The 90-91 Bulls won 61 games on their way to best record in the NBA. They breezed through the playoffs coming within two MJ missed jumpers (Game 3 vs 76ers in ECS and Game 1 vs Lakers in Finals) of sweeping the entire playoffs. This was MJ at his peak, no longer just a scoring machine, he was the best all-around player player on his way to MVP #1. A still -rising Scottie Pippen playing the role of the ultimate glue guy, guarding 3 postions, gliding up and down the court and finishing like Dr. J. This was a plethora of role players filling every role in the book. Horace Grant, Bill Cartwright, Cliff Levingston doing the dirty work on the glass, setting picks and just being in right place at right time. An array of floor-spacing shooters in John Paxson, B.J Armstrong, and Craig Hodges. And from the bench you got John Bach pulling the strings on D that was as ferocious and opportunistic as any. The wizardry of Tex Winter and the triangle offense which put Jordan in indefensible positions by using his post game and midrange. And all off that led by a young Phil Jackson with the Zen and mindgames.
They were appointment viewing that season. I was in 8th grade that season (yes I am dating myself) and after basketball practice and getting homework done, flipped on Ch.9 or Sportsvision to listen to my main man Jim Durham on the call. Durham was the perfect combo of smooth and energy. ...I can still him say "Paxson on the drive right of the foul line, shot rimmminnnnngggg NO" even a miss sounded good from J.D and of course Red Kerr , the ultimate homer with his outbursts of yells. You would go to school and talk about what you saw last night..."Man did you see MJ yam on Smits?" "Scottie had Bird old ass on lock". Everyone rallied around that team. Every win was the best thing ever, every loss was a new low. That Bulls team was a means to gather with family, I remember going over to my Aunt Edna's for almost every playoff game with my mother, aunts, uncles, and cousin and watching games together. Then after games replaying every moment that happen on the hoop in her backyard. You would have thought it was Thanksgiving or Christmas they way we packed her house during the 1991 playoffs
What also made that team was the old Chicago Stadium aka the Madhouse on Madison. Of course there were other great buildings like Boston Garden, the Forum and MSG but no building was louder and more raucous than the Stadium. After a MJ dunk to cap a 13-2 run on some team or it was time for a key stop, you can still hear 18,676 make enough noise to drown out a Jet engine. The new, corporate NBA with its sterile atmosphere has taken away the atmosphere of the game. The MSG and Portland's Rose Garden are about the last places that have that feel. The Stadium was hot, old, cramped, and drafty but the Bulls were borderline invincible in that place.
While beating the Lakers for the title was the capper on the season, the real championship was the 4-0 sweep of the Pistons in the Conference Finals. The Bulls-Pistons rivalry was built on dislike. There wasn't mutual respect or admiration. The Pistons were a great team but their swagger, dirty tactics, and god-awful short shorts made them completely unlikeable. Isiah was the angel with the dirty face stirring up stuff, the Capo Rodman/Laimbeer/Mahorn/Edwards the goons who carried out the orders from Daly the Don in his Italian suits. They were the Basketball Mafia and if anyone knows what Mafia is its Chicago. The cheap shots, the jersey pulls, the shoves after the whistle combined with a suffocating defense and ability to make big shots or get every rebound made the Pistons a perfect foil to the Bulls game built on speed , transition, and flow. 1988 and 1989 , we werent good enough to beat them. 1990, Scottie's Migraine killed our chances in game 7. 1991 , it was our time, we had the best player in the league on the best team and 18,676 ready for the kill. While I am clearly biased, the Bulls 4-0 sweep of the Pistons is still the most impressive 4-game display i have seen in any series. They took apart the two -time defending champions in every way possible, rendering the Pistons old, slow, and eventually defeated. Isiah and crew sulking off the court before Game 4 ended is still a classic moment. They had no choice but to accept that it was a dawning of a new era, our era
The Bulls are still my favorite team , although I don't find myself glued to the set like I used to. I guess thats part of my evolution as a fan. I am a lot like the nba players now, i save it for the playoffs. but for one night I will be glued to that game to see the reunion of the '91 team. Its a trip back into time for me. Back when responsibilites and decisions were few, back when posting up and watching your favorite team was an event. Were the '91 Bulls the best team? No. Were they the most dominant? No. However they were MY team. They gave me my first real joy as a basketball fan and i will be forever grateful. Since then the Bulls have won, Chicago teams have won 7 world championships and the only city to won a title in all four of the major sports. While all of that is great, those seven world championships combined do not equal the excitement I had or the love I have for that 90-91 team. If i had a chance to be at the UC on March 12, there is a good chance i may get misty-eyed. 99.9999% of basketball fans will say they weren't the best ever or the most dominant, but no team past present or future will I ever have the emotional tie to like I had that team.
Thank you guys. You will always be The Greatest of All Time to me
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