1996–97 Chicago Bulls season
NBA basketball team season (won championship) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The 1996–97 NBA season was the Bulls' 31st season in the National Basketball Association.[1] The Bulls entered the season as defending NBA champions, having defeated the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1996 NBA Finals in six games, winning their fourth NBA championship. During the off-season, the Bulls signed 43-year old free agent All-Star center Robert Parish, who won three championships with the Boston Celtics in the 1980s.[2][3][4][5] Coming off of one of the greatest seasons in NBA history, the Bulls, on the backs of recording another first-place finish in their division and conference, repeated as NBA champions. The Bulls were led by Michael Jordan, perennial All-Star small forward Scottie Pippen, and rebound ace Dennis Rodman, with the former two (Jordan and Pippen) both being selected for the 1997 NBA All-Star Game,[6][7][8][9] in which Jordan recorded the first triple-double in an All-Star Game (14 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists).[10][11][12][13] It was also Pippen's seventh and final All-Star appearance. Other notable players on the club's roster that year were clutch-specialist Croatian Toni Kukoč, and sharp-shooting point guard Steve Kerr.
1996–97 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 | 69–13 (.841) | ||
Place | Division: 1st (Central) Conference: 1st (Eastern) | ||
Playoff finish | NBA Champions (Defeated Jazz 4–2) | ||
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |||
Local media | |||
Television | WGN-TV SportsChannel Chicago | ||
Radio | WMVP | ||
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The Bulls got off to a fast start winning their first twelve games of the season,[14][15] while posting a 42–6 record before the All-Star break.[16] In April, the team signed free agent Brian Williams, who previously played for the Los Angeles Clippers last season, and spent most of the 1996–97 season as a free agent; Williams played in the final nine games of the regular season as a backup center for the Bulls.[17][18][19] Though, the Bulls look to make history against the New York Knicks in their final regular season game of the year, Pippen missed a game-winning 3 and they finished with a 69–13 record, just missing out on becoming the first team in NBA history to have back-to-back 70 wins seasons.[20][21][22][23][24] The Bulls had the fourth best team defensive rating in the NBA.[25]
Jordan led the league in scoring once again, averaging 29.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game, while being named to the All-NBA First Team, while Pippen averaged 20.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game, and was selected to the All-NBA Second Team. Both Jordan and Pippen were named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team. In addition, Rodman led the league with 16.1 rebounds per game,[26] but only played 55 games due to suspensions and injuries, such as serving an 11-game suspension for kicking a cameraman during a road game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on January 15, 1997,[27][28][29][30][31] and a knee injury which cost him to miss the final 13 games of the regular season.[32][33][34][35] Kukoč provided scoring off the bench, averaging 13.2 points per game, but only played 57 games due to a foot injury,[36][37][38] while Luc Longley provided the team with 9.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, Kerr contributed 8.1 points per game off the bench, while shooting .464 in three-point field goal percentage, second-year forward Jason Caffey averaged 7.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, starting at power forward in a few games during Rodman's suspension, and Ron Harper contributed 6.3 points and 2.5 assists per game.[26] Jordan also finished in second place in Most Valuable Player voting,[39][40] while Pippen finished in fourth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting, while Jordan finished in fifth place,[41] and Kukoč finished in second place in Sixth Man of the Year voting.[42][43][44][45] Kerr also won the Three-Point Shootout during the All-Star Weekend in Cleveland, Ohio.[46][47][48]
In the playoffs, the Bulls would sweep the Washington Bullets in three straight games in the Eastern Conference First Round.[49][50][51][52] In the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, they defeated the Atlanta Hawks in five games,[53][54][55][56] despite losing Game 2 at the United Center, 103–95.[57][58][59] In the Eastern Conference Finals, they defeated the Miami Heat in five games to advance to the NBA Finals,[60][61][62][63] where they defeated regular season MVP Karl Malone, John Stockton and the Utah Jazz in six games for their fifth title in seven years.[64][65][66][67][68]
Following the season, Parish retired after 21 seasons in the NBA,[69][70][71] while Williams signed as a free agent with the Detroit Pistons,[72][73][74] and Dickey Simpkins was traded to the Golden State Warriors.[75][76]