Winning an NBA championship is one of the hardest things to do in professional basketball. Some of the greatest legends ever were lucky enough to win one championship. It’s not easy making it to the final game. Even players like LeBron James, who have made 10 appearances in the NBA Finals, own a losing record at 4-6. One of the best players to ever play the game was perfect in the championship game, and it is a reason why he is viewed as the greatest of all time.
Michael Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to two separate three-peats and a perfect 6-0 record in the NBA Finals. His efforts remain talked about among NBA experts when the discussion of the greatest player of all time comes up. Because of his record in the Finals, Jordan is often referenced as the best player to ever do it. We take a look at which appearance stands above the rest.
These are the best of Michael Jordan’s NBA Finals performances.
1996 NBA Finals
NBA Finals Series Result: Bulls vs. SuperSonics 4-2
This matchup featured the top two teams of each respective conference. The Bulls set an NBA record for wins with 72 in the regular season. The SuperSonics won the West with 64 wins. The combined 136 regular season wins shattered the 1985 record of 125 by the Lakers and the Celtics. With Defensive Player of the Year Gary Payton set against the scoring champion in the 1996 MVP Jordan, this series had everything you would want.
Jordan scored 28 points to outduel 32 points from Shawn Kemp in a 107-90 victory in Game 1. Jordan’s 29 points outdueled the SuperSonics again in Game 2 in a 92-88 win. The Bulls took a 3-0 lead with a 108-96 win thanks to 36 points from Jordan. The SuperSonics were able to pull out two wins once Payton was shifted to guarding Jordan. The SuperSonics won 107-86 and 89-78 with low-scoring games from Jordan. In Game 6, Jordan’s 22 points led the Bulls to a low scoring 87-75 victory. Jordan averaged 27.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 1.7 steals in 42.0 minutes per game.
1992 NBA Finals
NBA Finals Series Result: Bulls vs. Trail Blazers 4-2
With the win, the Bulls became the fourth team in NBA history to win back-to-back championships. Jordan was coming off of a season where he led the league in scoring for the sixth time, and that did not stop during this series. Jordan was pitted against one of his 90s rivals in Clyde Drexler as the Trail Blazers won the Western Conference. Jordan outdueled Drexler and won the Finals MVP Award by averaging 35.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 6.5 assists, and 1.7 steals in 42.3 minutes of work. Jordan nearly shot 50-40-90 by shooting 52.6% from the field, 42.9% from three-point range, and 89.1% from the free-throw line.
Jordan led the way with 39 points and 11 assists in a 122-89 victory in Game 1. Despite the Bulls losing 115-104 in a Game 2 overtime loss, Jordan scored 39 points and 10 assists. The Bulls took back Game 3 as Jordan led the team in scoring with 26 points. Jordan scored 32 points and six assists in a 93-88 Game 4 loss. The final two games saw an eruption from Jordan. That included 46 points in a 119-106 win in Game 5 and a 33-point effort in a 97-93 win in Game 6.
1991 NBA Finals
NBA Finals Series Result: Bulls vs. Lakers 4-1
This was the first Finals appearance for Jordan after years of losing out to the Pistons and Isiah Thomas in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Bulls won the series, with Jordan averaging 31.2 points on 56% shooting. He also contributed 11.4 assists, 6.6 rebounds, 2.8 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game in the five games played. With Jordan leading the way, the Bulls essentially ended the Lakers’ Showtime Era as the Lakers struggled throughout the rest of the 90s without Magic Johnson.
Jordan’s first game of the series featured a double-double of 36 points and 12 assists, but the Lakers stole the first win 93-91. Then, the Bulls rattled off four more wins in a row. Jordan finished Game 2 with 33 points and 13 assists in a 107-86 victory. After that, Jordan led the Bulls to a 104-96 Game 3 victory with 29 points and nine assists. The fourth game featured a 97-82 win, with Jordan recording 28 points and 13 assists. In the final game, the Bulls used 30 points and 10 assists from Jordan to take the 108-101 victory.
1997 NBA Finals
NBA Finals Series Result: Bulls vs. Jazz 4-2
After an NBA record for combined wins in the Finals was set in 1996, the Bulls and Jazz owned a combined 133 wins in the regular season to have the second-most total. The Bulls won 69 games, while the Jazz won 64 games. The series featured some extra motivation as Karl Malone was named the league MVP. The duo of Malone and John Stockton was ready to take down Jordan and Pippen, but the Bulls had different plans.
Jordan’s 31 points and eight assists paced the Bulls to an 84-82 victory in Game 1. Then, Jordan nearly finished with a triple-double in Game 2 with 38 points, 13 rebounds, and nine assists in the 97-85 victory. A rare occurrence in Game 3 saw Jordan not finish with the most points as the Jazz stole Game 3 104-93. The Jazz tied the series in Game 4 with a 78-73 win despite 22 points from Jordan. Needing a big-time performance, Jordan’s 38 points helped the Bulls win Game 5 90-88, which included the infamous food poisoning game where Jordan battled a stomach virus. Two nights later, Jordan hadn’t fully recovered from his illness but dropped 39 points to lead the Bulls to a 90-86 victory to seal the championship. Jordan averaged 32.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 1.2 blocks in 42.7 minutes per game.
1998 NBA Finals
NBA Finals Series Result: Bulls vs. Jazz 4-2
Despite finishing with the same amount of wins in the regular season, the Jazz owned home-court advantage. It was a repeat of the 1997 NBA Finals. It was one of the most watched Finals, while it featured the “last dance” of stars Jordan, Pippen, and Dennis Rodman. The Jazz took the first game with an 88-85 victory in overtime, where Jordan scored 33 points, but the team took the second game 93-88 thanks to 37 points from Jordan.
The third game featured a beatdown of 96-54 as Jordan scored 24 points. The Bulls took the 3-1 lead after 34 points from Jordan in the 86-82 win. The Jazz avoided losing in Game 5 thanks to 39 points from Malone in the close 83-81 loss, but Jordan rebounded with 45 points in Game 6. That included the infamous steal on Bryon Russell and a game-winning 20-footer with 5.2 seconds to seal the championship. Jordan averaged 33.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.8 steals in 41.7 minutes. This series capped off his legendary 6-0 record in the NBA Finals.
1993 NBA Finals
NBA Finals Series Result: Bulls vs. Suns 4-2
With Jordan losing out on the regular season MVP to Charles Barkley, this series between the Bulls and the Suns seemed like extra motivation. The Suns won 62 games. The team was coming off a thrilling seven-game series win over the SuperSonics in the Western Conference. In the end, that didn’t matter as the Bulls became the first team since the Celtics in the 1960s to win three consecutive championships.
The Bulls won two straight games to open the series. Jordan scored 31 and 42 points, respectively. The Suns fought past 44 points from Jordan to win a triple-overtime game 129-121. The Bulls took Game 4 in an amazing performance from Jordan that featured a career-high in the playoffs with 55 points. Jordan scored 41 points in Game 5, but the Suns won 108-98. In the final game, Jordan scored 33 points, but it was John Paxson’s game-winning three-pointer that will forever live on in the 99-98 thriller. Jordan averaged 41.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 1.7 steals in 45.7 minutes of action.
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