Michael Jordan and the 1996 Chicago Bulls with Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman are considered the greatest team of all time. They won 72 games in the regular season, lost just 10, and capped it all off by winning the NBA championship. It was the proper return of Jordan after his first retirement, and he reminded the league of what was in store for them for the next couple of seasons.
But when someone is as dominant as Jordan, others can’t wait to be the ones to knock them off of that perch. Many tried to go at the GOAT, but most, as we now know, failed. His Airness dominated all comers, taking each battle personally and ensuring that he emerged victorious.
But no one can be flawless, and even in that season, the Bulls suffered 10 defeats. One of those losses was against the Denver Nuggets, led by Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. Abdul-Rauf is forgotten by many, but he was a really good player in the NBA during the 90s. And in that 1996 season, he dropped 32 points in a 105-99 win against the Bulls. For a lot of those players, even beating Jordan once was a big deal, and it shows based on how he still talks about it.
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf On His Mentality While Facing Prime Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan‘s aura often beat players before they even got on the court. But some weren’t scared. Allen Iverson famously crossed him up as a rookie, and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf spoke on All The Smoke about the competitive fire he had in him when he went up against Jordan.
“I know you Jordan, but I ain’t saying this, I ain’t looking like this, but man are you serious? Oh no, I can’t be the oddball. You already come out wanting to kill him. And it’s like you gotta have even more. And so that was my mindset. I’m trying to kill him to get him off of me immediately. Which ended up working… But I tell guys all the time, it was nice to score those 32 and beat him. But I would rather flip it around and have the championship than that one game.”
And that’s what it ends up being about in the end. Even though Michael Jordan lost plenty in his career, he was undefeated on the biggest stage, and he won the biggest prize more times than even most other legends. It says it all when beating him, and the Bulls even once is an achievement that players talk about years after retirement.
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