In the 1990s, Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls were the most dominant team in professional basketball.
Jordan and his team won six NBA titles in eight seasons, creating one of the most amazing dynasties in NBA history.
However, in the two years that Jordan and the Bulls failed to win the Larry O’Brien Trophy, the Houston Rockets reached the pinnacle of the sport, winning back-to-back titles to cement their legacy as NBA champions.
Yet some NBA observers discredit Houston’s two historic feats, claiming that the team was only able to win it all because of Jordan’s decision to retire and play professional baseball.
Former Rockets guard Vernon Maxwell However, he refutes this sentiment, noting that Houston performed well against Jordan and the Bulls in their regular season meetings.
“(Michael Jordan) made the decision to leave the game, but they say our two (championships) don’t count,” Maxwell said on Gilbert Arenas’ podcast. “If you go back and look at the numbers, back when we played them… (Jordan) beat me twice. You know, and we played them twice a year. So we’d go up North to Chicago, we’d beat the crap out of them and then when he’d come to Houston, we’d beat the crap out of them. Because I mean, you’ve got to understand, we’ve… (Hakeem Olajuwon) over there. They have Bill Cartwright. … All I was doing was pointing Mike at (Olajuwon). … No, man, we would have beaten their (a—). When we didn’t make the finals, it was always, ‘Beat Seattle.’ Seattle played us so well.”
Maxwell played for the Rockets from the 1989-90 season through the end of the 1994-95 season, helping the team win back-to-back titles. While it’s impossible to know how a best-of-seven series between Houston and Chicago would have played out in the mid-1990s, the Rockets won both titles by eliminating the competition in front of them.
Additionally, after the Orlando Magic eliminated Jordan and the Bulls in the 1995 NBA playoffs, Houston dominated the Magic in the Finals to win the team’s second consecutive title.
Want to join the discussion? Like Rockets on SI Facebook and Follow us on Twitter to stay up to date with all the latest Rockets news. You can also meet the team behind the cover.
