Quote:
Originally Posted by Carnivore
If Jordan hadn't gone to Baseball and his Bulls had won 8 in a row?
This is a dumb narrative and it's bizarre how many people actually believe it. I'm smarter than that, and so is Pat Riley per his "Disease of More" theory.
MJ got a break, came back on a mission to prove he was still the best (particularly after losing to the Magic in '95).
That break enabled Kukoc to get acclimated before MJ could crush his soul, to phase out players who were ready to move on (Armstrong, Grant) and bring on players who were motivated to have some parades of their own (Kukoc, Harper).
It also gave Pippen and whoever else came on during those two seasons (Longley and/or Wennington, maybe Kerr) a chance to get a taste of losing in the playoffs.
Their final title before the retirement was a grind against a Suns team that was good but not terribly formidable. Suns would have won that one if they didn't play terrified the first two games. Bulls were on a downward trajectory. First year MJ comes back they win 72 games and boatrace everyone. The reset was the reason why, and NOT indicative of what would have happened if he had played the two years prior.
They might have won in '94 and maybe even '95, but by that point everyone would have hated each other and they would have broken up like a boy band at its peak. Disease of more. It's a thing. Be grateful it happened the way it did, two symmetrical three year stretches separated by a timeout, which also made the Chicago fans appreciate the second run that much more. But don't say they would have won eight in a row because that's dumb and wrong.