1990-91 MJ takes it all.
1990-91 MJ takes it all.
Michael Jordan had won his four straight NBA scoring title. But no NBA team
with the league scoring champion had won the NBA title since 1971, in which year
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had accomplished that on the Milwaukee Bucks team.
Jordan had been the NBA's Rookie of the Year in 1985, named to the All-NBA
First Team four straight years, and to the NBA All-Defensive First Team three
straight times. But his Bulls couldn't break through the Detroit Pistons in the
past two years, getting thrown out of the Conference Finals. But Chicago team
had been making a steady progress. In 1985, John Paxson was signed in and Horace
Grant and Scottie Pippen were added in the 1987 draft. Over the next years, Bill
Cartwright, Charles Oakley , and B.J. Armstrong were added. In such a way the
Bulls were finally ready to fight the Pistons.
The Bulls posted a 61-21 record and bested New York, Philadelphia and Detroit.
Their opponent in the Finals - the Lakers - now a more defensive team under new
coach Dunlevy, defeated Houston, Golden State and Portland. The Lakers won Game
1 in overtime in Chicago thanks to Sam Perkins' three-point basket, but in the
next four games, they couldn't find a way to trick the Bulls. Jordan finally got
his dreamed-about NBA title.
The Finals were a showdown of the two NBA's superstars, Michael Jordan and
Magic Johnson. From the very start it was obvious that it would take a whole
team to win. Although Jordan recorded excellent averages of 31.2ppg, 11.4 apg,
and 6.6 rpg, he was unable to dominate his team. The Bulls' defense held the
Lakers to a record-low 458 points for a five-game series. The Championship won
by the Bulls had silenced all the sceptics who kept saying that Jordan couldn't
lead his team to the top.
"I didn't think that the Finals would bring such emotions. I've never been this
emotional," said Jordan, holding the trophy.
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