Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, and the 1990s Bulls achieved unprecedented success during their time, capturing six titles in an eight-year span of pure dominance. That squad still stands today as one of the greatest teams ever assembled and it’s easy to see why.
But when the Warriors went on their run decades later and went 73-9 during one of their best stretches, many believed they had overtaken MJ’s Bulls as the best team ever.
Today, both the Bulls and the Warriors are a shell of themselves, but the debate on which team is better continues to rage on.
In the late stages of his book “Unguarded,” Scottie Pippen made his pick on the matchup, unsurprisingly choosing his former team over the KD-led Warriors of the late-2010s.
I’ll stick our roster against the Warriors any day — especially our second three-peat teams.
Let’s go through the matchups:
Dennis Rodman or Draymond Green at power forward? Dennis. Luc Longley or Andrew Bogut/JaVale McGee at center? Luc. Michael Jordan or Klay Thompson at shooting guard? Michael. Me or Kevin Durant at small forward? You could go either way. The only matchup in Golden State’s favor would be Steph Curry over Ron Harper at point guard.
One more thing: the Warriors had nobody off the bench as skilled as Toni Kukoc.
Prediction: Bulls in six. (the series wouldn’t even go seven. After all, we never extended to a Game 7 in the Finals).
“Me or Kevin Durant at small forward? You could go either way.”
— Josh Eberley 🇨🇦 (@JoshEberley) November 11, 2021
Top to bottom, it’s fair to say the Bulls had more talent than Golden State, especially on defense. They were deeper, more well-rounded, and had Michael Jordan — arguably basketball’s greatest player ever.
On the flip side, the Warriors were much better in one category the Bulls couldn’t touch them: in the shooting. The marksmanship of Klay Thompson and Steph Curry alone might be enough to give them a significant edge in a hypothetical matchup. Add in a guy like Kevin Durant, and it would more than even the odds.
Needless to say, we’ll never get to see those two teams battle it out on the court, and we’ll never get a unanimous answer on which is better or who would beat who. It doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun thinking about it though.
For Pippen, it’s just an opportunity to remind folks just how special and talented his team really was.
