Hardest competition in NBA History? How about the 1995 NBA Playoffs?
The 1995 Houston Rockets (6th seed) took down the 3rd seeded Jazz (60-22), 2nd seeded Suns (59-23 division winner), 1st seeded Spurs (62-20) and they then swept the 1st seeded Orlando Magic from the Eastern Conference (57-25) in the NBA Finals. I don't think we'll ever see that type of amazing playoff run ever again. A 6th seed taking down all the best record teams from the NBA that year.
People greatly undersell how dominant all of those teams were. Especially the Orlando Magic.
They were absolutely loaded, anchored by a young Shaq and Penny, and very well coached.
Michael Jordan had been back for a couple months. Orlando defeated Jordan's Bulls in 6 games (4-2) in the second round that year.
No disrespect to Kobe Bryant's competition though. Kobe is still the GOAT to me. No doubt about it.
It will always be Kobe, Jordan, Olajuwon, LeBron and Magic. In terms of players I had watched.
If I did a top 10 list Shaq and Bird would be right behind Magic at 6 and 7. Too many legends to list.
I miss the '90s of the NBA to be honest. That may have been the greatest decade for the sport.
So many great teams. Michael Jordan's Bulls were just a shade better winning 6 'chips in 8 years.
People also overlook Dennis Rodman's impact (elite rebounder) on the Bulls winning three more rings.
He also got into the head of Kemp and Malone during the 96, 97 and 98 NBA Finals. He was critical, IMO.
This post was edited by Madmartigan on Apr 1 2020 04:34pm