led the Bulls having recorded a near triple-double of 30 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. On December 16, Pippen recorded a double-double of 33 points and 13 rebounds as the Bulls got the win over the visiting 1995-96 [Los Angeles Lakers season|L.A. Lakers], 108–88. Two days after, Jordan and Pippen both scored 37 points as they fueled the Bulls towards their 20th win of the season, after beating the Celtics, 123–114.JanuaryThe Bulls went undefeated in January.FebruaryThe Bulls continued their success in February, winning 11 of 14 of the games played this month. And also, this is their first and only time they have lost back-to-back games for the whole season. On February 4, they had been defeated by the Denver Nuggets season|Denver Nuggets] despite a stellar performance by Michael Jordan who recorded 39 points and 4 assists on the road. The following game, the Bulls also lost another road game, this time to the Phoenix Suns season|Phoenix Suns]. In this game, Charles Barkley proved too much to be handle by the Bulls as he dropped a double-double of 35 points and 16 rebounds to guide his team in winning. After losing two straight road games, the Bulls followed it with 7 straight wins. In that 7-game streak, the Bulls defeated the Warriors, Bullets, Pistons, Timberwolves, Pacers, Cavaliers and Hawks. Their 7-game winning streak were stopped by the home team, the Miami Heat. The Heat, guided by Rex Chapman who shot 9-for-10 from 3-point range, proved too much to be handled by the visiting Bulls. With this loss, the Bulls now have lost 6 games for the whole season, and all 6 of those games are on the road.MarchThe Bulls added 2 of their final 10 losses in March:On Sunday, March 10, they were blown out 104–72 in Madison Square Garden by Ewing's Knicks – their largest margin of defeat on the season. Two weeks later, they dropped a game at the hands of the expansion Raptors, 109–108. Damon Stoudamire posted an efficient 30-point, 11-assist effort to lead Toronto. AprilThe Bulls lost two home games in the final month losing to the Charlotte Hornets, then their final home game of the season to the Indiana Pacers. Those were their only home losses of the entire season, including the playoffs, as Chicago finished with an overall 39–2 record at the United Center.PlayoffsFirst roundThe Bulls' playoff run began on April 26. Their First Round opponent was the Miami Heat, whom they defeated 3–1 in the regular season. In Game 1, the Bulls defeated Miami in a blowout victory behind Jordan's 35 points. Winning in a 31-point blowout, Chicago once again defeated the Heat. To reach the Conference Semifinals, the Bulls defeated the Heat in Miami in a game where Pippen accumulated a triple-double with 22 points, 18 rebounds, and 10 assists.Conference semifinals
The Bulls met rival New York Knicks in the Conference Semifinals. In the regular season, Chicago won the season series, 4–1. In Game 1 on May 5, the Bulls defeated the Knicks behind Jordan's 44 points. Chicago would defeat New York again on May 7 to take a 2–0 series lead. Playing at Madison Square Garden, the Bulls lost Game 3 in overtime, despite a 46-point offensive performance by Jordan. In Game 4, Chicago defeated the Knicks by three points to take a 3–1 series lead. To close out the series, the Bulls defeated New York at home behind double-double performances by Pippen and Rodman. Conference finalsIn the Conference Finals, the Bulls met the Atlantic Division champions, Orlando Magic, a team led by Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway, who had reached the finals the previous year and were swept by Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets. The Bulls won the regular-season series against the Magic, 3–1. To start the series, the Bulls took Game 1 in a 38-point blowout on May 19. Behind Jordan's 35 points, Chicago defeated Orlando on May 21. In Game 3, the Bulls continued their winning ways by taking a 3–0 series lead against the Magic. Completing the series sweep, the Bulls won Game 4 by five points behind a 45-point performance by Jordan.NBA Finals
Chicago took on the Seattle SuperSonics, whose 64–18 franchise-best regular season record was overshadowed by the Bulls' 72–10 record. In the regular season, the two teams split the season series, 1–1. In Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Chicago defeated Seattle by 17 points. The Bulls took a 2–0 series lead against the Sonics in the second game where Rodman accumulated 20 rebounds. In KeyArena, Chicago won Game 3 behind Jordan's 36 points. The Bulls lost Game 4 in a 21-point blowout on June 12. On June 14, the Bulls lost against Seattle in Game 5. Back in the United Center, Chicago defeated Seattle in Game 6 to win the NBA championship four games to two. Game logRegular seasonPlayoffsPlayer statisticsRegular seasonPlayoffsPlayer statistics citation:Playoff leadersSalariesAward winners
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