1995–96 Chicago Bulls season
NBA basketball team season (won championship) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The 1995–96 NBA season was the Bulls' 30th season in the National Basketball Association.[1] During the off-season, the Bulls acquired controversial All-Star forward and rebound specialist Dennis Rodman from the San Antonio Spurs,[2][3][4][5][6] and signed free agents Randy Brown and James Edwards.[7][8][9] At midseason, the team signed John Salley, who was previously released by the expansion Toronto Raptors; Rodman, Edwards and Salley were all teammates on the Detroit Pistons during the "Bad Boy" era, where they won two straight championships in 1989 and 1990.[10][11] The Bulls had the best team offensive rating and the best team defensive rating in the NBA.
1995–96 Chicago Bulls season | |||
---|---|---|---|
NBA champions | |||
Conference champions | |||
Division champions | |||
Head coach | Phil Jackson | ||
General manager | Jerry Krause | ||
Owners | Jerry Reinsdorf | ||
Arena | United Center | ||
Results | |||
Record | 72–10 (.878) | ||
Place | Division: 1st (Central) Conference: 1st (Eastern) | ||
Playoff finish | NBA Champions (Defeated SuperSonics 4–2) | ||
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |||
Local media | |||
Television | WGN-TV (Wayne Larrivee, Johnny "Red" Kerr) SportsChannel Chicago (Tom Dore, Johnny "Red" Kerr) | ||
Radio | WMAQ | ||
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Widely regarded as the greatest team 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.[12] 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 set a new milestone by finishing with a 73-9 regular season record, surpassing the previous record set by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. However, despite their remarkable performance, the team ultimately fell short in the 2016 NBA Finals.[13] 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.[14] 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 (.932), which included an 18-game winning streak for the team.[15] The team also went undefeated in January with a 14–0 record,[16] and held a 42–5 record at the All-Star break.[17] The Bulls became the first NBA team to ever win 70 regular season games, finishing first overall in their division, conference, and the entire NBA, and posted a league best 39–2 home record.[18] They are also the only team in NBA history to win more than 70 games and an NBA title in the same season.
Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were both selected for the 1996 NBA All-Star Game in San Antonio, Texas, with head coach Phil Jackson coaching the Eastern Conference,[19][20][21][22] and with Jordan winning his second All-Star Game MVP award.[23][24][25][26][27] Jordan was named Most Valuable Player of the Year, averaging 30.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.2 steals per game.[28][29][30][31] In addition, Pippen averaged 19.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game, while Rodman led the league with 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 on March 16, 1996,[32][33][34][35] and Croatian small forward Toni Kukoč played a sixth man role, averaging 13.1 points per game off the bench, and was named Sixth Man of the Year.[36][37][38] Luc Longley provided the team with 9.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, while three-point specialist Steve Kerr contributed 8.4 points per game off the bench, while shooting .515 in three-point field goal percentage, and Ron Harper provided with 7.4 points and 1.3 steals per game.[39] 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 Coach of the Year.[40][41][42][43] Pippen also finished in fifth place in Most Valuable Player voting,[28] and in second place in Defensive Player of the Year voting.[44][45][46]
The Bulls swept the Miami Heat, 3–0 in the Eastern Conference First Round of the playoffs,[47][48][49][50] defeated the 5th-seeded New York Knicks, 4–1 in five games of the Eastern Conference Semi-finals,[51][52][53][54] then swept the Orlando Magic, 4–0 in the Eastern Conference Finals.[55][56][57][58] They then defeated the Seattle SuperSonics, 4–2 in the 1996 NBA Finals, winning their fourth NBA title in six seasons.[59][60][61][62][63] The Bulls have the best combined regular and postseason record in NBA history at 87–13 (.870). Following the season, Edwards retired, and Salley left to play overseas in Greece.[64]
For the season, the Bulls added new black alternate road uniforms with red pinstripes.[65] Eventually, they would remove the pinstripes from their jerseys in 1997.[66]