Years before LeBron James famously told Miami Heat fans about all the titles he’d lead them to, Michael Jordan had made a somewhat similar promise. During the Chicago Bulls‘ parade after winning their fourth NBA championship in 1996, Jordan vowed that the team would win even more.
“One of the reasons I came back is that I always wanted the city of Chicago to be remembered as the best city in this United States,” Jordan said. “And I wanted them to be remembered as champions, not once, not twice, not three times, not even four times… I hope I get the chance to come back to represent the city of Chicago … and bring a fifth title back to Chicago.”
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Jordan did just that the following season. He led the Bulls to a 69-13 record in 1996-97, and the team would dominate in the postseason. They lost just twice en route to the NBA Finals, where they beat the Utah Jazz in six games.
Jordan, who was named Finals MVP, had delivered on his promise, but he wasn’t done. He led the Bulls to another championship in 1998 and won Finals MVP again.
That was the second time that the Bulls had three-peated in the 1990s, having done so from 1991 to 1993 as well. Jordan had retired after that first three-peat but returned in 1995. He then walked away again after this second three-peat and left basketball fans wondering what might have been had he stayed.
Jordan would come out of retirement once more in 2001, but this time with the Washington Wizards. He didn’t have much success with the Wizards as he was past his best by then and retired for the third and final time in 2003.
Despite that stint with the Wizards being a disappointment, Jordan is today widely regarded as the greatest ever for all the success he had with the Bulls. He won six titles, six Finals MVPs, five MVPs, one DPOY, and 10 scoring titles in his career.
James is widely regarded as Jordan’s closest challenger, and he made a similar promise in 2010, as mentioned earlier. He had joined forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the Heat, and boldly declared while on stage that they’d be winning a lot of titles.
“Not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven,” James said. “… And when I say that, I really believe it.”
James and the Heat wouldn’t come close to that number. They made four straight trips to the NBA Finals from 2011 to 2014 and won championships in 2012 and 2013. Two championships weren’t a bad haul, but that trio was expected to win more. Heat owner Micky Arison recently joked about James not fulfilling his promise.
James would go on to win two more titles, first with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 and then with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020. The 40-year-old still needs two more to catch up with Jordan, but it doesn’t look like he’ll be able to pull that off.
