The Chicago Bulls have won six championships in franchise history, so they have had some of the best teams to have ever been assembled in NBA history.
Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen prevented so many Hall of Famers from winning titles in the ’90s. The Bulls went 6-0 in the Finals, with Jordan winning all six Finals MVPs.
However, Jordan and the Bulls were humbled in the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Orlando Magic. Orlando bounced the Bulls in six games in Jordan's return to the NBA, but that series loss wound up being the perfect thing MJ and Chicago needed.
During the summer of 1995, Jordan trained harder than he ever did and the results paid off during the 1995-96 season.
Not only are the 1995-96 Bulls the best Chicago team of all-time, but they are also the best team in NBA history by a wide margin. The 2015-16 Golden State Warriors team went 73-9 during the regular season to beat the Bulls' win record. However, they lost in the 2016 Finals to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in seven epic games and this was after the Dubs took a 3-1 series lead.
The Bulls started the 1995-96 season 5-0. Their first loss came to the hands of — guess who — the Magic. Chicago went 5-0 following that loss to Orlando before suffering its second loss of the season against Gary Payton and the Seattle SuperSonics.
Jordan and the Bulls suffered only one two-game losing streak during this season. They lost to the Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns in February. In the second-to-last game of the season, Chicago fell to the Indiana Pacers for its 10th loss of the season. The Bulls finished the campaign by defeating the Washington Bullets to secure an unbelievable record of 72-10.
Jordan won the MVP award after averaging 30.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists. It's still incredible he was able to play at such an elite level after being away from the sport and playing baseball for a year.
“Don’t mean a thing without the ring” was the Bulls’ slogan once the 1996 playoffs began. They didn't care that they had won a record 72 games. The team was motivated to finish the season off right by capturing a title.
Jordan averaged 30.7 points in the 1996 playoffs. The Bulls weren't messing around. Chicago swept the Miami Heat in the first round, bounced the New York Knicks in the second round in five games and swept the Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals to get their revenge on Orlando.
The Bulls matched up against Payton, Shawn Kemp and the SuperSonics in the 1996 Finals. Chicago looked like it was on its way to sweeping Seattle at first. The Bulls took a commanding 3-0 series lead heading into Game 4 at Seattle.
The Sonics, though, rallied around their rowdy crowd and won Games 4 and 5 to put the pressure back on Jordan and the Bulls.
If you search, “Father's Day 1996” on google, a picture of Jordan shows up with his 1996 championship hat on. The Bulls wound up defeating the Sonics in Game 6 at home. Jordan ran into the locker room once the buzzer sounded, fell to the floor in the Bulls locker room and started crying since he had just won his fourth title on Father's Day.
To recall, Jordan's dad was killed in June of 1993.
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