1996 NBA Finals

1996 NBA Finals

Team Coach Wins Chicago Bulls Phil Jackson 4 Seattle SuperSonics George Karl 2
Dates	June 5–16
MVP	Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
Television	NBC (U.S.)
Announcers	Marv Albert, Matt Guokas and Bill Walton
Radio network	ESPN
Announcers	Brent Musburger and Jack Ramsay
Referees
Game 1: Dan Crawford, Joey Crawford, Bennett Salvatore Game 2: Hue Hollins, Jess Kersey, Ed T. Rush Game 3: Dick Bavetta, Hugh Evans, Steve Javie Game 4: Joey Crawford, Mike Mathis, Bill Oakes Game 5: Hue Hollins, Jess Kersey, Ed T. Rush Game 6: Dick Bavetta, Hugh Evans, Steve Javie
Hall of Famers	Bulls: Michael Jordan (2009) Scottie Pippen (2010) Dennis Rodman (2011) SuperSonics: Gary Payton (2013) Coaches: Phil Jackson (2007) Tex Winter (2011) Officials: Dick Bavetta (2015)
Eastern Finals	Bulls defeat Magic, 4–0
Western Finals	SuperSonics defeat Jazz, 4–3

The 1996 NBA Finals was the championship series of the 1995–96 National Basketball Association (NBA) season. The Western Conference champion Seattle SuperSonics (64–18) played the Eastern Conference champion Chicago Bulls (72–10), with the Bulls holding home court advantage. The teams' 136 combined regular season wins shattered the previous record of 125, set in 1985. The series was played under a best-of-seven format.

Chicago won the series 4 games to 2. Michael Jordan was named NBA Finals MVP.

NBC Sports used Ahmad Rashād (Bulls sideline) and Hannah Storm (SuperSonics sideline).

Hal Douglas narrated the season-ending documentary Unstopabulls for NBA Entertainment.

This was the 50th NBA Finals played.

Background

Chicago Bulls

The Bulls were coming off a season in which Michael Jordan returned from an 18-month retirement, only to lose in the second round of the playoffs to the Orlando Magic. Heading into the upcoming season, Chicago was no longer the same team as they were in their most recent championship season of 1993, having lost key members of their first three-peat core in John Paxson, Bill Cartwright, Horace Grant, B. J. Armstrong, Stacey King, Will Perdue, and Scott Williams. The former two retired while the latter five left via free agency.

In their place was a new core of players such as Luc Longley, Toni Kukoč, Steve Kerr, Ron Harper, Jud Buechler, Bill Wennington and Randy Brown. But perhaps their biggest addition to the team was Dennis Rodman, a nine-year veteran who had been a rebounding champion for four straight years, and whose controversial lifestyle has been well-documented.

The end result of this ensemble was perhaps the greatest regular season of any team in NBA history at the time, as the Bulls won a then-record 72 games. They continued to gain momentum in the playoffs, beginning with a sweep of the Miami Heat in the first round, followed by a five-game defeat of the New York Knicks in the second round. The conference finals was a rematch of the previous season's series with the Orlando Magic, but it was a no-contest, as the Bulls swept the Magic to gain entry into the Finals.

Seattle SuperSonics

The SuperSonics were led by Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp, with George Karl as head coach. The team was considered a title contender during the mid-1990s, but the closest they came to reaching the finals was in 1993, when they lost to the Phoenix Suns in seven games.

Two straight first-round exits followed, with the stunning 1994 loss to the eight-seeded Denver Nuggets the most painful of all. Motivated by a successive string of early playoff losses, the Sonics ran all over the Western Conference ladder, finishing with a franchise record 64 victories.

Seattle began its playoff run with a four-game win over the Sacramento Kings, followed by a sweep of the defending champion Houston Rockets They did ran into trouble against the Utah Jazz in the conference finals, but the determined Sonics won the series in seven games to make it to the finals for the first time since 1979.

Road to the Finals

Regular season series

Both teams split the two meetings, each won by the home team (Which was one of the ten Bulls losses of the season):

Starting lineups

Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame‡ 

1996 NBA Finals rosters

Chicago Bulls

1996 Chicago Bulls Finals roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. DOB 1.5 !G 0 USA ! Brown, Randy 7000187960000000000♠6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1968–05–22 New Mexico State 2.5 !G/F 30 USA ! Buechler, Jud 7000198120000000000♠6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1968–06–19 Arizona 4.0 !F 35 USA ! Caffey, Jason 7000203200000000000♠6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 255 lb (116 kg) 1973–06–12 Alabama 6.0 !C 53 USA ! Edwards, James 7000213360000000000♠7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1955–11–22 Washington 4.0 !F 54 USA ! Haley, Jack 7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1964–01–27 UCLA 1.5 !G 9 USA ! Harper, Ron 7000198120000000000♠6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1964–01–20 Miami (OH) 1.5 !G 23 USA ! Jordan, Michael (C) 7000198120000000000♠6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1963–02–17 North Carolina 1.5 !G 25 USA ! Kerr, Steve 7000190500000000000♠6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1965–09–27 Arizona 2.5 !G/F 7 CRO ! Kukoc, Toni 7000210820000000000♠6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1968–09–18 Croatia 6.0 !C 13 AUS ! Longley, Luc 7000218440000000000♠7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 265 lb (120 kg) 1969–01–19 New Mexico 2.5 !G/F 33 USA ! Pippen, Scottie (C) 7000203200000000000♠6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 218 lb (99 kg) 1965–09–25 Central Arkansas 4.0 !F 91 USA ! Rodman, Dennis 7000198120000000000♠6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1961–05–13 SE Oklahoma State 4.0 !F 22 USA ! Salley, John 7000210820000000000♠6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1964–05–16 Georgia Tech 4.0 !F 8 USA ! Simpkins, Dickey 7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 248 lb (112 kg) 1972–04–06 Providence 6.0 !C 34 CAN ! Wennington, Bill 7000213360000000000♠7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1963–04–26 St. John's	Head coach Phil Jackson (North Dakota) Assistant coach(es) Jim Cleamons (Ohio State) Jim Rodgers (Iowa) John Paxson (Notre Dame) Tex Winter (Southern California) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Seattle SuperSonics

1996 Seattle SuperSonics Finals roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. DOB From 2.5 !G/F 2 USA ! Askew, Vincent 7000198120000000000♠6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1966–02–28 Memphis 5.5 !F/C 34 USA ! Brickowski, Frank 7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1959–08–14 Penn State 4.0 !F 1 USA ! Ford, Sherell 7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1972–08–26 Illinois 1.5 !G 33 USA ! Hawkins, Hersey 7000190500000000000♠6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1966–09–29 Bradley 6.0 !C 50 USA ! Johnson, Ervin 7000210820000000000♠6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1967–12–21 New Orleans 5.5 !F/C 40 USA ! Kemp, Shawn 7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1969–11–26 Trinity Valley CC 2.5 !G/F 10 USA ! McMillan, Nate 7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1964–08–03 North Carolina State 1.5 !G 20 USA ! Payton, Gary 7000193040000000000♠6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1968–07–23 Oregon State 5.5 !F/C 14 USA ! Perkins, Sam 7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1961–06–14 North Carolina 5.5 !F/C 55 USA ! Scheffler, Steve 7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1967–09–03 Purdue 5.5 !F/C 11 GER ! Schrempf, Detlef 7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 214 lb (97 kg) 1963–01–21 Washington 1.5 !G 3 USA ! Snow, Eric 7000190500000000000♠6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1973–04–04 Michigan State 2.5 !G/F 25 USA ! Wingate, David 7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1963–12–15 Georgetown	Head coach George Karl (North Carolina) Assistant coach(es) Dwane Casey (Kentucky) Tim Grgurich (Pittsburgh) Terry Stotts (Oklahoma) Bob Weiss (Penn State) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Series summary

All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4).

Game 1

Although Chicago was not playing well offensively, they were able to compensate with superb defense. Chicago was leading only by 2 at the end of the third quarter, however in the final quarter shots by Toni Kukoč and 2 key steals by Ron Harper clinched the Bulls a win.

Game 2

Game two was started well for Seattle with a 27–23 first quarter lead. However Seattle would once again lose the lead before halftime. Despite Shawn Kemp's 29 points and 13 rebounds, Chicago triumphed with a final score of 92 to 88. In the victory, Dennis Rodman tied an NBA Finals record with 11 offensive rebounds.

Game 3

The Sonics suffered a 22-point blow-out on their return to Seattle, giving the Chicago Bulls a seemingly insurmountable 3-0 series lead.

Game 4

Seattle did not want to suffer the ignominy of a sweep. Going into this game, the SuperSonics were looking to rebound from the deficit. They succeeded with a 107–86 win over the Bulls. The series would now go to five games. The Sonics were helped by the return of team captain Nate McMillan whose presence entering the game brought the KeyArena crowd to its feet.

Game 5

Seattle would once again deny the Bulls the championship, stretching the series to six games. Payton had this to say: "We feel great. We knew we could play with this team. It just took too long. We should have come with this a little earlier."^[1] Shawn Kemp's performance in this game was considered by many to be his best in a Seattle uniform.

Game 6

Chicago won the series 4 games to 2 on Father's Day. The victory was partly due to the stellar performance of the Bulls power forward Dennis Rodman, who repeated his Game 2 performance of 11 offensive rebounds, tying his own NBA Finals record.

Player statistics

Chicago Bulls

Seattle SuperSonics

Aftermath

The 1996 NBA Finals would be the last Finals appearance of the Seattle SuperSonics. The Sonics would win the Pacific Division again in 1997 and 1998, but fell to the second round of the playoffs each time. The series was George Karl's only Finals appearance in his coaching career to date. In 2008, the Sonics franchise moved to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder. They would make the finals four years later after the move.

This was also the last time a Seattle-based team played for a major professional sports championship until Super Bowl XL in 2006, when the Seattle Seahawks lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Seahawks would go on to handily defeat Denver in Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014 and lose to the New England Patriots the following year in Super Bowl XLIX. In terms of overall sports leagues, the city would later enjoy three championships when the WNBA's Seattle Storm, a one-time SuperSonics sister team, won both the 2004 and 2010 WNBA Finals.

The Bulls came close to winning 70 games for the second straight year, instead settling for a 69-win campaign in 1997. They won their second straight title over the Utah Jazz in six games of the 1997 NBA Finals. In the off-season that preceded Scottie Pippen became the first person to win NBA championship and Olympic gold medal in the same year twice, playing for Team USA at the Atlanta Olympics.^[2] The Bulls would also defeat the Utah Jazz in six games in the 1998 NBA Finals.

See also

• 1996 NBA Playoffs

Notes and references

External links

• "Official website of the 1996 NBA Finals". Archived from the original on 1996-10-27. Retrieved 2011-06-13.  CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
• NBA.com's History of 1996 NBA Finals

NBA Finals
Champions O'Brien Trophy Most Valuable Player Award Brown Trophy Championship ring Broadcasters Game sevens Droughts Streaks TV ratings
1940s	1947 1948 1949
1950s	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017