The Chicago Bulls dynasty, featuring the likes of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and many great bench players, is arguably the best team that fans have ever seen assembled in the NBA. What’s more, is the fact that they lived up to the expectations by completing a three-peat right after MJ’s return to the league.
Although most fans know it due to the amazing offensive prowess that MJ possessed and used it to guide the team to a victory countless times, the team was equally good, if not better, on the defensive end of the court.
After all, you cannot win three consecutive championships in the NBA without having a good defense. But due to the fact that the Bulls dynasty was great offensively, sometimes they are underappreciated for their defensive capabilities.
Recently, member of the Bulls dynasty and sharpshooter Steve Kerr talked about the very subject. Kerr, who recently won the fourth ring of his coaching career with the Golden State Warriors, has been on a spree of amazing interviews. In the interview, Kerr revealed why the Bulls were so good defensively and even gave an example of how well Dennis Rodman handled Shaquille O’Neal in the 1996 East Finals.
Via Sportskeeda:
“Chicago was an unbelievable defensive team. They were kind of ahead of their time, with all the switching that goes on now. We started Ron Harper, Scottie Pippen, MJ, Dennis Rodman and Luc Longley and, one through four, those guys would switch everything. Teams didn’t really do that back then. Rodman guarded Shaq in the East Finals when Shaq was with Orlando and held up. He held up pretty well.”
As Kerr mentioned, Rodman had the tough task of handling Shaq in the 1996 ECF. But the Worm did an amazing job of stopping O’Neal in his tracks.
Due to that, the Bulls were able to get past the Magic in the East and at the end win the 1996 NBA Finals. This laid the foundation for MJ and the Bulls’ second three-peat and being good in defense was one of the major reasons why the Bulls dynasty was so great.
