The Houston Rockets were the only team to win multiple championships during the 90s other than the Chicago Bulls. Both their titles came during the season and a half that Michael Jordan retired, never having to face him in the Finals. There is always speculation if Hakeem and his team would have achieved the success they did had Michael Jordan been around properly for those years.
Michael Jordan had returned in time for the 1995 NBA playoffs, but his return still didn’t stop the Bulls from losing to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Magic themselves would lose against the Houston Rockets, who won their second consecutive NBA title. But what would have happened if the Bulls had made it to the Finals that season?
Kenny Smith Says The Chicago Bulls Without Dennis Rodman And Horace Grant Would Have Lost To The Houston Rockets
Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen are the most celebrated players from those Chicago Bulls teams. But for the first three-peat, Horace Grant was an instrumental part of the team, as was Dennis Rodman for the second three-peat. And Kenny Smith feels like with those 3rd options not available to the Bulls, even Mike and Scottie would have lost to the Rockets in 1995.
"No Rodman, no Grant? Oh we SMACKIN' them"
—@TheJetOnTNT says his Rockets would have beaten the Bulls even with Michael Jordan pic.twitter.com/FVs8khgrtD
— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) January 25, 2023
“I’m gonna say this, to me, Michael Jordan is the greatest player to ever touch the basketball. And I’m actually glad that we didn’t play them because I love the resume that he has, that he’s never lost in the Finals. Because as a fan, a basketball fan, I think that’s a great resume.
“But they wouldn’t beat us. They would not have beaten us Dray, for two reasons. Not because he wasn’t the greatest player. Because Hakeem was also, he would have been No. 1 or No. 2 player in the world at that time too. The Bulls were too little then. People forget, the reason they lost to Orlando wasn’t Shaq, it was Horace Grant.
“Because in those championship years, when East and West played twice, we went 6-2 in the regular season against them… I don’t think they would have beat us man. I think they were too little. If they had Rodman, they would have beaten us probably. But no Rodman? No Grant? Oh, we smacking them.”
The legend of the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan means that a lot of his teammates’ contributions get diminished more than a little. Horace Grant and Dennis Rodman were both huge contributors. But whether Kenny Smith is right about this or not is hard to tell, after all, Michael Jordan never did lose in the NBA Finals.
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