Sports Illustrated Takes Away "*" from Championships

Exactly great great post.

The Kings beat the Lakers that year.

 

The only thing SI is good for is the Swimsuit Edition.

 

Even the announcers were dismissing Olajuwon's defensive prowess by saying how his blocks were all goaltends (or no goaltend call) or fouls.

 

Reported.

 

We're not homers
We're Clutchfans

 

It's not being a "homer." Rather, this is not using one's imagination to "dream" up a fantasy that ends with Jordan winning 2 more championships.

You must not have seen the Rockets play the Bulls during that little era. Pity.

 

I didn't realize Sports Illustrated had this kind of power

 

The scenario is PLAYED. Let's talk 94 or 95 Rockets vs any Rodman era Bulls team.

 

It took Sports Illustrated 23 years to stop being salty after the Rockets beat their team, the Knicks, in the Finals.

That is salty.

Real salty.

 

In 1995 what player dropped 55 points in a regular season game and scored the most points in a playoff game?

 

Most points in a 95 playoff game and SECOND highest in 95 regular season.

Glen Rice had the most in regular season with 56 I think.

 

I would have loved to have seen the 1994 Bulls going up against the 1994 Rockets.... Watching Luc Longley, Will Perdue and Bill Cartwright trying to slow down Hakeem? Lol.

Meanwhile, sure Jordan was a beast in the playoffs but Maxwell was to Jordan what Bev is to Westbrook before Bev and Westbrook ever had a feud. Sure, no one is saying that Maxwell would have shut down Jordan, but he was one of, if not the, best Jordan defender of that time. He would annoy him and pester him and play physical with him and do anything to get in his head.

It would have been a great matchup. Rockets would have won in 7. History wouldn't have been changed except for the untrue perception of Jordan being this guy that would never lose in the playoffs.

 

I don't buy the regular season record vs the Bulls. This is 6 for 6 in the Finals without a game 7 Chicago Bulls were talking about here. Not some win one season, lose another season like the Celtics or Lakers of the 80s.

If you argue for regular season record then you can easily argue that the Rockets struggled to beat the Knicks in 7 tight games, who struggled to beat the Bulls without Jordan. 7 games against Jordan-less Bulls and 7 games against the Paces and 7 games against the Rockets.

The Bulls lost no one(other than Jordan of course) but added Kukoc from their 93 championship season. It's not difficult to think the Bulls would kick our ass in 94 if Jordan stayed and they added Kukoc and Pippen had his best season and Grant and Armstrong had their only all-star seasons.

1995 is not worth talking about because they would never get the chance to play us. No Grant. No Rodman. No rebounding and interior defense. Not worth talking about. No team was going to get in the way of the 95 team.

 

He didn't quit - he was serving an unofficial gambling suspension

Where's that quote from Jordan after the Rockets kicked the Bulls' asses again? Something like, "It's a good thing we won't ever have to play those guys in the finals..."

 

Chris Baldwin. Won't read.

 

That's another one of those really silly Rockets delusions.

"Sure, Jordan is the greatest player of all time and even better in the playoffs, but Vernon Maxwell would at least get a technical every time he'd get so mad that Jordan was destroying him."

That's all we'd hope for...is that Maxwell would draw a tech or get Mike kicked out of the game. How petty and how silly to think Michael Jordan would ever get himself kicked out of the NBA Finals over someone like a career 12ppg, 39% player.

Hell, Gary Payton who actually was a lockdown defender on top of being a trash talking, fearless, pest, still couldn't win against the Bulls while all of them including MJ shot bad %s. Rockets would get dominated by those Sonics, but Vernon Maxwell will be the difference maker against the Bulls, right?

And you know what? **** Vernon Maxwell. Tired of all the hate you petty people give T-Mac and how he quit the team. Vernon Maxwell QUIT the Rockets and the city. He left the team in the playoffs and quit during a crucial time all because of coming off the bench? Then he never visited Houston for over a few decades and you guys throw him a parade? T-Mac actually has a career ending surgery and everyone calls him a quitter b/c he made a mistake of having it done without letting the team know? T-Mac continues to love our city and live here and rep the city with pride. T-Mac goes on to be a HOF'er and always coming to watch games before he got his job at ESPN. Nah, let's boo T-Mac and show love to the scumbag who was in and out of jail and spit on fans and violently threw dumbells at his own teammates.

 

Michael Jordan should thank his lucky stars that his gambling habits saved him from facing Vernon Maxwell in the playoffs.

And I say this as a Jordan fan.

 

Bill sounding young and vigorous, but more business like

 

SI didn't spur this round of revisionism.

This image did.

Spoiler

 

I don't understand any argument that leads to an asterisk.

It's the same as saying "what if MJ was born 10 years later?", "what if the Rockets had drafted MJ?", "what if the Spurs had to actually play a daunting playoff schedule during their first few championship runs?", etc, etc, etc.

Who cares?? None of that stuff happened. MJ wasn't playing in 94, just like he wasn't playing in 04. Of course as plenty have noted, he was playing in 95... but their team as a whole wasn't good enough.

MJ is obviously amazing and the greatest ever... but it's not like he was dragging the 2017 Phoenix Suns to a 3 peat. Scottie, Rodman, Kukoc, Harper, Kerr, Longley. All driven by the best ever. If I'm talking hypothetical ... I'm going to hypothetically argue the Lebron would have a 3 peat with that team as well.