Don’t mess with The Bulls if you can’t handle the Horns (Part 2)
The Legend Retires
Michael Jordan dropped an anvil on the heads of the sports world when he announced the fact that he was retiring during the 1993-1994 season. He decided to retire because of the death of his father who was murdered in a robbery.
Other issues not involving basketball also played a key role in his decision. Jordan’s retirement cleared a way for Scottie Pippen to lead the team and establish himself in the ranks of the top players of basketball by winning the 1994 All Star MVP. Despite
The Bulls good run, they were butchered by the Knicks in the play-offs.
The Return of The Legend
In the 1994-1995 season, the Bulls left their long time home in the Chicago Stadium and moved to the United Stadium. They also suffered from the loss of Horace Grant, Bill Cartwright, Scott Williams to a “free agency” and John
Paxson retired. On the other hand, they gained shooting guard Ron Harper and small forward Jud Buechler among other players. Even though the Bulls experienced these changes, they were still lagging behind in their performance. In March 1995, the Chicago Bulls
received the best news they could ever get all season. Their long lost star, Michael Jordan was coming out of retirement. Although, after spending some time in the minor league baseball circuit, Jordan was quite rusty and the Bulls were not able to beat the
Orlando Magics. During the off season, the Bulls suffered the loss of B.J Armstrong, but general manager Krause was able to save the day by coming up with a genius trade. He traded Will Perdue for the one and only Dennis Rodman.
Improvement of Epic Proportions
With Jordan back and Rodman on their side, the Bulls were able to drastically improve their win-loss ratio from 47-35 to 72-10. This improvement is still regarded as one of the best record improvements in the history of the NBA.
During this time, Jordan also managed to grab the awards for MVP, Finals MVP and All Star MVP. Krause also won the title of Executive of the Year. Jordan and Pippen went on to join the All Star team and these two along with Rodman made the All Defensive First
Team (thus making the Bulls to be the only team in NBA history to have three players in the All Defensive First Team)
Other records broken by the 1995-1996 Bulls team included the “best road record in a standard road game season”, “Longest home winning streak” and “best start at home”. The 1995-96 season was their fifth win. Jordan, Pippen and
Robert Parish were included in the list of the top 50 greatest players of the NBA.
Downfall
The 1997-1998 season is seen as the downfall of the Chicago Bulls. There were so many things happening during the season that the team’s downfall was inevitable. There was a rumour floating around that Michael Jordan would be retiring
yet again, and Phil Jackson’s future in the team looked pretty slim due to a falling out he had with the General Manager. Scottie Pippen was looking for a contract extension that the NBA was not willing to hand over to him. Even still, the Bulls had an amazing
season with a record of 62-20, and Jordan got his fifth MVP. In 1998 however, things went downhill. Jerry Krause decided that the team was getting too old and that new blood should be brought in. He had Scottie Pippen traded for Roy Rogues and he did not re-sign
Dennis Rodman. He also traded Luc Longley and Steve Kerr for other draft picks. He made changes to the coaching side as well, by firing the old coach and hiring Tim Floyd as the new replacement. It was after this switch, that Michael Jordan made his plans
to retire official and left the team. With the new lineup, the team was not doing well. They only managed to win thirteen of the fifty games.
Even though the Bulls made some other changes during 1999 and 2004, and even reached the play-offs in between years 2004 and 2007, it is still not the same. The old Bulls were filled with superstars and passionate ball players.
Like the Arabian Empire fell after its rise to the top, and how the Roman Empire disappeared after its pinnacle, it is no surprise that the greatest dynasty in the history of basketball should also fall into the flames, forever burnt. Maybe, just maybe, the
Bulls can rise again like a Phoenix from its ashes. We shall have to wait and see.
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