(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
The Chicago Bulls were the most dominant force in the NBA in the 1990s, and it wasn’t even close.
Phil Jackson’s team won six rings in an eight-year span, including two three-peats.
The only other team that was able to go the distance at that time was Hakeem Olajuwon’s Houston Rockets, who won in 1994 and 1995.
However, that happened during Michael Jordan’s retirement, as he came back late in the 1994-95 season and barely played as the Bulls lost in the playoffs.
Looking back, former Bulls star Toni Kukoc tells Brandon Scoop ‘B’ Robinson that he’s completely sure that his Bulls would’ve beaten the Rockets in a hypothetical matchup in the NBA Finals, as they beat them every time in the regular season.
Michael Jordan retired from basketball and the Houston Rockets won two rings. Toni Kukoc believes his Bulls would’ve beaten Hakeem Olajuwon’s Rockets had they matched in ‘94 or even in ‘95: “I think we would’ve beat them. We beat them that year every game we played.”
“Hakeem… pic.twitter.com/nndbDyGyPz
— Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson (@ScoopB) September 3, 2023
Kukoc also claimed that Hakeem was the best center of all time, lauding his fundamentals and how talented and gifted he was with the ball in his hands.
He stated that Hakeem fooled people with his looks, as sometimes they thought they could guard him, and he was just unstoppable with his footwork and fundamentals.
Even so, as better as they were in the interior, Kukoc claims the Bulls were better in the perimeter and had plenty of guys who could pile up fouls trying to keep Olajuwon in check.
The Rockets beat the New York Knicks and Orlando Magic in those two NBA Finals series, and with all due respect to those teams, neither was better than Jordan’s Bulls.
Still, it would’ve been nice to see how those series could’ve played out, and how different would Jordan’s legacy be if he had won eight straight championships or if his record in the Finals was 6-2 or 7-1.
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