The bulls had the best mix of weapons plus Jordan and Pippen. Watching these game highlights now is what I would do if a kid and dream of NBA player. Look at the defense alone...NBA needs fix their image... I wasn't a bulls fan but.. Respected the heck outa those teams , on the court if someone said I like the bulls ,I was a bully cause I didn't 😂
one of the most satisfying feelings with this sweep and ending the Shaq & Penny era. MJ was not being stopped. He missed those 2 free throws at the end of purpose to end up with 45 points. That was a shot at Nick Anderson for saying #45 doesn't rev up like #23 in 95. On anotha note, I LUVED this version of Shaq up until the early Laker days (97-99). He was more athletic, ran the floor better and played better D than the early 2000s Lakers Shaq.
@@ronaldbutler9687 How much credit do you wanna give him for getting rebounds, though? With his height, width, and hand size, he should have been leading the league. Never happened. Same with blocks. He was lazy before he played for the Lakers. And, no, he didn't really play much basketball. He played thug ball.
Sadly game 4 would have been a win if the Magic didn’t have so many injuries (Shaw , Anderson, Grant). But overall it’s unfortunate Shaq did leave because once Jordan left the Bulls Orlando could have been in prime position to win the championship.
I remember after the 1995 Finals, a lot of Magic executives and officials were worried and they knew why. MJ had come back with a score to settle, then there was the story of the Bulls skipped the summer vacation to prepare for the new season. Magic's chance of winning was over when they reached the East finals, with Horace Grant injured. Coach Brian Hill said he watched a lot of Bulls' regular season games to prepare, but when the series came, he couldn't do more because Bulls' role players played so well with Jordan always yelled and talked to motivate them.
Horace didn’t get injured until game 1 late in the 3rd n they were already catching a beating: Horace getting hurt just saved them from getting destroyed even more. They were swarming him. He was healthy n bulls were dominating them
@@hector4470 they were full strength in game 1 n were getting a beat down.,magic were gonna catch a beating regardless n yes the bulls won every game by an avg of 17 pts… the first game with everyone healthy was the biggest beat down of all they getting blown off the floor when Horace got hurt the game was already out of reach. Bulls played their best against them when they had everyone healthy. They were out for blood. The injuries only saved them from a worst beat down
@@TheSands83 Grant more than likely would've had some good games this series considering he was the veteran leader of the team. Really the big problem the Magic had was running the offense through Shaq too often which sometimes froze Penny out by making him stand around. This was especially glaring in G2, Penny barely had anything run for him in the 2nd half which is what caused the collapse IMO.
5/27/96 also was the same night which featured a watershed moment in pro wrestling history: Scott Hall debuted on WCW Monday Nitro, stunning the wrestling world and planting a seed for what would become the NWO
Celebrating in the United Center like they did in '95 putting Grant on their shoulders really bothered Jordan. According to a book written about him, he was back in the gym after that loss. You could tell how well sync'd the '95-'96 team was, they had 2 goals: win 70 games and the championship. Shaq knew as long as Jordan wanted to, the Bulls would rule the east. It was definitely a factor in him going west, that and the fact that he couldn't share the spotlight with Penny. The Shaq and Penny led Magic teams were swept out of the playoffs for 3 straight years and this sweep ended them.
I remember when the bulls where about to be announced and they played the video of the bull coming through the arena destroying everything in their path it was just how the bulls actually played remarkable.
Ahhh...NBA without eurostep, flopping, with good defence, no bs calls or and 3 chucking 100 times per game...also no complaining just play on...bring back the 90s
What the NBA these days is missing is class. Back in the olden days like this- there was just much more professionalism all around. The production made the game feel special. Nowadays it's all hot takes about who can be the biggest idiot to draw in views.
@@bubufubu He wasn't being selfish they tried to low-ball him, if he had took the deal he was given Alonzo Mourning would've been making more $ even though the Magic were in the ecf 2 years in a row and won the first time.
@@ChrisM07 Gimme a break with this "low-ball" nonsense. O'Neal didn't deserve that much money, period. You're giving him way too much credit for the success of those Orlando Magic teams. He was lazy on both sides of the court, especially the defensive side. Do some research into his career and you'll find that there's many instances of him acting like a selfish man-child.
@@bubufubu So you're saying Mourning should've been getting paid more despite not appearing in a conference finals yet at the time? That was pretty much the main reason it was considered a low ball deal and I can understand that, he definitely played a huge factor in getting the Magic to the level they were at that's not debatable there. I know Barkley was one of the guys that said practically the same thing. Now I'll admit his defensive effort in this series was spotty at best however I feel that had a lot to do w/Rodman being a bad matchup. Rodman had a major stamina advantage against him.
@@ChrisM07 First of all, you don't attribute the success of a team to _one_ individual. Basketball is a _team_ sport and O'Neal owed much of his individual production to the leniency of the officials. Mourning was more talented and he worked harder than O'Neal. Do I think Mourning was worth that much money? Nope. But it's not conducive to team success for individuals to compare their contracts to that of other players. These guys are already being paid _massive_ amounts of money. In a team sport, you're supposed to do what's best for your team. It didn't even really matter in this instance because O'Neal was heading west after the results of the Orlando Sentinel's poll were released. See what I mean about him being a man-child? It didn't matter that Orlando came back with an offer that was greater than the initial offer from Los Angeles. O'Neal wanted to rap and act. He wanted the Los Angeles limelight. As far as the '96 ECF goes, Rodman not only had the advantage of stamina, but also hard work and talent. The Magic were definitely missing Grant but this Chicago squad was simply too talented and too experienced.
I remember being 8 years old watching this game with my uncles at a cookout my family was having for Memorial Day. I always wondered did MJ miss them last 2 free throws on purpose to leave his point total at 45 just to prove a point to the Magic
Poor shaq too bad he didn’t have someone to tell him he could be the second greatest of all time if he just moved his feet and didn’t do chin-ups on the rim! Love you shaq! 👍🏾✌🏾
No Horace Grant, No Nick Anderson, no Brian Shaw, a non productive Dennis Scott, a hobbled Penny, and Shaq couldn't sink a free throw to save his life. Everything that could go wrong did so in the Bulls favor by the time this series came around. Not saying Chicago would've lost, but the series certainly would've been far more competitive had all these factors not been in play. I believe the Magic win games 2 and 4, but Bulls would win in 6 or 7.
Nah, they weren’t winning game 2 regardless, maybe 3 or 4 but that Orlando team was not in a great head space. Shaq and Brian Hill at odds, Shaq’s Free agency.
Nah that Magic team was getting swept regardless. Horace Grant's presence isn't making up for a 38 point margin in Game 1, the Magic ran up an 18 point lead in Game 2 and wilted under the Bulls defensive pressure in that second half. Game 3 would've probably been the best chance to get a win but the Magic got cold in the 4th and only scored 9 points in the 4th quarter and they weren't beating the Bulls on a night MJ goes for 45.
@kik5323 you have to watch game 2 though and see that the magic were dominating the bulls for a large portion of that game. Letting that lead slip messed up the series for them.
@@bubufubu From Darrell Armstrong, who played on the Magic Team. Look up "The Most SAVAGE Michael Jordan Revenge Story" and you'll find the clip. Tried linking it in the comments, but doesn't look like it's allowing me.
