Could Rockets Have Won if MJ Didn't Retire? | Knuckleheads Podcast | The Players’ Tribune

[@mstringer10]

For the record, Jordan never had 25 pts in either of those playoff games versus the Nets. It was game 1 39pts, Game 2 was 32pts, game 3 38 pts.

[@pelicanhill3251]

Love Cassell, but a lot of these dudes forget what actually happened. Maybe he had an off shooting night so it seemed like he only had 25. Thanks for clearing this up.

[@adamjefferson6229]

THEY B CAPPIN NOW EVERYBODY RETIRED THE ROLE PLAYERS TALKIN LIKE THEY HAD A SAY IN ANYTHING🤨🤔😂

[@dragonray9450]

Facts here's the thing the Rockets don't get Cassell, Maxwell and Kenny would have had a hell of a time getting Hakeem the ball in his spots the Rockets backcourt was too small and as much success as they may have had in the regular season, they never faced MJ in the Playoffs let alone finals MJ who was even deadlier.

[@pelicanhill3251]

@@dragonray9450 Yep, such a different game in the playoffs especially with MJ. People act like the Bulls never played against a big center. I know he wasn't as good as Hakeem, but Ewing was a beast and they still managed to beat the Knicks.

[@honorfirst7506]

Think he means 2nd half he like 25.

[@ap6160]

Bulls's records versus their all their Finals opponents in the same years: 1-3 losing record against the Jazz, 1-1 against the Sonics, 2-0 versus the Blzers, 1-1 againts the Suns, 1-1 against ths Lakers. So that's 6-6. Yet in the Finals they were 24-11. Regular season records do not indicate Finals success. I love the Dream, he's my favorite center of all time. But I don't see MJ letting himself beat by anyone in his prime.

[@TexasWreckShop]

I mean they lost to Orlando

[@FireAngelChris]

The bulls weren’t going to win 8 straight

[@kembryembry3394]

In his prime

[@mj23goat3]

@@TexasWreckShop Are you chumps still trotting that old canard out? No one is impressed that Orlando "beat" a 50% MJ who had only been back 17 games, ffs. What happened next season when the two teams met again with all of the same core players on both sides? G'head, I'll wait for your response.

[@hakeemolajuwon4352]

Olajuwon was 11-5 against Jordan from 84'-95'

[@Almighty5-ww1kl]

If you grew up in the Midwest during the 90s you loved watching WGN and the Bulls and I lived in Indiana

[@sjw4life546]

Jordan averaged 37 points in the mid 80s, at a time when the NBA was the WWE, and he wasn't taking threes. In this era where if you cough on somebody it's a flagrant foul, Jordan is averaging 45.

[@bennyjones3336]

Jordan invented the phantom whistle. Nobody in history got a more favorable whistle.

[@mufasamaverick6978]

😅😅😅mans had to go to the gym

[@RPB_33411]

Facts. They took all the hard fouls out.

[@JPB242hgc2]

1987 his MVP year you are referring to. He was averaging 40 that year before all star break but he got tired.

[@RPB_33411]

@@JPB242hgc2 88...MVP....Previous year...was the 37 PPG.

[@Rumble225-qe7fy]

I mean I get the bulls can’t stop Hakeem and all but in same hand nobody is going to stop MJ who is obviously going to out score Hakeem by a lot. Then Pippen was better second option than anyone Rockets had.

[@georgeevans9095]

Naw you can't know anything about the dream he was not gone outscore him by a lot cause he really got busy

[@MichaelSevilla97]

hakeem's rockets were the only bad matchup for jordans bulls for sure rockets still win the chip in 95 with the addition of drexler and it would have been physically impossible to win 5 straight championships mike even admitted that the jordan fanboys that say he would have won 8 straight championships are crazy

[@DanielRidore-m9m]

Jordan’s Bulls never faced a dominant Center in the finals. Hakeem would have killed those bulls centers. And no Rodman either

[@rukawa23gold]

​@@DanielRidore-m9mSo facing Patrick Ewing in the Eastern Final doesn't carry weight for you? Hakeem was awesome but Patrick isn't that far behind....

[@mr.hester5671]

@@rukawa23goldDream was way better than Ewing and it’s not even close

[@user-bb9xh1xp5e]

It's all different in a seven game series!!! If you know, you know!!!

[@rampantcolt]

Exactly

[@TheHiphop98]

Y'all can keep saying that but let's be honest Michael Jordan is not the biggest problem in that series .... It's Hakeem Olajuwon he shows how bad y'all needed bigs the team with Dennis would be a problem but this was before they had him

[@hakeemolajuwon4352]

Yeah that's why Olajuwon gets way better in the playoffs and Finals than in regular season

[@biozio186]

Yeah. Chicago lost a 7 game series to Orlando in 95. So they were not beating Houston

[@derek5499]

​​@@biozio186Houston wasn't that good. Watch ESPN highlights with commentary from back then and you will see that NOBODY had any respect for Houston. Everyone who lived it and witnessed it knows that those 2 championships Houston won wouldn't of happened if Jordan didn't retire and play baseball. They may have lost to Orlando in 95 but Jordan came back with 18 games left in the season. Look what they did the next 3 years. They only lost a total of 43 games in 3 years and won 3 NBA finals. Not only that they NEVER went to a game 7 and the bulls NEVER lost 3 games in a row from 1991-1998

[@eduardmesinaiii7388]

Well when MJ was dominating the nba in 91,92,93,96,97,98 where was Hakeem and the Rockets?

[@fernandomoreno5547]

cmon man! 97 and 98 Rockets no prime at all, old and injuries team!

[@ryansmith3987]

Jordan and dream were almost the same age. So dream was old and MJ was in his prime?

[@willathaking2608]

In the West.

[@willathaking2608]

Remember he played in 95

[@FuShengAlex]

@@eduardmesinaiii7388 Whyd you edit out 1995 Jordan Jocker? You don't wanna remember Jordan collapsing at midcourt vs nick Anderson who Houston ran roughshod against?

[@edgarortiz4681]

Hakeem was unstoppable for many years. His post game was second to none. No big man has ever had that many offensive weapons.

[@snakebitten6967]

Remember, Utah used to “handle” the Bulls during the regular season too, so did Indiana. But we all know what happens with MJ in the playoffs. Everybody talking 20 years later. But back then they wasn’t talking like this.

[@TexasWreckShop]

Idk I remember watching them lose to Orlando

[@msharp138]

I watched all but 9 games of MJs professional career. Outside of the last nba championship season they pretty much split regular season games. Lastly, that Houston team was a horrible match up for that Bulls team. I wouldn't have been surprised at all if they would have won one of those years. They wouldn't have won both but that could have opened up Utah winning one of those years. Winning championships are extremely hard especially threepeating...

[@snakebitten6967]

@@TexasWreckShop riiiight, typical LeFan answer. The Bulls loss to Orlando had no context right lolol? Wasn’t that Mike just came back to the league at the very end of the season and was not in his usual b-ball shape right? He didn’t have Biogenesis to help him “refresh himself” in 2 weeks. 😉. So they got beat by a bunch of scrubs named Shaq, Penny, Dennis Scott and Nick Anderson lol. But it’s funny how you don’t remember what happened to Orlando and everyone in the league the following 3 years😆. Convenient memory loss. Here’s a hint. MJ and the Bulls did another 3 peat, something your king couldn’t even do 1 time. BTW, Hakeem and the Rockets were also in the league the first 3 peat and the second 3peat. They weren’t good enough to make it to any of those finals in those 6 years, however. The only time the Rockets won was when MJ retired then came back late in season the next year. Why couldn’t they make the finals in any of the years MJ and Bulls were on top of their game? But these revisionist history proponents going to talk that confidently about beating them when they couldn’t even make the finals in those 6 years the Bulls dominated? Please stop. What happens in the regular season means nothing in the playoffs. Utah, Indiana, Knicks and others have won season series against the Bulls just like the Rockets, yet either they lost to another team before the faced the Bulls in the playoffs or they got beat by the Bulls in the playoffs. Go do some research young man. All this because of hatred for one man and his teams dominance over the league and league history. That’s how you know he is the best. What other player has a whole industry created by another jealous player, to tear him down, his era and all past greats just to prop up a soft era with the softest, most overhyped sports figure we have ever seen?

[@snakebitten6967]

@@msharp138 I agree. Bulls and Rockets could have possibly split a chip those two years. But remember, Indiana and the Knicks were also bad matchups for the Bulls and also had winning records against the Bulls in regular season and also played them the hardest in the playoffs. MJ raises his level to point where he somehow overcomes his playoff opponents. Look at the metrics. His output raises. For instance, Phoenix was a team that was superior to the Bulls at every position except SG. Both teams scored exactly the same amount of points in the series. But MJ “had” to average 41ppg for the Bulls to win. Berkeley was savage in this series and even MJ said he was as good as him, but Charles couldn’t take it to that next level MJ could. I believe MJ would have done the same vs Olajuwon. He would have had to average 40+ to beat the Rockets because Olajuwon would dominate the Bulls 3 headed centers. Neither team would stop the others superstar so it would have come down to team defense, role players and the bench. It would have been a fascinating series but I believe he would have found a way on both ends to pull it off like he always did.

[@rampantcolt]

@@msharp138bulls would have ran them out the gym. I was alive and watching back then and you are right with your analysis.

[@linnstr8609]

I understand it's all about matchups. Vernon Maxwell and Kenny Smith have said that the Bulls couldn't beat them just like they couldn't beat Seattle in the early 90s. I also understand regular season is different from the playoffs. The fact that Chicago only beat Houston twice between 90 and 93 means Hakeem was definitely giving them problems. It makes a hypothetical Finals matchup intriguing for sure.

[@nomibe2911]

How many times did they play in those 3 years?

[@linnstr8609]

@@nomibe2911 I looked it up and they met 9 times during that span. Houston won 7 out of 9.

[@hakeemolajuwon4352]

@@nomibe2911 between 84'-93' Olajuwon beat Jordan 11-5

[@nomibe2911]

@hakeemolajuwon4352 that still doesn't mean they would've beat the Chicago Bulls in the Finals.

[@hakeemolajuwon4352]

@@nomibe2911 you're right, the reason the Rockets would've beat the Bulls in the Finals is because Olajuwon owned Jordan

[@pelicanhill3251]

Regular season means nothing. One year Cleveland took 5 straight against the Bulls in the regular season, but then the Bulls handled them easily in the playoffs.

[@peterguidry6084]

Cassell is speaking on 3 straight yrs which gives it more validity than the Cavs or Utah who lost to the Bulls in the Finals but won the season series against the Bulls ( the games were close in the reg season). And on top of that, many games against the Rockets wasn't close. The Rockets were beating them badly. All of this took place before Cassell got to the Rockets, so he adopted their confidence. Jordan gave a back handed compliment in March of the 92 season by saying basically he is glad the Rockets can't get out the West because they no answer for Olajuwon. Also, just before the Last Dance Documentary, Jordan stated he didn't know if the Bulls had the personnel to beat the Rockets had they met in the Finals in the early 90s as constructed. By late 90s, the Bulls did have the team that could beat Houston.

[@pelicanhill3251]

@@peterguidry6084 But they only played twice a year since they were in the west, and the Bulls were in the east. So it's not really a large sample size. Also, what were the circumstances behind each of those games? Were the Bulls on a long road trip? Coming of back to backs? I don't know. Don't get me wrong, because of Olajuwon they would have given the Bulls a difficult series. So I'm not suggesting it would have been easy. Just that the finals are a different animal and that regular season games have little to no significance when it comes to the playoffs. Also, if the Rockets were so good that they would have simply swept the Bulls aside in the finals, why did they have so much trouble getting out of the west?

[@peterguidry6084]

@pelicanhill3251 you have to look at it from both sides....the Rockets could have had a long trip. Seemed like nothing mattered. The Rockets still won by a large margin. So Cassell and the Rockets had high confidence. Also, the West was harder than the East. The Bulls were the Best team in the NBA but in the weaker conference. The East had some good teams but we're highly inconsistent. Contenders changed yr to yr. Bulls and Knicks were the 2 most consistent teams Every yr, Bulls had maybe one threat to challenge them in the East, but it was a different team depending on the yr. So they had about 2 rounds that were cake walks. In the West, by the time any team made it to the second round, they were in for a dog fight. This is because any of the four remaining was good enough to reach the Finals. The West team that made it out the West, usually took more wear and tear just to face the Bulls in the end. All MVPs except Jordan came out the West. The West overall had better records and was deeper in most yrs. Out of the whole decade, the East might have had the better conference twice. Most household names in the NBA outside of Jordan came out the West. Even if they didn't watch NBA, people heard of Barkley, Malone, Stockton, Hakeem, Robinson, Drexler, Gary Payton, Magic ( in early 90s) more so than most in the East. They were well known over Alonzo, Grant, Larry Johnson, Reggie, Price, Starks, Rodman ( who also played in the West as well) Pippen and Ewing would be household names and even Shaq but then Shaq went to the Lakers, and it kept the theme going of better overall conference and more household names in the West.

[@ianfitton9400]

Regular season is one thing,but only a fool bets against Jordan when it's playoffs time,it would no doubt have been a great series and arguably his biggest test but I fully believe he would have won!

[@SquidGunman]

Bulls > Rockets

[@gmac_sports]

They not beating the Bulls in a series they played the bulls. In 94 the bulls added Kukoc to what they already had the Rockete not beating them

[@JrRimp]

I have to provide clarity. Case was a rookie the first year of Mj’s first retirement. His last year with Houston was MJ’s first full season arrive the first retirement age the first year of the second 3peat. The season the Bulls won the first of the second 3peat they played the Rockets twice and lost. He’s talking about when they played the Bulls without MJ and tbh they were pretty even without MJ because 93-94 and 94-95 they split the two games each season. 95-96 season when the Bulls had MJ the Bulls beat the Rockets twice. If MJ never left they’d never had beat them. Because the Rockets definitely had Dream but the Bulls had MJ AND Pip. Idk if Rodman would have joined the Bulls in 93-94 but him joining was overkill tbh. MJ and Pip is probably the greatest backcourt duo ever.

[@joeschmoe5231]

What was the Rockets excuse from '96-98 of why they didn't make it to Finals?

[@kevins1718]

we would never know the outcome BUT i would leave this comment 'Playoff Jordan is different to Regular season Jordan'

[@FuShengAlex]

playoff Hakeem was a different player than regular season Hakeem 😊

[@meciasrivera4769]

when MJ returned he went to 3 str8 finals; he gave the rockets 3 opportunities to meet them in the finals what happened with it rockets!!!!!

[@timbrown9796]

Rockets team wasn't right till 94-95

[@raybass1938]

They screwed up and traded half the team away for a washed up Charles Barkley when all they needed was a Power Forward like a Kevin Willis to take up the slack for losing Otis Thorpe in the Drexler trade. They got hot in 95 and won it all despite not having a true Power Forward, but in 96 against Seattle it was a glaring weakness on the team. Houston always handled Utah without Barkley because Thorpe in 94, and Horry in 95 played tough defense on Malone, but he killed Houston in 97 because of Barkleys no defense ass. All Barkley did was take away from Olajuwon getting more touches and the team suffered for it.

[@zeroturn7091]

@@raybass1938you know ball👍🏾

[@meciasrivera4769]

@@raybass1938 so let me get this str8 if i'm not mistaking from 94-97 the rockets messed up/and were good,,,, yet the bulls were the team of the 90's 90-98 so in a span of of 8 years the rockets were only good in the 2 years they won because of a power forward!!!!!!!!

[@raybass1938]

@@meciasrivera4769 seems to me the Bulls got knocked out by the Magic because they didn’t have a good Power Forward in 95, in 96 they picked up Rodman and that was the missing piece. So yea a good Power Forward is very important too a winning team.

[@raybass1938]

The Rockets had success against the Bulls because Olajuwon’s defense on the inside. The same starting 5 that won it all in 94 was also together in 93, and they beat the Bulls by 14 in Chicago and 11 in Houston in 93. Those 2 games combined Olajuwon had 10 blocks (5 each game) and 10 steals (5 each game) his inside defense basically had Chicago shooting more outside shots than they normally would, and that turned into easy wins for the Rockets. I remember the game played in Chicago, that Olajuwon was hitting that baseline fadeaway he had so many times, that you can see Jordan shaking his head at the end of the game because no matter what they tried they just couldn’t stop him from making it. I hear it all the time but I don’t see anyway Chicago would’ve beaten Houston in 94 when they had Thorpe to help Hakeem clog the lane. Nobody was beating the 95 Rockets after they got hot and ended up sweeping Orlando, but I’d give the Bulls a better chance with the 95 team than the 94 team, because Houston didn’t have a true superstar Power forward in 95 which cost them against Seattle in 96.

[@PA-zt6xu]

Not just his defense it was because no big man on the bulls could handle Hakeem with the exception of Rodman on the 96 thru 98 bulls. Anyone who was old enough to watch the bulls during the first 3 championships know that bulls fans hated the Texas triangle because Hakeem was going to cook the bulls centers like barbecue chicken. He was the only player bulls fans feared and feared meeting their team. Luckily during that time the rockets did not have the talent or coaching to get deep into the playoffs and finals.

[@raybass1938]

@@PA-zt6xu I agree except for the Rodman part. Remember he was on the Spurs team that Olajuwon went off on in 95.

[@thehawk5141]

So Cassell said they couldn’t get past the Lakers, yet the Bulls beat those same Lakers.

[@rossmiller7280]

Sam Cassell was on the Rockets for three years (1994-1995-1996 seasons), they played the Bulls four times without Jordan (went 2-2) and once with Jordan (lost by 14 points).

[@TimWong49152]

The Rockets’ regular season record against the Bulls during their 6 championship seasons was 12 and 12. How does that make anyone think the Rockets could have won if MJ hadn't retired?

[@MrCollins-z6c]

Michael Jordan said himself there was only one man that he feared: Hakeem Olajuwon because he was in the top 10 in ALL categories. Jordan himself was not in the top 10 in all categories.

[@Vibesstar007imback]

Where’s the actual source for Mike saying this?

[@MrCollins-z6c]

@@Vibesstar007imback "seek and ye shall find" ->Luke 11:9

[@mrhollister8520]

Dominant bigs always gave CHI trouble. UTA swept the season in ‘98. However, MJ always found a way to raise his level in the playoffs. Cassell was nice in HOU and MIN.

[@pickzkickz]

Olajuwon owned Jordan. Even during 3 peat....6-1 vs Bulls

[@FMAzkals]

This is a very simple mathematics, I understand that Hakeem is unstoppable center and very dominating salute to Hakeem and I really like his game. They won Championship because of Hakeem, but Shaq was very very unstoppable center with all star cast in Orlando, but Jordan and his team have manage to find the answer and solve the problem. The point is Jordan's will to win will also not allow Hakeem and Rockets to win against the Bulls.

[@Dheethrone]

The question is why did not threepeat when mj came back at 96..

[@Steve-kr4td]

Great story. Never heard it before. Thanks made me laugh so hard.

[@slimboogs]

He said Michael Jordan is waaay over there😂😂😂 facts ha ha

[@TwoDopeSons]

Jordan said himself they had no answer for Olajuwon.

[@bryanttisdale2446]

Thank you 💥💯. That was a direct quote from the only person who opinion matters in this. I saw that too.

[@SonicBoomC98]

The problem with this analysis is that teams including the Bulls beat teams in the playoffs that had the uperhand in the regular season. This is the same team that didn't make it to Finals during either of the Bull's runs

[@FuShengAlex]

The problem with your analysis is Houston couldn't beat Orlando in the 94-95 regular season. The same Orlando that ousted Jordan and Chicago.

[@PA-zt6xu]

Very rareky if ever that the bulls did split or win season series against 99.9% of the teams because during their championship seasons (91-93, 96-98) the bulls almost always had either the best record or the 3rd best (only once in 93) record in the league.

[@koraanjamar]

The Knicks took them to 7 and the Bulls were clearly better than the Knicks during that time. I say Bulls in 5 over the Rockets in '94, because they still had Horace Grant and BJ Armstrong; The Rockets in '95 would have taken them to 7 because those 2 players were gone. However that year is even more speculative because we have no idea who the Bulls would have brought in to replace them with Jordan as the focal point.

[@mohamedel-ayoubi9572]

Cassell’s rookie season was the year MJ retired. He didn’t even play the Bulls with MJ until the 95-96 season and the bulls were 2-0 against them 😂

[@johnny6610]

Rockets had some fortunate thing happened for them to win those championships. The Sonics use to own them and in 94 got upset in the first round. They were down 3-1 in 95 to the Suns (suns chooses) and went 5 in the first round with the Jazz at Utah. (First round back then best out of 3) ….they weren’t exactly a dominating team.

[@smk4428]

Heck yes, that is correct. Rockets would of won anyway.

[@anthonyjohnson8742]

Sam tell tha best stories😂😂😂😂😂

[@doddy_bj_miko]

Pippen n Toni also one of the allround GOAT. The debatable case is will Rodman n Harper be there if Mike didnt retire. They still had Horace, but Paxson is retiring.

[@axelarroyo3286]

I love Cassell he's so underrated but they were unlikely to have beaten the Bulls in the finals. Those guys when they were firing at that time always won the championship. And everyone forgets Hakeem had a monster team in the 80s and they lost convincingly in the finals back when Sampson didn't have injury issues yet. Kareem was still balling (watch the highlights Kareem was dunking all over the place running the floor and Hakeem and Sampson were doing the same it was crazy) Magic was in his prime and Houston beat them anyway. Great basketball.

[@hoco27]

I'm with Sam on this.

[@GamePunk327]

If MJ didn't retire, Horace Grant won't leave the Bulls. So still, Bulls will own you.

[@PA-zt6xu]

No Horace was a free agent and their is no guarantee Reinsdorf gives Krause the OK to sign him. It was a hand shake deal where Horace signed for less under the cap and then Orlando signed him to a larger deal because they had his bird rights.

[@TheBrett04]

Regardless of who had more "team" success, I'm still putting Jordan and Olajuwon on my all-time starting 5.

[@Jason5818UI]

Lol respect to Sam he acknowledges regular season and playoffs is a different level

[@duronbryant5921]

He’s not wrong 💯

[@hakeemolajuwon4352]

@@Jason5818UI yeah and Olajuwon was much much better in the playoffs and Finals. Jordan could never do what Olajuwon did in the playoffs, hell, Jordan couldn't even win 2 playoff games without Pippen

[@Jason5818UI]

@@hakeemolajuwon4352 My point was Rockets having the better record facing the bulls in regular season means nothing because its different when the playoffs comes around. Yeah MJ couldn't do what Hakeem did because hes not a Center but in terms of scoring MJ was on another level. Its a team sport yeah MJ never won without Pippen and Scottie or Chicago never won without MJ

[@Jason5818UI]

@@duronbryant5921 thats my point playoffs is a different animal best out of 7 dont lie

[@kb5509]

Won 6 out of 8 games from 90 to 93.

[@neilpm12]

7 out of 9, they were handling them for sure. 4 in a row at one point.

[@GoGetYourShinebox]

Yeah but we know The Bulls, particularly Mike, had that extra gear in the playoffs. It would have been a great series. I think Rockets take 94 but 95 would be tough

[@busydem6161]

@@GoGetYourShineboxindeed playoffs different specially for Mike. Different animal, different gear , different circumstances all together

[@toritreadwell119]

Winning regular season when u only play em twice and catching em as part of back to backs doesn’t matter at all when it comes to a 7 game series against MJ

[@kb5509]

@@toritreadwell119 yes, the great impossibility. Except for all the years he didn't win, and that he had to retire about 8 times.

[@teflonjon3341]

Why do people keep asking people that were on those rocket teams like they’re gonna say anything other than “Yes”.

[@jerryjazzbo2845]

Sam's got his opinions, and that's fine. Truth is, none of us will never know because it didn't happen. I've also wondered about that for years, and finally let the issue rest. We could all speculate, but that's as far as it goes. No reality, no proof.

[@bubot17]

The bulls won't win against the rockets without grant or rodman

[@Fakename70]

The Rockets were lucky those 2 years, but, it had nothing to do with Michael Jordan. Just as Cassell says Houston handled Chicago, there was 1 team in the West that routinely handled Houston in the regular season, but, couldn’t get out of its own way in the playoffs those 2 seasons and never even lasted long enough to get its hands on the Rockets: the Seattle SuperSonics.

[@bainer3052]

Would have been a great Finals.

[@jus-ejays1236]

Probably one of the most intriguing 'What Ifs' in NBA history.. if you take a deep dive into both team's and lets say no Horrace Grant and Rodman wasnt there yet. Thats at least good enough to go 7 games

[@FuShengAlex]

@@jus-ejays1236 That sounds all fine and dañdy but Houston beat a team that beat Chicago. nobody says: "Oh the 91-93 96-98 Rockets would beat the Bulls!" But when houston beats a team that beat Jordan and Chicago "good enough to go 7"??

[@MrFraiche]

Minimum 4 rings to sit at The Table.

[@EricStewart-vy6hb]

I can't believe that

[@WarriorsforInfoTV]

90's Sonics owned the Rockets.

[@RichGannon12]

Not Really, they played each other 3 times in playoffs Sonics won 2 out of the 3 match ups. In 96 Sonics swept the Rockets in the 2nd Round, probably one of the best NBA teams ever not to win a championship. In 97 Rockets beat the Sonics in 7 games in the 2nd Round, In 93 Sonics beat the Rockets in 7 due to having home court advantage, In the first 6 games of the series, the home team won by double digits, game 7 in Seattle was the only close game in the series and it took a miracle shot by Ricky Pierce to get the game into OT, before eventually winning the game by a slim margin, if the Rockets didn't lose their 2 games of the regular season to 2 teams they should have beat, Rockets would have won that series, so in conclusion it was not that dominant. 😢

[@WarriorsforInfoTV]

@@RichGannon12 I take it you're a big Rich Gannon guy. Anyways I was including regular season games in my statement. I'll point out when you knock off the back-to-back champs that is a dominant win.

[@RichGannon12]

@WarriorsforInfoTV yeah I forgot how the Rockets vs Sonics matched up with each other in the regular season, you can make a case from 92-96 the Sonics were the most exciting NBA team to watch.

[@mhfj3901]

That’s one thing we’ll never know but I tell you what, I’m ❌NEVER❌ betting against MJ🐐 If he didn’t retire when he lost his dad and Bulls management didn’t break up the team I got the Bulls winning 9 STRAIGHT 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆

[@Outlaw4Life45]

I don't want to hear nothing about a quote on quote record.... On top of the fact that you got the playoffs is different from the regular season everybody knows that... So with that being said you weren't even getting to the Western conference finals

[@FuShengAlex]

uhhh they got out the West 2x in the 90s what are u talking about?

[@stevesanchez8478]

@@FuShengAlexNot when Jordan was playing full seasons

[@FuShengAlex]

@@stevesanchez8478 So by your logic Bird didn't actually win the title in 86....Jordan didn't play the full season. Too bad just like 95 it counts in the official record books.

[@raymondvalasquez3992]

@@FuShengAlex The argument is about them beating michael jordan's bulls. they have to get to the finals to beat him. if they can't even get through lesser teams, then it logically doesn't follow that they can beat the eventual champions.

[@FuShengAlex]

@@raymondvalasquez3992 uhhh excuse me but the 95 Orlando Magic that Houston swept ran Jordan and Chicago outta the playoffs don't qualify as a lesser team. And cry to the heavens all you want about Jordan not playing all season blah blah, but it counts in the NBA record books as a loss and they're not going to rescind the results and void the outcome of that Finals.

[@master-kq3nw]

Also 1999 was short season they were older but with jordan they could won championship in that lock out season

[@Sambone702]

Leave MJ out of it.

[@DJ-gn5gg]

As a Houstonian the Rockets would had lost for one reason Kenny Smith would get smoke by Jordan. The second year the Rockets would win we had Drexler and the Bulls didnt have Rodman.

[@Fair540]

93-94 Bulls without MJ were 2-2 vs Houston that year. Scottie Pippen and the Bulls minus MJ in 93-94 could have beat the Rockets had the Hugh Hollins call not happened.

[@Sheepmansheep]

we know what would have happened if mj would have face the rockets, the rockets were just the interim champs holding the belt until jordan decided to come back and take his belt.

[@keithnmoore2]

The Rockets can beat the Bulls in a regular season game, but the Bulls wins a series. Bulls in 6

[@GeorgeThomas-bw4fs]

These guys aren't telling the truth , the years Houston won the championship Michael jordan never played against the bulls , the next 3 years bulls played Houston 6 times and lost to Houston 1 time

[@DanielRidore-m9m]

How could Jordan play them if he was retired? Lol what point are you even trying to make?

[@FireAngelChris]

@@DanielRidore-m9m😭😭🤣

[@4Fam]

Hakeem would’ve averaged 42pts, 13rbs, 10assists, 4blks and 3 stls on Bill Cartwright and Luc Longly. Straight dominate the Bulls. Wouldn’t beat them both years back to back.

[@michaelallen8112]

If he didnt get Ko by one of the Bill Cartwright elbows

[@DariusDantzler]

Ignorant fool. Nobody’s beating MJ!!

[@hainavidotcom]

Rockets not beatig the MJ led Bulls in The FINALS. Thats an entirely different thing right there than rs. Sam is not being logical on that and way off on the Nets details. The Bulls waited for Rockets in 91-93, 96-98. Never showed up. If they had met. Mj would have done exactly whqt je did in 1993 vs Suns which elevate his production higher than any player on both sides including Hakeem. Probably would have avg close to 50 back then. Keep in mind he avg over 40 3x in the postseason. Love Hakeem too. But they aint beating Bulls in the Finals it's different.

[@FuShengAlex]

@@hainavidotcom uhhh I like how you edited out that Houston swept the Orlando Magic team that ousted Jordan and Chicago. But carry on....

[@RPB_33411]

Rockets went 8-8 against the Bulls from 1991-98 .....So it's very possible. They would've got 94 or 95 against them .

[@mauriceking3368]

Phil Jackson would’ve let Dream cook and shut every body else down

[@LastLetterisZed702]

I say the Chicago Bulls would have won just one of those 2 Championships. The Houston Rockets would have won a single time. It's utterly impossible to know for sure because nobody can predict the past 100% accurately.

[@DanielBoone1933]

Mike was playing wrestlers, not athletes. Doesn’t mean Mike wasn’t nasty but he wasn’t playing these athletes we see today.

[@slimboogs]

Hakeem and mike cancel each other out, also pip and horry...it comes down to the "others"

[@mj23goat3]

No one, in history, cancels MJ out.

[@gideondavid30]

Not in the playoffs. And I find it awfully convenient Rockets didn't peak until Jordan left.

[@bilders6701]

Pip was Peaking from 94 to 96. Rockets would have had their hands full.

[@Dre-xc2no]

Just based off exhaustion, perhaps the Bulls fall short ONE of those years. But twice in a row? There's no way you could say that definitively. Whether it's MJ vs. Hakeem, or Kobe vs. Duncan, I'm taking the great perimeter player every time.

[@PA-zt6xu]

Jordan even said in each of his retirements in 93 and 98 that he was exhausted and needed a break. Some of his moves he even mentioned he developed because the pounding he took and during the runs. Such as his hard dribble pull up jumper he used a lot in 92 and 93 and his post game he used more in 96 thru 98. Even as bulls fans we could see how every season during those runs he would get tired faster and seem more exhausted because was a lot. Also in 94 pippen acknowledged that getting eliminated by the knicks helped him finally heal up from all those playoff runs. People act like those extra finals runs would not have taken a toll on the rest of the bulls players or even MJ. Jokers think sports is NBA 2k or Madden.

[@Dre-xc2no]

@PA-zt6xu Yeah he was burnt out. MJ asked Phil Jackson before he retired, if he could just maybe come back for the playoffs. Phil was like, I don't think that'll work.🤣

[@PA-zt6xu]

@@Dre-xc2no yep he sure did.

[@Larry-zv8li]

The rockets get taken to 7 games by the Knicks, who the Bulls routinely beat the brakes off of and we're supposed to believe they get past Chicago for the title?

[@KouMurrell]

Bulls use to handle LeBron’s heat in the regular season. When post season came, what happened?

[@bjohnwilliams]

That’s interesting because I didn’t hear a damn thing about the Rockets when MJ was playing 🤔

[@DatsjoeYT]

The bulls won because the next three finals because Rodman was the missing piece because let’s be honest if they went back with that same roster Orlando would beat them again! Also Rodman isn’t giving Hakeem a hard time hakeem was killing Rodman and David Robinson in the wcf!

[@JohnDoe-k5r]

We'll never know. We do know that the Rockets didn't make it to there own conference finals in 91 92 or 93

[@FuShengAlex]

what do u mean we dont know? Houston beat a team that beat Jordan and Chicago.

[@christopherjustice9436]

Jordan missed one year, then the Magic kicked them out the playoffs

[@trell_money7789]

These youngstas really don't understand how good Jordan was

[@alexandrossimitzis146]

Facts! Preach!

[@2008sALINAs]

The same good Jordan that said he was tired after 93. Winning chips are hard. 95 showed it. You can't just say he would've won 8. MJ didn't win 8 titles in row because he couldn't. He didn't.

[@PA-zt6xu]

@@2008sALINAs Exactly!

[@soramirez5473]

The raptors played the bulls well, even beat them in the regular season.. REGULAR SEASON

[@birdmangorilla100]

The Rockets was tooooo deep for the Bulls. Pippen wasn’t gonna do nothing but give you 17-18 MJ will give you 30 max. Now what they gonna do with Hakeem, Sam, Vernon, Kenny, Mr. kiss of death, Robert Horry lmao I don’t think y’all really remember how nice that team was

[@mj23goat3]

What's weird is you weren't hearing _any_ of this mess from Rockets players or fans in '96. Know why? Because these Houston punks knew damn well that if they ran their mouths against the GOAT of GOAT's, and then happened to meet him in The Finals, he was gonna make 'em pay big time. Just like he did to *everyone* that ever stepped to him. And they wanted NONE of that so they kept nice and quiet. Now that they're safe and sound here in the present day and know that they can't be teleported back in time to play the games _suddenly_ these suckas are full of false bravado. But we all know they weren't gonna do or say a damn thing back then to enrage the Alpha Bull or they'd end up getting straight GORED...repeatedly.

[@robertm.serrato258]

YES!!! AGREE 100%

[@PA-zt6xu]

What are you talking about. The Rockets championship team was blown up by 96. Only Hakeem and Drexler remained. Kenny and Horry and Cassell were all gone by the start of the fall 1996 season. The Rocket blew up the team to get barkley and were starting Matt Maloney at PG. They had an aging roster and were starting injury prone barkley and bad knees drexler with Barkley being 33, Hakeem and Drexler at 34 years of age. They Most NBA fans and analyst with common sense didn't even think of them as championship contenders because of how injury prone their starters were and how they had the worst starting PG in the league in Matt Maloney.

[@christophercomitini8619]

No way. I give the Rockets credit but they won because John Starks went 2 for 18 in Game 7 in '94 and Nick Anderson missed four free throws in Game 1 in '95.

[@ajwalker2365]

Nick Anderson missing free throws wouldn't have changed a sweep

[@christophercomitini8619]

@@ajwalker2365 what? They literally would've won Game 1.

[@ajwalker2365]

@@christophercomitini8619true. I meant to say the series was lopsided regardless of 1 game. I stand corrected tho

[@christophercomitini8619]

@@ajwalker2365 I can't go with that logic. The Magic were one if not the best team in the NBA at that time. They'd beat the Bulls w/ Jordan, they beat the Pacers.

[@ajwalker2365]

@@christophercomitini8619true, but the Rockets run was historic. Beat in their primes Stockton & Malone, Sir Charles & KJ, Admiral & Worm, Shaq & Penny… all on road

[@trell_money7789]

Houston couldn't get to the finals to play the Bulls before Jordan retired and couldn't get to the finals to play the Bulls after Jordan returned🤔🤔Enuff said🤷🏿🤷🏿

[@handpicked1980]

How you gone do my Cuzzin Anthony Bonner like that!! lol

[@erikhopkins9307]

it's the "chicago bulls!" stop checking him from hernias!

[@millslane1037]

I have always thought the NBA deliberately made Houston break up their championship team because that Rocket teams could match up anyone!

[@gmoneybagz2376]

🤣🤣🤣🤣Stop it!

[@pacomapacoma5285]

Not saying it wouldn't of been close, especially if Horry kept pulling 3 pointers out his a** lol but bulls would've done their "usual " of using 2-3 big, kinda heavy centers to just lean on the star center all game and tire them out and use up fouls to disrupt and frustrate the other teams star center.

[@charleshamblet2941]

Sam played for the Rockets so he gotta ride with them 🤷🏾‍♂️

[@Outlaw4Life45]

Now if they had the African that nobody can stop explain to me what happened beforehand how come you weren't making it to the Western conference finals excuse me

[@djg9487]

Rockets couldn’t beat the Sonics in a series with or without Drexler

[@prettyboyrickey]

Matchups matter, because the magic beat the bulls then ended up losing the rockets in the finals.

[@ryandavis8658]

Every team has a kryptonite. Sonics was a tough play for the Rockets. Rockets was a very tough play for the Bulls.

[@Pswayze23]

They beat them in 97. So they are 1-2 against the kemp and Payton Sonic's, and probably should be 2-1 if not for dirty reffing in game 7 of 93.

[@FuShengAlex]

@@djg9487 They could beat Orlando who beat Jordan and Chicago though

[@Rightgeousjourney]

@@prettyboyrickeyand then the next year the Bulls swept the magic

[@travionjohnson3975]

Sam knows the regular season isn’t the playoffs and I ask all the time how come they didn’t make it 96-98? Seattle Utah are the teams that beat Houston 96-98 and Chicago beat them

[@thatguyronwaiters6485]

Remember Clyde was there maxwell, kenny and Sam they still would have won magics did and they beat them and I love the Magic big Penny fan top 20 imo but mike could be touched just like every other great

[@ALLCITY73]

So did Portland and Utah until it was Finals time

[@FuShengAlex]

Orlando in the 95 playoffs?

[@ALLCITY73]

@@FuShengAlex what happened in '96???

[@FuShengAlex]

@@ALLCITY73 what's that to do with 95?

[@ALLCITY73]

@@FuShengAlex I didn't know we were focusing on just one season? Did Sam Cassel just reference '95?

[@FuShengAlex]

@@ALLCITY73 that year doesn't fit into your equation

[@jaxjr121]

LOL!!! We will never know!!

[@Getdown8319]

The Cavs did great against the bulls and swept the season series until Jordan made the shot and sent them home. But we will never know.

[@FuShengAlex]

@@Getdown8319 Orlando (who ousted Jordan and Chicago) swept the season series vs Houston and ended up getting sent home. Yeah we do know

[@Getdown8319]

@@FuShengAlex no we don’t know but cool way to look stupid and miss the point. Over here trying to debate hypothetical scenarios lmfao. Should t age things you literally cannot prove.

[@FuShengAlex]

@@Getdown8319 Yeah nice try Jordan Jocker. No team loses in the 2nd round of a playoffs and says: "Hey we dont know what woulda happened between us and the champs". The Nuggets that just lost in the 2nd round arent running around saying they dont know if they'd have beaten 24 champs Boston. Does your noggin understand sports or not?

[@Getdown8319]

@@FuShengAlex your literally stupid. U cannot know the outcome of something that didn’t happen lmfao. U sound insane right now. I didn’t say they would win or loose I said we will never know because we won’t go back and finish our finger painting.

[@nanathamuz1145]

Say All you want now😂😂😂

[@bscoeryan]

The reality nobody remember rockets...it just pave way to bulls 2nd 3peat.

[@erickgross984]

Brotha Sam, I do understand your sentiments regarding Jordan. Yes, MJ was amazing but did he face a jump shooter like 7ft Kevin Durant? I'm sure MJ didn't guard Shawn Kemp, isnt he the same size as LBJ with the same athletic ability? LBJ nor Kobe - I think are Better than MJ and vice versa. Like MJ couldn't get pass or dominate Bird/Celtics (see 1988 to 1991 games; specifically, 1990 -1991). Rockets had problems with Lakers/Supersonics This is your profession not mine but its just a suggestion to look into.

[@mikeyisniceha]

Rockets had 6 chances to beat the the bulls and MJ..

[@Matt-yz3iq]

Rockets beat the Knicks and magic in those finals. Two teams the bulls could beat pretty easily. Granted magic took bulls down in Jordan’s half year back… but Jordan wasn’t really back fully then. Rockets were great but I don’t think they are beating the bulls.