Brian Earl Spilner said:

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So here's a dicussion I had with my brother yesterday. If they hadn't broken up the Bulls in 98, how would they have done against the Spurs in the 99 Finals?

Rodman says they wouldn've won in 99 easily, but I think that's a bit of shade to a great 99 Spurs team. Sure, Spurs had no way to stop Jordan, but they could neutralize the rest of the team like they did to the Heat in those finals series.

And you never discount a Pop-coached team.

Thoughts?

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spurs had the low post game mismatch. TD and Admiral advantage over the bulls. 1-3, bulls had advantage. That would have been an amazing series to watch.

The Bulls would have crushed the Spurs. What a terrible Finals that one was. In 5 games, only once was a team able to muster up more than 90 points. The Spurs were well-coached and were great on defense, but if the Bulls were intact, they were even better coached and better defensively. Shocked the Spurs didn't sweep because that Knicks team was kind of trash. They were 4 games above .500 and made it to the Finals.

99 Bulls only having to play a 50 game regular season would have run over the Spurs in the Finals. Over-the-hill Mario Elie vs. Jordan? Sean Elliott trying to guard PIppen when he plays point forward? And veteran Rodman vs. rookie Tim Duncan would have been really interesting. Ducan was a great rookie and became an all-time great, but Rodman knew every trick in the book on how to disrupt a big guy.

The real matchup that would have decided that series would have been the Will Perdue vs. Bill Wenngton.

As far as the hypothetical matchup between the Rockets and Bulls, 94 would have been a 7 game slug fest. I'd probably take the Bulls because they'd likely have home court advantage, but it would have been Jordan's toughest competition. In 95, assuming the Bulls get past the Magic, I think the Rockets win easily. Hakeem was at his peak in the playoffs that year, Drexler was a huge addition, making the Rockets a better team than the previous season and the Bulls were worse. The problem with the Bulls that year wasn't Jordan's "rust", it was a very weak front court caused by the loss of Horace Grant. There's a reason Rodman was so pivotal the next season.

My only pair is O.G. 4s, which are the greatest IMO.....wear am a few times a year

AW 1880 said:

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Pretty sure I traded my Jordan 6's for a pair timberland boots in sixth grade.

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I was at Sam's Boat in Houston for Knicks Rockets game 7. For good luck I had my black Bulls hat on, since Jordan historically owned the Knicks (and everyone else). The atmosphere when Houston won that night was one of the most awesome experiences I've ever had.

Eventually, fans leaving the Summit and driving down Richmond were stuck in horrible traffic, but nobody cared. Sam's Boat was packed that night and when the game was over, everyone spilled out into the street and parking lot high-fiving everyone you made eye contact with, including people hanging out of car windows stuck in traffic.

And it was all so happy, no fires, no tipping over cars, just a city that was in a state of ecstasy. Everybody was your friend.

Having said all that, I don't believe the Rockets would have beaten Jordan. Magic couldn't. Clyde and an awesome Portland team couldn't. Payton and Kemp, Barkley and KJ, Stockton and Malone...

Jordan was/is other-worldly. Given Jordan was healthy and as driven as he always was, he and the Bulls win 8-10 championships in a row.

Just my opinion. We'll never know.

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Having said all that, I don't believe the Rockets would have beaten Jordan. Magic couldn't. Clyde and an awesome Portland team couldn't. Payton and Kemp, Barkley and KJ, Stockton and Malone...

Jordan was/is other-worldly. Given Jordan was healthy and as driven as he always was, he and the Bulls win 8-10 championships in a row.

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You are correct.

The rockets were great, but the Bulls/Jordan were on another level.

Looks like episodes 3-8 leaked.

Pretty funny that I don't want to be spoiled about stuff that happened 25 years ago.

Gig-Em2003 said:

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When did MJ become the undisputed GOAT? I recall it was still a debate well into the 90's and frankly don't know that it was a given until after 2nd 3-peat. But several people seem to think he was undisputed in early 90's after 1 or 2 titles. I know he was the best player in the league from rookie year on, but not GOAT right out of the gate.

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No. At least, this is not what I've said. Here is what I recall...

Jordan was SO GOOD that even while they were winning championships and MVP's Bird and Magic knew Jordan was better than them. Bird was quoted in SI in '86 or so as saying something like Jordan was the best player in the league/best he'd ever seen. '86. Bird already knew.

MANY sports writers gave Jordan Hell in the late 80's saying he would never win a championship for whatever reason - selfish, ball hog, etc. Then, he won in '91, beat Magic, and things started changing...

The '92 Dream Team was the greatest team ever assembled and there was no question who the leader of that team was. Jordan was the sun and the other 11 were planets orbiting around him... Bird, Magic, Barkley, Malone... Nobody was even close. Chuck Daly, coach of the Dream Team and the Pistons, was asked who he planned to start. He hemmed and hawed and talked about situations and matchups, and not sure... Then, he said, "Of course, God will start". Everybody knew who God was. '92.

Then Jordan did the unthinkable and "retired". By then, some were already calling him the best ever. Then he came back and won 3 more and there were few that were brave enough (stupid enough) to not call him the best ever.

I'm sure we'll see all this play out in the doc, curious to see if I remember correctly.

snowdog90 said:

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Gig-Em2003 said:

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When did MJ become the undisputed GOAT? I recall it was still a debate well into the 90's and frankly don't know that it was a given until after 2nd 3-peat. But several people seem to think he was undisputed in early 90's after 1 or 2 titles. I know he was the best player in the league from rookie year on, but not GOAT right out of the gate.

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The '92 Dream Team was the greatest team ever assembled and there was no question who the leader of that team was. Jordan was the sun and the other 11 were planets orbiting around him... Bird, Magic, Barkley, Malone... Nobody was even close.

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So true. That was such a fun summer of collecting those McDonald's cups.

Collecting those cups really was a "thing" that summer. I loved it. I can still remember the disappointment getting the ones you already had (it was always Laettner or Stockton), and then how excited I was once I finally completed the set. I still have all twelve in storage back home at my parents' house.

Ten episodes isn't going to be near enough.

M.C. Swag said:

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Rodman is the man

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Walks out of the stadium drinking a Miller Lite, and promptly gets on a giant motorcycle and rides off... incredible

Man, I forgot how much I hated the ****ing Pistons back then. As Horace Grant described them "straight up *****es".

Some of the best parts of tonight