It’s time to end the “Jordan myth” surrounding one Rocket title

Interesting read in the Chronicle today about Jordan and the Rockets. Now I have taken a boat load of crap from people on this board for telling me I don't know what I'm talking about when I would tell people Jordan served a 2 year ban for gambling and Stern ended the ban after 18 months due to low TV ratings. Everyone called it a retirement to play baseball but he was under intense gambling investigation at the time of his "retirement". Check out the last line of the article!!

http://blog.chron.com/fantasyfootba...the-jordan-myth-surrounding-one-rocket-title/

It’s time to set the record straight on this nonsense. If you put an “asterisk” next to championships, you are a loser. Sorry guys. If I called you a loser because you are one of the people doing it, then that’s on you.

The Houston Rockets won back to back championships in 93-94 and 94-95 and they busted their tails to get both titles just as every championship team does.

What really irks me is the incredible amount of people who believe that Michael Jordan didn’t play in either of those years. Sure, some of us know that in 1995 he came back to the Bulls, made it into the playoffs and was beaten by the Magic 4-2; however, you would be shocked at how many people simply think Jordan didn’t play that year. You might be one of them.

Mythbusters, Foolz

Myth: “Jordan was a shell of his former self and couldn’t carry the Bulls like in other years.”

Z-Report says: Bull—-!

Jordan played in only 17 games that year after coming back from his super successful stint as a minor league baseball player and there were times he was clearly rusty. However, Jordan dropped 55 on the New York Knicks in the Garden in his 5th game back. Don’t let anyone lie to you and act like Jordan was a scrub that year…. especially by the time the playoffs rolled around.

In the 1994-1995 playoffs, Jordan scored 32 or more in five of his 10 playoff games and shot 48.4% from the field which was higher than each playoff run in his next three title seasons.

Michael Jeffrey Jordan (1994-1995 Playoffs)

Points Per Game: 31.5
Rebounds Per Game: 6.5
Assists Per Game: 4.5
FG%: 48.4%
FT%: 81.0%
3Pt%: 36.7%

Against the Orlando Magic, Jordan had games of 38, 40 and 39 so you can save your “but he was #45!! It just wasn’t the same!!” crybaby routine. Jordan in the regular season was a shell of himself. Jordan in the playoffs was starting to ball…. HARD.

The simple fact is that Orlando was playing really well that year and had superior talent with Shaq, Penny, Nick Anderson, Dennis Scott and Horace Grant. Granted, that team ended up imploding and being dismantled eventually after Shaq left, but in 1994-1995, they were really tough

All Your Bigs Belong to Dream

And for those of you who want to automatically assume that “if Jordan had played the whole year, they would have for sure beaten the Rockets” card, keep in mind what Hakeem Olajuwon did to David Robinson that year. You remember “The Admiral” don’t you? He was the MVP that year and Dream went full-on SNUFF FILM on him. Oh, but I’m sure the matchup against Luc Longley, Bill Wennington and Will Perdue would have been too much to handle for Dream.

In 1994-1995, Hakeem Olajuwon punished anyone and anything in his path averaging 33 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 4.5 APG, 2.9 BPG and 53.1% from the field. He scored 31 or more in nine of his last 10 playoff games and hitting 40+ three times against Robinson and 39 against him in one other game. Once again, Robinson was the MVP that year.

Against Shaq, Dream really fell off hard scoring only 31, 34, 31 and 35 in their playoff sweep over the Magic….. the same Magic team who had beaten Jordan and his scrub center crew of Longley, Wennington and Perdue. Jordan and the Bulls wouldn’t have beaten the Rockets with or without the gambling ban that forced him to baseball pursuit of his childhood dream of playing baseball.

 

I keep getting told Jordan wasn't suspended and that was not a common opinion among those of us actually alive back then. Many people in the media believed Jordan was asked to step away to take the black eye off of basketball that it's best player being involved in a Gambling. There was an investigation into his father's murder about whether it was related to Jordan's gambling. On the board I keep getting told I am making it up when I mention it. Just pointing out I am not alone.