Chicago Bulls Michael Jordan ( MIKE NELSON/AFP via Getty Images)
The Chase for Immortality: MJs ever-evolving motivation fueled the Bulls first three-peat
Michael Jordan had morphed into an illuminated superstar before he ever won his first championship with the Chicago Bulls. Prior to the rings, he was known as the talented young gun on the block that had every lethal death bullet in his barrel.
He had grace, explosive athleticism, a lethal first step, and an array of finishing moves around the rack. Jordan was the ultimate prominent young basketball player in the NBA prime and ready to take the throne from star players of his present time. The only dilemma was that his abundant talent couldnt officially collect the ultimate team goal; a World Championship.
Michael finally got over his title drought when he eclipsed the aging, but legendary Magic Johnson in a five-game series win during the 1991 NBA Finals. It was the ultimate title coronation as his last two victims during his path to obtaining a conference title and a league title were arguable two of the three giants of the 1980s: Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons and Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers.
His Conference Finals performance against the Pistons in 1991 was a sweeping demolition that saw his effortless scoring output (29.8 PPG), his emergence as a playmaker (7.0 APG), and a defensive masterpiece on the perimeter (2.3 SPG) and around the basket (1.8 BPG). However, Jordans First NBA Final performance was a culmination of his complete stardom.
His assist average peaked at an all-time high vs the Lakers (11.5 APG) and his scoring prowess only outdid itself when the stakes were higher finishing with a series-high 31.5 points per game average. He was finally able to fulfill head coach Phil Jacksons implore of becoming a team-first basketball player in the biggest series of the NBA Playoffs.
From there, Jordans sky became a limitless roof.
The following rings Jordan won were driven by competition against the fading present-day legendary careers of Larry Bird, Magic, and Isiah. They were able to continue league success after getting to the mountain top by going through the championship ringer again and coming out as champs. So, for Jordan, he was only as good as the next wave of success meaning being a repeat championship offender wasnt a goal, it was the expectation.
Episode 5 and 6 ESPNs The Last Dance touch bases on the extended championship run of the Chicago Bulls from 1991-93. The teams first three-peat squad consisted of the well-known duo of Jordan and Pippen, but a talented Hall of Fame Third wheel in Horace Grant.
Charles Barkley spoke on the dominance of the Bulls first three-peat team being because of Grants basketball ability. In comparing the third wheel of Grant in Chicagos first three-peat to the third wheel of Dennis Rodman in the Bulls second three-peat, Barkley said this:
Dennis Rodman was a great rebounder and a great defender, but Horace Grant was the better basketball player.
Grant averaged double digits in points and high single-digit rebound averages during the Bulls three-year playoff run. He was the teams interior scorer within the triangle offense that kept defenses honest and unwilling to fully load up the perimeter and zero in on Jordan and Pippen.
Yet, in the finals, it was all about the superhuman ability of Jordan on both ends of the floor, the two-way ability of wingman Scottie Pippen, and unsung hero John Paxon that ultimately propelled the Bulls into repeat title defenders.
Jordan averaged 35 points on 53 percent shooting from the field in a competitive six-game series versus the talented but erratic Portland Trail Blazers. His memorable game one 1992 Finals performance consisted of a first-half six 3-pointer onslaught in his head-to-head duel with Blazers star Clyde Drexler to prove his dominance as the leagues best two-guard.
Game 5 vs. the Blazers was a 46-point clinic on 14-23 shooting assisted by Pippens 24-point, 11-rebound, and 9-assist performance that nearly amounted to a triple-double. The twos 70-point onslaught as a duo assisted by John Paxsons 6-11, 12-point gem supplied the Bulls 81 of the teams 119 points to push the series ahead 3-2 en route to their second consecutive title.
The scoring leaders in the Blazers series were the known co-stars in Jordan and Pippen, but John Paxson averaged over 10 points per game as well on 52 percent shooting. His championship services would come through in the clutch once again in next years NBA Finals series versus the Phoenix Suns.
The three-peat was what Jordan identified as being the separating factor from his aging contemporaries on the pedestal of Mount Rushmore. While Bird and Magic obtained multiple titles throughout their careers in three and five respectively, none of them amassed a three-peat as champions.
In fact, no one in the league did. Because of this, another motivating factor was born and ignited Jordan in the 1993 season that drove him to be an eventual champion.The road itself wasnt easy and contained backlash from the media and competition alike. His casino trip after a game one finals loss versus the Knicks in the conference final had reporters assuming Jordan possessed a gambling addiction.
The aftermath of the trip was a Game 2 defeat to the Knicks that had the Bulls behind the eight ball in the series facing a glaring 0-2 deficit. Jordan reacted to the vitriol by ghosting the media for a two-week span letting his on-court performance do the talking. It worked to the tune of four straight victories versus New York to claim the East in 1993 for the third straight season.
Jordan had a 54-point clinic in Game 4 to even the series and participated in the ultimate straight jacket defensive possession versus Knicks big man Charles Smith in the waning moments of Game 5 to prevent a potential Knick go-ahead basket. This made the series jump ahead 3-2 ultimately cementing a third straight finals appearance.
Jordans matchup with Charles Barkley and the Suns in the 1993 NBA Finals was a bout against the leagues best team and a league MVP, a title he claimed almost annually. In the documentary, Jordan alluded that Barkleys MVP award was an individual accolade he felt he deserved and admitted it fueled him in the NBA Finals series.
The box score throughout the Finals matchup showed that. Attacking the Suns lack of defensive activity and continuity, Jordan averaged 41 points on 50 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent from distance. Pippen averaged 21 points, 9 boards, and 7 assists along with two steals further cementing his claim as arguably the best small forward in basketball, while Horace Grant further buffered Barkleys claim as the best third wheel out of the Bulls two three-peat teams averaging a double-double (11. 2 PPG, 10.3 RPG) while protecting the paint above the rim (1.5 BPG) and below the belt (1.5 SPG).
As good as the trio played vs. the Suns in their six-game series, John Paxson ultimately avoided the series from going to a road Game 7. Paxons clutch open try helped the Bulls crack double-digits as a team in the fourth quarter. This bucket off of a great find from Grant down low cemented a three-peat for the Bulls and for Jordan the beginning of immortality after a rigorous three-year title defense.
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