Michael Jordan faced better competition than LeBron James

As we watch Michael Jordan vanquish each of his contemporaries in ESPN’s “The Last Dance” — which wraps up with its final two episodes on Sunday — it’s hard not to imagine the best of today’s game lacing up against them. What if LeBron James had played against these guys?

The tone of that question goes one of two ways. If you believe the late ’80s and early ’90s were the golden era of the NBA, you’re asking it derisively. LeBron against the REAL MEN of Jordan’s era? No chance. If you aren’t that nostalgic, you’re asking it gleefully. LeBron against those basketball Neanderthals? It’s about to get ugly for them.

Unless there’s a secret time travel portal out there, we can’t test either hypothesis. The best we can do is measure the relative strength of the teams that Jordan and James faced in their many playoff runs. We’ll use net rating, or the difference between each team’s points scored and allowed per 100 possessions. That data can’t settle the MJ-LeBron debate entirely, but it can give us insight into whose roads to victory were tougher — albeit with some caveats.

Jordan faced a tougher playoff path

Average wins and net rating* for teams led by Michael Jordan and LeBron James and their playoff opponents, ’84-’85 through ’18-’19 seasons

The average team Jordan faced in his 37 playoff series posted a regular-season net rating of +4.58, which translates into somewhere between 53 and 54 wins using a Pythagorean win percentage calculator. The average team LeBron faced in his 45 (and counting) series posted a regular-season net rating of +3.97, which roughly equates to a 52-win team. (The difference shrinks when removing Jordan’s three first-round playoff defeats to much superior opponents, but it still exists.)

That’s not a massive difference, but it is a material one. To put it in LeBronian terms, it’s only a bit less than the difference between the ’13 Pacers team that pushed LeBron’s Heat to seven games in the Eastern Conference finals (+4.5 net rating) and the ’16 Hawks squad that James’s Cavaliers swept mercilessly in the second round (+3.7 net rating).

The gap widens when considering only series victories. Jordan’s average playoff victim went 52–30 in the regular season with a net rating of +4.06. LeBron’s, on the other hand, went just 49–33 with a net rating of +2.82. That’s the difference between the ’92 Knicks, one of two teams to extend Chicago to seven games during Jordan’s title runs,1 and the ’17 Celtics, who fell meekly to LeBron’s Cavs in five despite possessing home-court advantage.

This doesn’t mean that MJ’s opponents would beat LeBron’s if they were to play head-to-head. But it does show that Jordan’s victims were generally better in the specific season they faced the Bulls.

So why does MJ come out on top? There are two obvious reasons. One is that Jordan’s teams were much better than LeBron’s. Jordan’s Bulls averaged more than 58 wins a season with a net rating of +7.29, while James’s average club won 55 games. Jordan’s Bulls were also the Vegas betting favorite in 91 percent of their series beginning in ’88, the first year those odds are available,2 compared with just 76 percent for LeBron’s. You’ll never believe this, but better teams tend to win more in the playoffs than worse teams.

Were Jordan’s teams better because Jordan is that much better than LeBron individually? Maybe. Were they better because Jordan had teammates that fit better alongside him? Maybe. It likely helped Jordan that he stayed with one franchise that built around him throughout his playoff career, as opposed to James, who hopped around from Cleveland, to Miami and back to Cleveland. But even LeBron’s Heat teams that were supposedly loaded with stars had a lower average net rating than the Bulls did over Jordan’s entire tenure.

The second obvious reason explains why LeBron both got to the NBA Finals more often and lost more often once there. Yes, the East really was stronger in MJ’s day.

The East was better when Jordan ruled it

Average wins, losses, Simple Rating System strength and net ratings* of the seven other Eastern Conference playoff teams during the playoff runs of Michael Jordan and LeBron James

The average East playoff team in Jordan’s era was much better than the average East playoff team in LeBron’s, even though Jordan’s Bulls were also better than LeBron’s Cavs and Heat. If anything, this table undersells the difficult East that Jordan (usually) defeated. Jordan’s average Eastern Conference finals opponent was nearly a point better in net rating than James’s.

The flip side is that James’s NBA Finals opponents were much tougher than Jordan’s. MJ never faced a finals foe as dominant as the ’15, ’16 and ’17 Warriors and only once bested a team better than the Spurs that swept James’s upstart Cavaliers in ’07. But James also faced four of the five worst finals opponents of the bunch, at least based on regular-season net rating.

LeBron faced the Finals’ best … and lost to the worst

NBA Finals teams and opponents of Michael Jordan and LeBron James by regular-season net rating* and wins

There are two silver linings for LeBron defenders:

James had the best overall playoff series victory of the two: The ’15-’16 Warriors had a net rating of +10.7, more than a point higher than the toughest team Jordan beat. In fact, James has three of the five most impressive victories by this measure, though Jordan occupies 11 of the next 13 spots on the list.

LeBron had the most impressive playoff series win

Top 15 playoff series won by LeBron James or Michael Jordan by regular-season net rating* of opponent

LeBron’s teams outperformed their regular-season benchmarks more than Jordan’s teams in the playoffs: Jordan’s playoff series followed a familiar script — he won when he had the better regular-season team and lost when he didn’t. James, on the other hand, more often won with a worse team than Jordan, or at least came closer than expected.

To calculate this, I found the net rating for each series the two stars played. Then I subtracted the regular-season net rating differential between their team and their playoff opponent. A high positive number suggests that James or Jordan “overachieved” with their series result. A high negative number suggests the opposite.

Look at all the times LeBron’s teams pop up at the top of the list.

LeBron’s teams have overperformed more…

NBA playoff series for teams led by Michael Jordan or LeBron James with the biggest positive difference between the series net rating* and the regular-season ratings gap between the two teams

The flip side is that he also lost more often — or came closer to losing than expected — with better teams.

…and also underperformed more than Jordan’s

NBA playoff series for teams led by Michael Jordan or LeBron James with the biggest negative difference between the series net rating* and the regular-season ratings gap between the two teams

This method is a bit misleading because James’s later teams had a tendency to conserve energy in the regular season. Still, James ripping apart his toughest East opponents instead of just beating them is a feather in his cap. James turned it on more in the playoffs than Jordan — at least by this method.

(Makes you wonder how the same star who pushed the great ’08 Celtics to seven with a horrid supporting cast could also lose decisively to a Spurs team in ’14 that was closer to his team’s equal than the final series margin would suggest, as well as fall to three teams from ’09 to ’11 that were worse than his.)

Otherwise, though, Jordan did in fact face tougher opposition than LeBron. This alone shouldn’t settle the debate over who’s the GOAT, but it at least gives Jordan backers more supporting evidence to use.

By Mike Prada

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PATH TO THE FINALS

LeBron James has famously never lost in the 1st Round, a perfect 14–0 record.

He didn’t just win, he pummels teams. Prior to the grueling seven-game series against the Pacers in ’18, he had won a ridiculous 21 consecutive games in the opening round, essentially never even sweating an early round exit for nearly a decade. The only two players under the current 16-team playoff format (since ’84) that can hold a candle to his early-round dominance are Derek Fisher and Robert Horry, both of whom went 16–0 in the 1st Round.

Unlike Jordan, LeBron never faced a juggernaut early on.

The toughest opponent Jordan ever faced was the ’85-’86 Celtics, one of the greatest teams in NBA history who swept Jordan’s Bulls despite a stellar showing by the then second-year guard. In addition to that legendary Celtics team that featured five Hall of Famers, Jordan also squared off against a 59-win Milwaukee Bucks team in ’85 that featured the league’s best defence spearheaded by two-time Defensive Player of the Year Sidney Moncrief. According to FiveThirtyEight, that Bucks team was better than 34 of the 36 teams that James has played in all rounds leading up to the NBA Finals.

The toughest opponent James has played in the first round was a ’11-’12 Knicks team that fired Mike D’Antoni halfway through the season after an 18–24 start. That team starred Carmelo Anthony, a banged up Amar’e Stoudemire and J.R. Smith.

It’s not just the first round either.

If you take every team that Jordan and James faced in the East, you’ll find that it’s Jordan who faced the stiffer competition in rounds leading up to the Finals.

8 of the toughest 11 opponents belong to Jordan and if you limit it to just the years in which they reached the Finals, six of the top eight were MJ opponents.

It’s even more drastic when looking strictly at who each of them faced in the Conference Finals. If you line up all 18 of their Conference Finals opponents, 4 of the top 5 were foes of Jordan’s Bulls while seven of the bottom eight teams were ones that faced off against LeBron’s Cavs or Heat.

The ’97-’98 Pacers team featured in “The Last Dance” that pushed Jordan to seven games ranks higher than eight of the 10 teams LeBron has played in the Conference Finals. The one feather in LeBron’s cap is the ’10-’11 Bulls who went 62–20 and featured league MVP Derrick Rose. That Bulls team sports a higher ELO rating than any of the teams that Jordan beat in the East, barely edging out the ’93 Knicks.

Fun fact: In all of his loses in playofs Jordan and the Bulls was outplayed by NBA finalist every time except Milwaukee Bucks in his rookie year. 3 teams won NBA finals the same year they defeated Jordan.

’86 Boston Celtics — NBA champions

’87 Boston Celtics — Lost in NBA Finals

’88 Detroit Pistons — Lost in NBA Finals

’89 Detroit Pistons — NBA champions

’90 Detroit Pistons — NBA back to back champions

’95 Orlando Magic — Lost in NBA Finals

From ’91-’98 Jordan faced 6 1st all NBA players (Charles Barkley in ’91, Mark Price in ’93, Penny Hardaway ’95 and ’96, Shaquille O’Neal in ’95 and Tim Hardaway in ’97) and 3 2nd team all NBA players (Patrick Ewing in ’91 and ’92 and Dominique Wilkins in ’93) in eastern conference playoffs. Just for comparison from ’11-’18 in eastern conference playoffs LeBron faced 1 1st all NBA player (Derick Rose in ’11) and 3 2nd team all NBA players (Pau Gasol in ’15, Isaiah Thomas in ’17 and DeMar DeRozan in ’18).

Only 2 of Jordan’s 37 playoff opponents are 0.500 or worse.

Did LeBron have it easier prior to reaching the Finals? Yes.

But once there… it’s an entirely different story.

WHO BEAT MORE 60-WIN AND 50-WIN TEAMS IN THE NBA PLAYOFFS

One argument that needs to come up is how many great teams did both players defeat in the playoffs. 60-win teams are often regarded as great teams, and are expected to be title contenders or at least go deep into the playoffs. Clearly, the player who won the most games against 60-win teams will have a strong argument for being the best overall player. Similarly, 50-win teams are very good teams that will no doubt compete in the playoffs and can defeat any team on any night.

It is time to determine which player won the most playoff series against both 60-win and 50-win teams. Some of these stats may be shocking, but it also may open your eyes as to how to view the greatness of these incredibly talented players.

60-Win Teams In The Playoffs and Finals:

MICHAEL JORDAN: 7–2

‘86/’87: Lost 0–3 against Boston Celtics (67–15) in 1st Round

’88/’89: Lost 2–4 against Detroit Pistons (63–19) in ECF

’92/’93: Won 4–2 against New York Knicks (60–22) in ECF

’92/’93: Won 4–2 against Phoenix Suns (62–20) in Finals

’95/’96: Won 4–0 against Orlando Magic (60–22) in ECF

’95/’96: Won 4–2 against Seattle Sonics (64–18) in Finals

’96/’97: Won 4–1 against Miami Heat (61–21) in ECF

’96/’97: Won 4–2 against Utah Jazz (64–18) in Finals

’97/’98: Won 4–2 against Utah Jazz (62–20) in Finals

Clearly, MJ beat the most 60-win teams in the playoffs. This is no surprise since Jordan ran into the Bad Boy Pistons, a dominant Celtics crew led by Larry Bird, the Patrick Ewing-led New York Knicks, and the supremely talented Utah Jazz led by Malone and Stockton.

Michael Jordan has beaten some all-time great teams during his career, and these teams would have likely won NBA titles if MJ and the Bulls did not knock them out of the postseason. This stat is quite shocking, that Jordan has more than doubled the number of wins that both LeBron James and Kobe Bryant have over 60-win teams in the playoffs.

MJ was always known as a winner of the highest level, and this stat does nothing but prove this. Once Michael Jordan got a strong crew behind him, with the likes of Scottie Pippen and later Dennis Rodman, he basically ran riot over the entire NBA for years. As it stands, Michael Jordan has won 7 out of 9 series against all-time great NBA teams.

LEBRON JAMES: 3–4

’07/’08: Lost 2–4 against Boston Celtics (66–16) in 2nd Round

’10/’11: Won 4–1 against Chicago Bulls (62–20) in ECF

’13/’14: Lost 1–4 against San Antonio Spurs (62–20) in Finals

’14/’15: Won 4–0 against Atlanta Hawks (60–22) in ECF

’14/’15: Lost 2–4 against Golden State Warriors (67–15) in Finals

’15/’16: Won 4–3 against Golden State Warriors (73–9) in Finals

’16/’17: Lost 1–4 against Golden State Warriors (67–15) in Finals

LeBron James most recently ran into the Golden State Warriors juggernauts the past few years, and that increases both his number of losses by two and wins by one. In perhaps the most impressive career achievement in LeBron’s career, he managed to overcome a 3–1 deficit and defeat the 73–9 Golden State Warriors team led by Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green.

However, he still has a losing record to 60-win teams including two against the Kevin Durant-led Golden State Warriors, the San Antonio Spurs, and Boston Celtics. The loss against San Antonio was by a record margin, and LeBron’s Heat was simply overwhelmed at the time. His loss against the Celtics was not on him by any means as he simply could not match up with the Celtics superteam led by Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett.

James hopes to climb the ranking a bit higher and hopefully get closer to Jordan’s 7 wins in the postseason. Still, 3 wins out of 7 isn’t inherently bad, and he will aim to at least get a respectable .500 win percentage before he hangs it up.

50-Win Teams In The Playoffs and Finals:

MICHAEL JORDAN: 20–7

’88-’89: Won 3–2 against the Cleveland Cavaliers (57–25) in 1st Round

’88-’89: Won 4–2 against the New York Knicks (52–30) in 2nd Round

’89-’90: Won 4–1 against the Philadelphia 76ers (53–29) in 2nd Round

’90-’91: Won 4–0 against the Detroit Pistons (50–32) in ECF

’90-’91: Won 4–1 against the Los Angeles Lakers (58–24) in NBA Finals

’91-’92: Won 4–3 against the New York Knicks (51–31) in 2nd Round

’91-’92: Won 4–2 against the Cleveland Cavaliers (57–25) in ECF

’91-’92: Won 4–2 against the Portland Trail Blazers (57–25) in NBA Finals

’92-’93: Won 4–0 against the Cleveland Cavaliers (54–28) in 2nd Round

’92-’93: Won 4–2 against the New York Knicks (60–22) in ECF

’92-’93: Won 4–2 against the Phoenix Suns (62–20) in NBA Finals

’94-’95: Won 3–1 against the Charlotte Hornets (50–32) in 1st Round

’95-’96: Won 4–0 against the Orlando Magic (60–22) in ECF

’95-’96: Won 4–2 against the Seattle SuperSonics (64–18) in NBA Finals

’96-’97: Won 4–1 against the Atlanta Hawks (56–26) in 2nd Round

’96-’97: Won 4–1 against the Miami Heat (61–21) in ECF

’96-’97: Won 4–2 against the Utah Jazz (64–18) in NBA Finals

’97-’98: Won 4–1 against the Charlotte Hornets (51–31) in 2nd Round

’97-’98: Won 4–3 against the Indiana Pacers (58–24) in ECF

’97-’98: Won 4–2 against the Utah Jazz (62–20) in NBA Finals

MJ comes closest to Kobe, winning 20 out of 27 games against 50-win teams. That is a very impressive winning percentage, and this only adds to the evidence that MJ basically ran the league for almost his entire career. MJ did his work against great teams in the postseason and trails Kobe Bryant by only 5 wins.

It is impressive that Jordan only lost 7 times against 50 win teams, and these losses were expected.

When Jordan was favored, he usually got the job done and never allowed himself to underperform. That is truly the mark of why many consider Jordan to be the best ever since he never let up and let anyone off the hook. In many ways, his record might be the most impressive considering the fact he only lost 7 games.

LEBRON JAMES: 11–9

(*Excluding lockout-shortened season)

’06-’07: Won 4–2 against Detroit Pistons (53–29) in ECF

’06-’07: Lost 4–0 against San Antonio Spurs (58–24) in NBA Finals

’10-’11: Won 4–1 against Boston Celtics (56–26) in 2nd Round

’10-’11: Won 4–2 against Chicago Bulls (62–20) in ECF

’10-’11: Lost 4–2 against Dallas Mavericks (57–25) in NBA Finals

’12-’13: Won 4–3 against San Antonio Spurs (58–24) in NBA Finals

’13-’14: Won 4–2 against Indiana Pacers (56–26) in ECF

’13-’14: Lost 4–1 against San Antonio Spurs (62–20) in NBA Finals

’14-’15: Won 4–2 against Chicago Bulls (50–32) in 2nd Round

’14-’15: Won 4–0 against Atlanta Hawks (60–22) in ECF

’14-’15: Lost 4–2 against Golden State Warriors (67–15) in NBA Finals

’15-’16: Won 4–2 against Toronto Raptors (56–26) in ECF

’15-’16: Won 4–3 against Golden State Warriors (73–9) in NBA Finals

’16-’17: Won 4–0 against Toronto Raptors (51–31) in 2nd Round

’16-’17: Won 4–1 against Boston Celtics (53–29) in ECF

’16-’17: Lost 4–1 against Golden State Warriors (67–15) in NBA Finals

’17-’18: Won 4–0 against Toronto Raptors (59–23) in 2nd Round

’17-’18: Won 4–3 against Boston Celtics (55–27) in ECF

’17-’18: Lost 4–0 against Golden State Warriors (58–24) in NBA Finals

It is shocking how many 50-win teams LeBron has actually beaten in the postseason. While LeBron James is a force of nature who can seemingly carry any team he wants to the Finals, he might have been helped tremendously by playing in the East.

With only 20 games against 50-win teams, LeBron James has managed to win 11. This record is surprising since James is so dominant in the regular season. In fact, LeBron is most probably the best regular-season player ever. But does this mean that James is the NBA’s version of Peyton Manning and not Tom Brady?

It depends on who you ask, but James clearly pales in comparison to the amount of 50-win teams that Michael Jordan and especially Kobe Bryant has beaten. Luckily for James, he still has time to get closer to MJ in wins and hopefully make this less of a landslide.

THE MYTH THAT JORDAN PLAYED WEAK COMPETITION IN THE ’80S AND ’90S

we saw the truth about the expansion teams, we saw how the ’80s-’90s players increased their scoring heading into the ’00s era on top of dominating ’00s players defensively when looking at this competition, and we saw 38-year old Jordan dominate the modern competition offensively, defensively, and team-wise before his knee injury.

People claim that the ’80s teams were far superior the ’90s teams that Jordan played, that the ’00s teams are tougher, or both. We’ll see that not only is Jordan’s ’90s competition of equal quality to the ’80s, but far superior to the ’00s as we have already seen before.

One of the criticisms against Jordan’s era is the expansion teams making it easier to get a higher W-L record. But the truth is there was only 1 or 2 sub-20 teams every year from ’91-’92 to ’96-’97 and 0 in ’90-’91. In ’97-’98 there was a large number of sub-20 teams with 6, but 5 of them were in the Western Conference, so that wasn’t of much benefit to Jordan coming out the East especially at playoff time. Next because more teams won 50/60 games it’s expected that the lower teams will have more losses, but in spite of that the only anomaly is ’98 which was caused mostly by West teams. From ’91-’95 there were 0 sub-20 teams in the East and only 1 in the East each year from ’96-’98. There was only 1 sub-20 team in the West in ’94-’95 when Hakeem won his 2 titles.

It’s also important to note that the ’80-’90s had the best PG, SG, SF, and C of all-time in Magic, Jordan, Bird, and Hakeem, as well as 3 of the top 4 defenders of all-time in Rodman, Hakeem, and David Robinson (Bill Russell being the 4th). In fact, the best defensive player at each of the 5 positions all came in the ’90s — Payton, Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, and Hakeem (arguably with Russell for the C position). No other era had as much depth or stacked level of competition on the team and individual levels.

’84-’85

Milwaukee Bucks

• Jordan lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, with the number 1 defense in the league.
• One year before this, Larry Bird’s Celtics had to defeat Moncrief/Pressey’s Bucks in the ECF for his second championship.
• Just two years before this, Bird/Parish/McHale’s Celtics lost to the same Bucks team. Larry Bird was held to 18.7 ppg on 44% in the playoffs against the ’83 Bucks after 23.6 ppg on 50% in the ’82-’83 regular season.
• They had Sidney Moncrief, who had just won Defensive Player of the Year each of the last two years, and one of the greatest defensive guards of all time in Paul Pressey.
• Keep in mind that no guard has ever won DPOY in the ’00s, and in his first year in the playoffs, Jordan already had to deal with a 2x DPOY guard in Moncrief.
• This Bucks team was swept by the ’85 Sixers, but they still held Moses Malone and a past prime Julius Irving to lower than usual production on offense.
• One year after this series, Bird’s Celtics had to beat this same Bucks team again in the ECF on the way to Bird’s last championship.

’85-’86

Boston Celtics

• Jordan lost to the eventual ’86 champion Celtics with the greatest home record of all time (40–1), and with a top 3 defense in the league.
• He was dealing with one of the greatest defensive guards of all time, former Finals MVP Dennis Johnson, and had to drive through a front court of Bird, Parish, and McHale.
• In the very next round, This Celtics team held the high-flying scoring champion Dominique Wilkins to 24 ppg on less than 40% after averaging 30 ppg on 47% in the season.
• With a team that went 21–43 in his absence due to a broken foot, Jordan still averaged 44–6–6 on 51% against the greatest Celtics team of all time.

’86-’87

Boston Celtics

• Jordan faced the defending champion Celtics again (number 4 defense), who would go on to the NBA Finals before losing to the dynasty Lakers.
• Larry Bird was one assist per game from averaging a triple double in this series.
• With his best scoring option Oakley shooting 38%, Jordan still put up 36–7–6 with 2 spg and 2 bpg, but on a lower 42%.

’87-’88

Cleveland Cavaliers

• Jordan put up 45–5–5 on 56% against the Cavs with the number 2 defense in the league. Sure seems like Pippen carried him.
• This Cavs team had 5 players that averaged double figures and a good all-around cast of Ron Harper, Larry Nance, Brad Daugherty, Mark Price, and Hot Rod Williams.

Detroit Pistons

• Next they played the ’88 Pistons (number 3 defense) who went on to lose in the Finals against the defending champ Lakers.
• Pippen only averaged 9–5–2 on 46% in the next round against the Pistons, and Lebron fans like to complain about his teammates not stepping up.
• Jordan shut down Isiah Thomas and played good defense on Hall of Famer Adrian Dantley.
• Bird had averaged 26–8–6 on 51% against the Hawks in the ’88 playoffs, but then got destroyed by the ’88 Pistons with 20–12–6 on 35%.
• Jordan also decreased his first round production, but he still ended up with 27–9–5 on 49% against them despite having less help than Bird.
• Jordan got guarded by the likes of Rodman, the only player in history that can lock down 1–5, and Joe Dumars.

’88-’89

Cleveland Cavaliers

• Jordan had a 6 seed Bulls team in ’89, and Pippen only averaged 13 ppg + 4 apg in the playoffs, far below his production when he was fully developed during the Bulls championship seasons
• Despite that, he beat the Cavs and Ewing’s Knicks without home court advantage.
• The Cavs team had the number 3 defense in the league and six players that averaged double figures in this playoff series.

New York Knicks

• The very next year, Patrick Ewing dropped 31.6 ppg and 11.4 apg on 57% against the Celtics front court of Parish and McHale in the playoffs. Larry Bird almost averaged a triple double in that series, but he still lost to Ewing’s Knicks in the first round.
• In this series, Jordan became the only guard to lead his team in 5/5 categories during a playoff series (points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks).

Detroit Pistons

• Jordan would fall to the Pistons (number 2 defense), 4–2 in the ’89 ECF. No other team, not even the Lakers who went 11–0 in the West, even beat the ’89 Pistons once. And Jordan did all that with a very undeveloped Scottie Pippen.
• Jordan shut down Isiah Thomas (21 ppg on 39%) in this series again while Pippen only played one minute of Game 6 where the Pistons would win the series 4–2.
• Jordan was again getting guarded by the likes of Rodman and one of the greatest defensive guards of all time in Joe Dumars, who went on to win Finals MVP this year.
• Jordan put up 30–5.5–6.5 on 46% even with a 6 seed team that only had three players in double figures (12, 10 and 10 ppg).
• For reference Lebron put up 22–7–7 on 36% in the ’07 Finals with a 2 seed team that only had three players in double figures (13, 11, 10 ppg).

’89-’90

Milwaukee Bucks

• Jordan went against the Bucks with former DPOY shooting guard Alvin Robertson. Remember that no guard has won DPOY in the ’00s. They also had another elite defender in Paul Pressey. Jordan still lit them up with 37–8–7 on 54%.

Philadelphia 76ers

• Then Jordan beat Charles Barkley’s 76ers in 4 with Jordan lighting them up as well.

Detroit Pistons

• Jordan’s teammates finally stepped up for the first 6 games of the ’90 ECF against the eventual ’90 champion Pistons (number 1 defense), and the series was tied 3–3.
• In Game 7, Jordan put up 31–9–8 on 48%, and also held Isiah Thomas to 41% shooting.
• Jordan also went up against DPOY Rodman, who can actually guard 1–5.
• The rest of Jordan’s teammates played garbage in Game 7. The only teammate of Jordan’s in double figures was Horace Grant with 10 pts on 3–17 (18%) shooting. Pippen finished with 2 pts 4 rebs 2 ast on 1–10 shooting
• Dennis Rodman actually outscored every teammate of Jordan’s, and did it more efficiently with 13 pts on 6–7 shooting
• While Jordan shot 48%, no other notable teammate (benchwarmers in garbage time don’t count) shot better than 33.3%.

’90-’91

Philadelphia 76ers

• Jordan beat Charles Barkley’s 76ers in the second round again this year.

Detroit Pistons

• The ’91 Pistons had the number 1 defense in the league, Dennis Rodman was DPOY for the second year in a row and they were back to back NBA Champs.
• Isiah’s injury is not an excuse, because Isiah already played almost 50 games in the season and had played through injuries before, such as the ’89 Finals. Isiah also averaged almost 12 apg in the first round of the playoffs this year against Dominique Wilkins’ Hawks.
• If you are going to use Isiah’s injury as an excuse, Jordan must be given extra credit for winning with an injured Toni Kukoc (’96 ECSF), Ron Harper (’96 Finals) and Scottie Pippen (’97-’98 season and ’98 Finals).
• This Pistons team was still good enough to sweep the Celtics with Reggie Lewis and McHale playing very well.
• People claim this team was weakened by the flagrant foul rule, but they ended up with the number 1 defense in the league for the second year in a row and with Rodman winning DPOY again, even after the introduction of that rule. Clearly the myth that the introduction of this rule hurt the Pistons is far from true. The Pistons actually allowed less PPG in ’90-’91 than they did in ’89-’90.
• For those who still doubt the ’91 Pistons defense, they shut down Dominique Wilkins to 21 ppg on 37% after 26 ppg on 47% in the regular season in the first round of the playoffs.
• Also one other myth is floating around and that is Bad Boys got old. In ’90-’91 season Isiah Thomas was 29, Dennis Rodman was 29, Joe Dumars was 27, Mark Aguirre was 31, James Edwards was 35, Vinnie “The Microwave” Johnson was 34, Bill Laimbeer was 33 and John Salley was 26 years old.

Los Angeles Lakers

• The Lakers were still a great team, and they were not washed up like people think, though not as great as the ’80s Lakers.
• Former Finals MVP James Worthy was playing with an ankle injury, but he still put up 19–3–2 on 48%, which was not far off from his playoff and season averages. Considering he was doing that against a top defense like the Bulls, it shows no indication that he wasn’t playing well. By the time Worthy missed Game 5, the series was already over with the Bulls up 3–1.
• James Worthy broke his leg and missed all of the ’83 playoffs, but nobody tries to discredit Moses Malone’s ’83 victory over the Lakers in the Finals.
• The Lakers didnt have Kareem, but Kareem was a minor contributor on the ’88 and ’89 Lakers team. They were still a great team even with Kareem having a minimal impact.
• Vlade Divac in the ’91 Finals played much, much better than a faded Kareem did in in the ’88 and ’89 Finals. He was more than enough to offset the loss of a fading ’88-’89 Kareem (not a prime Kareem obviously).
• Kareem ’88 Finals — 13–4–1 on 41%, 0.6 spg, 1 bpg
• Kareem ’89 Finals — 12.5–5–2 on 44%, 0.5 spg, 1 bpg
• Kareem ’82 Finals — 18–8–4 on 53%, 1.3 spg, 3.2 bpg
• Divac ’91 Finals — 18–9–2 on 57%, 1.8 spg, 2.4 bpg
• Divac in ’91 actually played at practically the same level that Kareem did for the ’82 Finals.
• This is the same Vlade Divac who was a key piece of the Kings that nearly ended the ’00-’02 Lakers 3peat chances. Somehow only in Jordan’s era is he considered part of a weak team.
• Magic Johnson averaged 12.5 apg in the NBA Finals and regular season. Since then, no player outside of John Stockton has matched those numbers in the regular season, and Stockton never reached that assist output after the ’93-’94 season.
• No player besides Magic Johnson has ever reached 12 apg in the NBA Finals.
• No player since ’91 has even reached 10 apg in the Finals, and no player in the ’00s has reached 12 apg in a season.
• Magic had averaged a triple double in the ’91 WCSF against the Warriors, dropping 26–10–13.
• If Magic Johnson was washed up at this point, then that only shows how vastly superior Jordan’s era was compared to the ’00s, since a “washed up” Magic Johnson was a far better distributor and all-around player than any PG of the ’00s.
• Magic is the only person to average 20–10 (ppg-apg) in a Finals or Title run, doing it in ’87 and ’91 with at least 21–12 each time.
• When the Pistons beat the Lakers in ’89, Magic Johnson played a combined 5 minutes in the last 2 games of the Finals due to injury.

’91-’92

New York Knicks

• Jordan played the Knicks in the second round with the number 2 defense in the league, who beat the Bad Boy Pistons in the first round.
• They had an all-time great Center in Ewing, whereas the toughest center for Lebron to deal with during his championship seasons was 0–0 Roy Hibbert.
• They also had a stacked defensive lineup at every position with Ewing, Oakley, Mason, Wilkins, Starks, Greg Anthony, and McDaniel. They were as deep defensively as the ’14 Spurs were offensively.

Portland Trail Blazers

• Then the Bulls faced the Blazers with Clyde Drexler, who made the Finals 2 years earlier against the great ’80s team of the Pistons.
• Drexler averaged 26–8–6 on 54% in the ’90 Finals and lost.
• People confuse the Blazers lack of big names outside of Drexler for being a weak team. The truth is they had 6 players scoring in double figures for the playoffs.
• Terry Porter averaged 21–5–7 on 52% for the ’92 Playoffs to complement Drexler. He also outplayed Kevin Johnson and John Stockton in back to back rounds in the ’92 WCSF and ’92 WCF.
• Terry Porter in ’92 became the only player to average at least 15 ppg, 50% FG, 45% 3PT In an NBA Finals run (min. 1.5 3PA/game).
• In the ’92 Playoffs he had 21.4 ppg — 4.6 rpg — 6.7 apg on 52% FG — 47% 3PT — 83% FT.
• They had the same Cliff Robinson that was a key starter of the ’02 and ’03 Pistons with the number 6 and number 1 defense in the league, as well as another elite defender like Buck Williams. Only difference is this Cliff Robinson wasn’t washed up at 35 and 36 years old like he was with the ’00s Pistons.
• They also had a great supporting cast of Porter, Kersey, Duckworth, and Ainge (same Ainge who was a key contributor of the Celtics in the ’86 Finals). This team was insanely deep.
• The Bulls beat the same team that the Bad Boy Pistons needed to beat in order to win a championship, and somehow it is only the Bad Boys that played in a tough era?
• I have heard some people say that Jordan would have never beat the Jazz when they had Malone, Stockton, and Eaton on the same team. Malone, Stockton, and Eaton could not even beat this ’92 Blazers team, and they also lost to the Blazers in ’91 with Thurl Bailey as well.
• The Stockton, Malone, and Eaton/Bailey Jazz in ’90 also lost in the first round to Kevin Johnson’s 5 seed Suns team, and the Suns did not even have Charles Barkley on that team like they did in ’93.

’92-’93

Atlanta Hawks

• In the first round, Jordan’s Bulls swept Dominique Wilkins’ Hawks.
• Along with Curry and Davis in the ’15 1st round, this is the only time that two players averaged 30 ppg in the same playoff series.

New York Knicks

• Jordan played the Knicks with the number 1 defense in the league in ’93, and were down 2–0 for the first time since Jordan played the Pistons in ’90.
• They still had a stacked defensive lineup of Ewing, Starks, Oakley, Mason, and Rivers. The very next year the Knicks would make the Finals before losing in 7 to a prime Hakeem’s Rockets.
• Despite the fact that Hakeem shut down Ewing to 19 ppg 36% shooting in the ’94 Finals, and Ewing had almost twice as many turnovers as assists, it still took the Rockets 7 games to take out the Knicks.
• The Rockets also needed a series-saving block by Hakeem in Game 6, and all 7 games were decided by single digits. This was the only time that happened in a 7 game series in the Finals. A true testament to the depth of that Knicks team beyond Ewing, even if the names were not that big.
• A common criticism of the ’92 and ’93 Knicks is that despite their great defense, they were among the worst offensive teams in the league.
• Well, the ’89 and ’90 Pistons as well as the ’04 Pistons were among the lowest scoring teams in the league, but nobody considers those teams to be weak competition, do they?
• These Knicks actually did a better job on Jordan defensively than the Pistons did in any of their four playoff meetings with the Bulls. Jordan had 30 ppg, but on 40% shooting against the Knicks. Scoring wise, the best defensive jobs the Pistons did on Jordan out of all 4 playoff series were 27.4 ppg on 49% and 29.7 ppg on 46%.

Phoenix Suns

• Bulls played the ’93 Suns with MVP Charles Barkley.
• They also had Kevin Johnson. In ’90 against Magic’s Lakers, who had gone 11–0 before losing in the Finals the year before, Kevin Johnson upset Magic as he led his 5 seed Suns past the number 1 seed Lakers in the second round. And that was without Charles Barkley.
• Kevin Johnson’s 6 best seasons outperform Chris Paul’s 6 best seasons from a scoring and assisting perspective.
• Kevin Johnson was only a 3x all-star, but Chris Paul was as high as 2nd in MVP Voting, proof that the standards of high quality are far lower in the ’00s.
• He also outperformed Derrick Rose’s MVP seasons.

Kevin Johnson’s 6 best seasons
20.4 ppg, 12.2 apg on 51%
22.5 ppg, 11.4 apg on 50%
22.2 ppg, 10.1 apg on 52%
19.7 ppg, 10.7 apg on 48%
20.0 ppg, 9.5 apg on 49%
20.1 ppg, 9.3 apg on 50%

Derrick Rose MVP season
24.1 ppg, 7.4 apg on 45%
He had more points, but KJ killed him in assists, and 1 assist is worth at least 2 points. He also shot much less efficiently than KJ’s best seasons.

Chris Paul’s 6 best seasons
22.8 ppg, 11.0 apg on 50%
21.1 ppg, 11.0 apg on 49%
19.1 ppg, 10.7 apg on 47%
19.1 ppg, 10.2 apg on 49%
18.7 ppg, 10.7 apg on 49%
19.8 ppg, 9.1 apg on 48%

Kevin Johnson, along with Magic Johnson, is the only player to average 20+ ppg and 10+ apg and 50% FG in 2 seasons. He fell barely short of a record 3rd season in ’89-’90 when he shot 49.9%. Along with Oscar and Isiah, he is the only player to average 20+ ppg and 10+ apg for 3 straight years, and fell barely short of tying them with a record 4th straight year when he averaged 19.7 ppg. It says a lot that Jordan beat Magic, Isiah, and KJ, shutting down both Isiah and KJ while also taking care of Magic in the OT of Game 3 in the ’91 Finals.

The Suns went 62–20 even with Kevin Johnson missing 32 games. A testament to their huge depth and Barkley’s greatness.

’94-’95

Orlando Magic

• The Magic had Shaq, Horace Grant, a healthy Penny, and a very good supporting cast of Scott, Nick Anderson, and Shaw. Along with Shaq, Brian Shaw was a key piece of the Lakers 3peat.
• The ’95 Magic had 6 players in double figures during the Finals (more than the ’14 Spurs), and averaged more ppg and apg in the Finals than the ’14 Spurs. Despite all that, they still couldn’t even win one game against Hakeem’s Rockets.

’95-’96

Miami Heat

• The Miami Heat acquired Tim Hardaway mid-season and went 17–11 (0.607 win%) following the trade. This would have put them on pace for 49–50 wins in the season.

New York Knicks

• In the second round they played the Knicks with a slightly past prime Ewing, as well as Starks, Mason, Oakley, and Derek Harper.
• As we saw, even a washed up version of these Knicks in ’00 and ’01 shut down Vince Carter in the playoffs even after Vince had the 2 best offensive seasons of his entire career. And that was without the ’90s defensive rules.

Orlando Magic

• Defending Eastern Conference Champs.
• Bulls rematched the Magic who made the NBA Finals the year before. Even with Shaq missing 28 games, the Magic still ended up 60–22 in the season. The Magic had a 0.714 win percentage without Shaq, so the absence of a far less impactful player like Horace Grant in this series is no excuse, and the Bulls blew out the Magic with Grant by almost 40 in Game 1.
• After this Magic team had 6 players averaging double figures in the ’95 Finals with more ppg and apg than the Spurs in the ’14 Finals, they got shut down by the Bulls to only 2 players averaging double figures (Shaq and Penny), and only 85 ppg and 16 apg in the ’96 ECF compared to 107 ppg and 27.5 apg in the ’95 Finals.
• Out of all players that averaged over 20 mpg, Shaq was the only one who broke the 50% shooting barrier.

Seattle SuperSonics

• Bulls then played the ’96 Sonics. Shawn Kemp was in his prime, and far from the shell he would become after gaining weight in the lockout season.
• Shawn Kemp is not a Hall of Famer, but if he maintained the level of play that he had in the ’96 Playoffs for his career he would easily have been a Hall of Famer.
• In the ’96 WCSF, Shawn Kemp actually outplayed Hakeem as the Sonics swept the 2x defending champion Rockets
• In the ’96 WCF, Kemp averaged 20–10 on 69% FG against Stockton + Malone’s Jazz. Even Shaquille O’Neal can’t say he shot that well in a playoff series. The highest that Shaq ever shot in a playoff series was 66% FG in the ’95 ECF.
• Then, Shawn Kemp averaged 23–10–2–1–2 on 55% in the ’96 Finals. Compare that with ’11 Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki’s inflated 26–10–2 on 42%. Kemp outperformed the same player that destroyed Lebron’s Heat in the ’11 Finals, and even that wasn’t enough to beat Jordan. And he was doing that with Dennis Rodman matching up against him.
• Against arguably the best team of all-time, Shawn Kemp put up better numbers than Dirk Nowitzki did in either his ’06 or ’11 Finals performances.
• Gary Payton, the best defensive PG in history, and the only point guard to ever win DPOY, averaged 22–5–7–2 on 50% through 3 rounds before Jordan locked him down in the Finals when Ron Harper was injured.
• And even at 35 years old past his prime without the benefit of ’90s defensive rules, Payton locked down one of the greatest rookies of all time in Lebron James, as well as Tony Parker in the ’04 WCSF. He also made Kobe miss a game winner.

• In four playoff series meetings against Detroit, Jordan never had less than 27.4 ppg in a series against the Pistons, nor did he ever have less than 46% shooting. But against Payton in the Finals he had 27.3 ppg on 41.5% shooting. No individual player has ever played better defense on Jordan, and definitely not anyone from the ’80s.
• Take a look at how stacked this Sonics defense was. They shut down Hakeem to 18.3 ppg on 48% in the ’96 WCSF after he had 26.9 ppg on 51% in the regular season.
• Gary Payton shut down John Stockton in the ’96 WCF to 9.9 ppg + 7.6 apg on just under 40% shooting, after he had 14.7 ppg + 11.2 apg on 54% in the regular season.
• Karl Malone increased his scoring from 25.7 ppg in the season to 27.0 ppg against the Sonics, but at the cost of lowering his FG% from 52% to 47.5%.
• Scottie Pippen got shut down to 15.7 ppg on 34% against the Sonics defense in the Finals after 19.4 ppg on 46% in the regular season.
• Michael Jordan got held to 27.3 ppg on 41.5% against Payton and the Sonics in the Finals. This is a lower PPG and FG% than Jordan had against any ’80s team.
• All of these players were in or near their prime. Try and find me one team from the ’00s that shut down that many Hall of Fame players, and that level of Hall of Fame players, in or near their prime, during one single postseason run.
• The only notable Hall of Famers that the ’04 Pistons shut down were Reggie Miller in the last games of his career, Jason Kidd, and Kobe. Kobe is the only one that compared to the Hall of Famers the Sonics shut down, and Jason Kidd doesn’t even begin to compared with the aforementioned greats.

People forget that ’96 Sonics team that people claim was “weak competition” swept the defending champions Houston Rockets.. and that ’98 jazz team that people also claim was “weak competition” swept Shaq Lakers who had 4 All Stars.

’96-’97

Washington Bullets

• For a first round team, the Bullets were very talented with Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, and Rod Strickland (averaged around 18 ppg 10 apg in his prime years).
• They had 5 players averaging 15+ ppg against the Bulls in the first round.
• The Bullets started the season 22–25, then went 22–13 after putting Bernie Bickerstaff at head coach. This would be on pace for 51 or 52 wins in a full season.

Atlanta Hawks

• This team also had great talent in DPOY Mutombo — a top 10 defender of all-time, 20 ppg Steve Smith, and a great 2-way guard in Mookie Blaylock, who is probably the best 6-foot or shorter defender of all-time.

Miami Heat

• In the ECF, the Bulls dealt with the Heat led by Tim Hardaway and Alonzo Mourning. Even after Jordan retired, this Heat team would remain a top 5 defense all the way to ’03.
• This Heat defense, even past their prime, also killed several superstars from the ’00s.– This is the only team in Jordan’s entire career that held him under 40% shooting (38.7%) for a series, though he still averaged 30–8–4–2–1 on 43% in the 4 wins.
• Even as an inexperienced player in the ’80s, the number 1 defense Bucks with Moncrief/Pressey couldn’t do that to a rookie Jordan, and the ’80s dynasty Celtics in back to back playoffs couldn’t do that even when Jordan missed almost all of his second season.
• This Heat team also held the entire Bulls team under 40% shooting (39.8%)
• Pippen also had problems with this defense — only putting up 16.8 ppg on 42% and only 2.8 apg to 3 turnovers a game.
• The Heat won 61 games even with their best player Alonzo missing 16 games.

Utah Jazz

• Then they played MVP Karl Malone in the Finals along with a past prime but still great Stockton.
• When a prime Tim Duncan was got guarded by Karl Malone, he got shut down to 38% shooting in the last 4 games of the ’04 WCSF (Spurs lost all 4 of those games) after a good start in Games 1–2.
• For those whining that Malone and Stockton were old, the Bulls already beat a ’92 Blazers team that defeated a younger Stockton and Malone in the WCF.
• I have heard some people say that Jordan would have never beat the Jazz when they had Malone, Stockton, and Eaton on the same team. Malone, Stockton, and Eaton could not even beat the ’92 Blazers.
• This Jazz team beat Shaq’s Lakers 4–1, and Shaq was held to 22 ppg on 49% after doing 26.2 ppg on 56% in the season. So much for him being too big and strong for the ’90s defenses to handle.
• Shaq has a combined 1–8 playoff record against Karl Malone’s Jazz, even after he made the NBA Finals in ’95.
• This Jazz team, even past their prime, also locked down several superstars from the ’00s.

’97-’98

Charlotte Hornets

• Often labeled as the best Charlotte Hornets team in franchise history.
• An underrated and overlooked team. They had one of the most underrated and versatile defenders of all time in Anthony Mason.
• Also a solid center in Vlade Divac, the same Divac that was a key piece of the ’02 Kings that nearly ended the Lakers 3peat
• And Glen Rice who averaged 22 ppg this year.
• They also had good role players in BJ Armstrong, David Wesley, and Bobby Phills.
• The Hornets finished the regular season with a record of 51–31. They were set to be the fourth seed in the ’98 playoffs. Charlotte’s first-round matchup was against the Atlanta Hawks, who were led by Steve Smith and Mookie Blaylock.
• At this time, the first round was a best of five series. The Hornets had home-court advantage and took care of business in Games 1 and 2. Rice had a monster game in Game 1 with 34 points while Mason led Charlotte in Game 2 with 25 markers.
• Game 3 was in Atlanta and boy did the Hawks respond well to the change of scenery.
• The Hawks destroyed the Hornets in Game 3 by a final count of 96–64. The Hornets clearly left their games back in Charlotte, but the team still had an opportunity to close out the series in Game 4.
• Whatever Cowens told his group between Games 3 and 4 worked. The Hornets weren’t messing around in Game 4 and won 91–82 to eliminate the Hawks and advance to the second round. Mason poured in 29 points and Rice was superb again with 26.
• Next up for the Hornets was none other than Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. Charlotte was the big underdog in this series since it was going up against the G.O.A.T. and arguably the best dynasty ever.
• Game 1 went to the Bulls behind 35 points from Jordan. However, what happened in Game 2 wasn’t predicted by anyone. The Hornets won to steal home-court advantage. Charlotte somehow held the Bulls to only 76 points and won by a final score of 78–76.
• However, waking up a sleeping giant like Jordan and the Bulls by defeating them is sometimes the wrong thing to do. MJ and the Bulls rebounded from their Game 2 loss by winning three games in a row to end the series and the Hornets’ dream season.
• It’s going to be a while before Charlotte goes on a deep playoff run again.

Indiana Pacers

• The Bulls played the Pacers with the number 5 defense in the league. This Pacers team, even past their prime, locked down several superstars from the ’00s.
• When this Pacers team was washed up and an average defense team, they contained Allen Iverson to 38% shooting in both the ’99 and ’00 playoffs, lower than even his usual low-FG%.
• They also held Kobe to 37% shooting in the ’00 Finals (not including Game 2 where Kobe left due to an ankle injury). And in ’00, that was after the massive anti-handcheck rules were in place. Jordan didn’t have that luxury.
• This Pacers team was modeled a lot like the ’14 Spurs. They had sharp shooters in Reggie Miller and Chris Mullin, and a very good front court of Rik Smits, Antonio Davis, and Dale Davis.
• They also had an old but still solid point guard in Mark Jackson backed up by Jalen Rose. They had threats at every single position.
• The Spurs front court was more offensive whereas the Pacers front court was better defensively.
• Pippen got locked down by these Pacers too — 16.6 ppg on 39%.
• A much weaker version of this Pacers team made the Finals in ’00.
• The ’00 Pacers lost one of their best post defenders, Antonio Davis
• Reggie Miller was 34 years old by that point, and had his lowest ppg in 10 seasons
• Rik Smits was in the last season of his career
• Chris Mullin hardly played any minutes for the Pacers in this season, and McKey hardly played in the Finals.
• Derrick McKey, Mark Jackson and Sam Perkins were also nearing the very end of their career.
• The ’94, ’95, and ’98 Pacers all had a top 10 defense in the league, and the ’00 Pacers did not, yet the ’00 Pacers still made the Finals, shut down Kobe to 37% shooting in 4 full games of play, and pushed prime Shaq to 6 games.
• When Shaq played the watered down Pacers in the ’00 NBA Finals, he dropped 38–17–2–1–3 on 61%.
• When he played the legit ’98 Pacers he still played very well, but with a much more humane 27–11–2.5 with 4.5 blocks on 56%.

• Old Reggie Miller actually outplayed Iverson in the ’99 and ’00 ECSF, and you can make the case he outplayed MVP Iverson in the ’01 Playoffs because of his much better efficiency from FG%, 3PT%, and FT%. Iverson also had the superior defensive team backing him up each time, yet Reggie still outplayed him twice and arguably all 3 times. Only once in the ’90s did Reggie receive any MVP votes in ’98, when he had 2 MVP points out of a possible 1160, and wasn’t even in the top 15. Yet you can make the case he outplayed Iverson in all 3 playoff meetings including his MVP season.

Utah Jazz

• Bulls faced the Jazz for the second Finals in a row.
• In the ’99 playoffs, this Jazz team shut down Chris Webber. The same Webber that nearly led the Kings past the ’02 Lakers with an injured Peja Stojakovic. After having 20 ppg on 49% in the season, Webber was held to 15 ppg on 39% against the Jazz. Webber also struggled against the ’02 Jazz.
• The Jazz in ’98 beat the Spurs with a rookie Tim Duncan 4–1. Duncan averaged the same amount of points that he did in the regular season, but his FG% dropped from 55% to 49%.
• Sure, Duncan was a rookie, but he also won Finals MVP the very next year in ’99 as a sophomore.
• The Jazz then swept Shaq’s Lakers in the ’98 WCF.
• The Jazz went 62–20 in ’98 even with Stockton missing 18 games.

Michael Jordan lead the Bulls team to championships over the Utah in ’97 and ’98. People keep telling me those Jazz teams were “weak” despite them winning 64 and 62 games and beating Duncan, Robinson, Hakeem, Barkley, Drexler, Shaq, Kobe, Payton and Kemp in the playoffs.