Greatest NBA Teams Tournament. Final 4: 1986 Celtics vs 1996 Bulls

[Mean_Streets]

Why are you copying and pasting the same thing? Lmao

[Mean_Streets]

I have no doubt that Kobe poster is really Jordansbulls and has voted for the Bulls multiple times with alts. Lmao

[Kobe187]

We know the 86 Celtics couldn’t guard Jordan and the Bulls have good defensive players in Pippen and Rodman to guard Bird and McHale.

This. Jordan could score at will against the those Celtics but the Bulls sucked, they were absolute trash lol Woolridge and Oakley were their next best players lol, in 1996 Bulls had one of the best defensive teams ever, they had peak MJ, probably the best team of all time.

[Mean_Streets]

MJ wasn’t at his peak in ‘96.

McHale is about equal to Pippen

Parish-Walton-DJ-Ainge supporting cast kills Rodman-Kukoc-Harper-Longley

[LakerLegend]

I don’t think you guys should make a straight correlation based on what happened in 86. A young hyper athletic Jordan getting all the shots is a different dynamic than the 96 one. That’s more conducive to putting up huge numbers.

[Mean_Streets]

People are not talking about the Celtics defense either. They had the #1 defense in ‘86. Walton led the entire league in DRTG, McHale and DJ were All-NBA defenders, while Bird was a great team defender.

From top to bottom they had everything. Even had the best rebounding team in the league and moved the ball better than any other team. Walton really added another dimension to that team.

[Kobe187]

I don’t think you guys should make a straight correlation based on what happened in 86. A young hyper athletic Jordan getting all the shots is a different dynamic than the 96 one. That’s more conducive to putting up huge numbers.

His teammates sucked in 86, he wouldn’t be needed to score as much in 96, he has great teammates in 96 that can score and knock down shots, 96 MJ would be a much wiser more calculated Jordan scoring less but ensuring wins, he would be a floor general and his leadership skills and championship experience would be on full display, Bulls would play elite defence and close out games. MJ would play to win.

[Kobe187]

People are not talking about the Celtics defense either. They had the #1 defense in ‘86. Walton led the entire league in DRTG, McHale and DJ were All-NBA defenders, while Bird was a great team defender.

From top to bottom they had everything. Even had the best rebounding team in the league and moved the ball better than any other team. Walton really added another dimension to that team.

And they still couldn’t slow down young Jordan, 43.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 5.7 assists against the Celtics shooting 50.5% from the field and 87.2% from the FT line. Kind of embarrassing when it’s literally 1 against 5.

[MavsDirk41]

1. Peak Michael Jordan in 96, by far the best player.
2. Rodman (great defender and rebounder) doesn’t let the Front Court get away with bullying, he locked up Shaq in 96, he would easily lock up McHale.
3. Bird locked down by Jordan or Pippen (2 of the best defenders of all time).
4. Jordan in 86 & 87 against Boston in the playoffs averaged an incredible 39.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game, in 96 he was a better overall player playing on a much superior team, Jordan would score at will, but more importantly the Bulls in 96 were one of the best defensive teams of all time.


Bulls 4-0

‘86 Bird is at least on the level of MJ.

The rest of the cast isn’t close. Celtics have more talent. Bulls also dominated an expansion NBA

Your true colors came out with your “bulls also dominated an expansion NBA” comment. Those Bulls teams would be great in any era. Dont act like you arent pro James and biased. The Celtics probably take it in 7 but it could go either way. Peak Jordan was 89-93, not 96 Jordan. He still gets his although DJ is an elite defender and would give him fits. Bird was in his peak and amazing but 96 Pippen would be a challenge for him for sure. Pippen wouldnt give him an inch of space. Rodman doesnt have the size or overall girth to slow down McHale, but his rebounding would keep the Bulls competitive on the glass. Early Jordan didnt have a 6’10” shooter/scorer when he played Boston either like he had in 96 with Kukoc. Again, could go either way.

[MavsDirk41]

Bird also called Magic the best he ever saw during a game in the ‘87 Finals.

It took 5 men, but the Bulls still got swept. Look what MJ did in game 3, off the top of my head he scored 19 points on bad shooting and the Celtics had a 30 point lead at one point.

But all of this doesn’t matter. Comparing what a player did 10 years prior vs a team when he still got swept and using it as a positive to why the ‘96 Bulls would win is lazy. At the end of the day, the Bulls still got swept and we are talking about the ‘96 Bulls, not ‘86.

You have absolutely no clue what you are talking about. Who was Jordan playing with in 86? Can you talk about his teammates? Talk about that Bulls roster….

[Mean_Streets]

I don’t think you guys should make a straight correlation based on what happened in 86. A young hyper athletic Jordan getting all the shots is a different dynamic than the 96 one. That’s more conducive to putting up huge numbers.

His teammates sucked in 86, he wouldn’t be needed to score as much in 96, he has great teammates in 96 that can score and knock down shots, 96 MJ would be a much wiser more calculated Jordan scoring less but ensuring wins, he would be a floor general and his leadership skills and championship experience would be on full display, Bulls would play elite defence and close out games. MJ would play to win.

The main reason why MJ had such success in those first 2 ‘86 games is because of his athletic ability, Celtics really had nobody who could match him. When you factor in that MJ is not the same athlete in 1996 and he has a better cast around him, he is not going to be dropping 40-50 every night. He doesn’t need to. He also doesn’t have the same athletic ability that gave the Celtics the most trouble at the end of the day. Someone like DJ could match up much better vs ‘96 MJ as opposed to his ‘86 version.

Celtics also have two centers who are better than Longley, who is the Bulls starting center. Not to mention Kukoc usually stank it up in the playoffs when he came off the bench in ‘96 and ‘97. My main concern for the Bulls would be their lack of talent compared to Boston. Bulls cant really rely on their chemistry-experience edge because Boston’s chemistry and experience are just as good.

[Mean_Streets]

Bird also called Magic the best he ever saw during a game in the ‘87 Finals.

It took 5 men, but the Bulls still got swept. Look what MJ did in game 3, off the top of my head he scored 19 points on bad shooting and the Celtics had a 30 point lead at one point.

But all of this doesn’t matter. Comparing what a player did 10 years prior vs a team when he still got swept and using it as a positive to why the ‘96 Bulls would win is lazy. At the end of the day, the Bulls still got swept and we are talking about the ‘96 Bulls, not ‘86.

You have absolutely no clue what you are talking about. Who was Jordan playing with in 86? Can you talk about his teammates? Talk about that Bulls roster….

You are proving my point. At the end of the day, talking about what MJ did in ‘86 doesn’t matter because it was a different MJ and a different cast he had. And MJ still got swept, I’m not sure how anyone can use that as a positive.

[MavsDirk41]

Bird also called Magic the best he ever saw during a game in the ‘87 Finals.

It took 5 men, but the Bulls still got swept. Look what MJ did in game 3, off the top of my head he scored 19 points on bad shooting and the Celtics had a 30 point lead at one point.

But all of this doesn’t matter. Comparing what a player did 10 years prior vs a team when he still got swept and using it as a positive to why the ‘96 Bulls would win is lazy. At the end of the day, the Bulls still got swept and we are talking about the ‘96 Bulls, not ‘86.

You have absolutely no clue what you are talking about. Who was Jordan playing with in 86? Can you talk about his teammates? Talk about that Bulls roster….

You are proving my point. At the end of the day, talking about what MJ did in ‘86 doesn’t matter because it was a different MJ and a different cast he had. And MJ still got swept, I’m not sure how anyone can use that as a positive.

Lol you can replace any basketball in nba history with Jordan on that 86 Bulls roster and the Bulls still get swept easily. That roster was terrible. People are only using his play as a positive because nobody had dominated Boston like he did. The 96 Bulls won 72 games, had the goat, plus Pippen, plus the best Bulls version of Rodman in 96, plus Kukoc. The 96 Bulls are arguably the greatest team in nba history. To think they dont have a chance to beat the 86 Celtics is not living in reality. I think Boston wins but in 7 games.

[Iwasawitness]

We know the 86 Celtics couldn’t guard Jordan and the Bulls have good defensive players in Pippen and Rodman to guard Bird and McHale.

I would say that Celtics team had more trouble with athletic guards. MJ didn't have the same burst in '96. MJ also shot 42% vs the Celtics in 1987, when MJ was a better player and the Celtics regressed. If Kemp played great vs Rodman in the Finals in '96, I can only imagine what prime McHale would do.

Rodman wasn't guarding Kemp though...

[Mean_Streets]

Longley-Rodman shared duties guarding him, although you are right, Longley was the primary defender. Which is odd.

[Iwasawitness]

Longley-Rodman shared duties guarding him, although you are right, Longley was the primary defender. Which is odd.

It's not odd. They did it on purpose. Rodman's role was to be their primary rebounder. And they wanted him to conserve as much energy as possible when the Bulls were on offense.

[Mean_Streets]

Longley-Rodman shared duties guarding him, although you are right, Longley was the primary defender. Which is odd.

It's not odd. They did it on purpose. Rodman's role was to be their primary rebounder. And they wanted him to conserve as much energy as possible when the Bulls were on offense.

That means Longley is getting cooked by McHale

[Iwasawitness]

Longley-Rodman shared duties guarding him, although you are right, Longley was the primary defender. Which is odd.

It's not odd. They did it on purpose. Rodman's role was to be their primary rebounder. And they wanted him to conserve as much energy as possible when the Bulls were on offense.

That means Longley is getting cooked by McHale

I don't know if that's what they do here. But that's what they went with in 96.

[Mean_Streets]

...

[Warspite]

1. Peak Michael Jordan in 96, by far the best player.
2. Rodman (great defender and rebounder) doesn’t let the Front Court get away with bullying, he locked up Shaq in 96, he would easily lock up McHale.
3. Bird locked down by Jordan or Pippen (2 of the best defenders of all time).
4. Jordan in 86 & 87 against Boston in the playoffs averaged an incredible 39.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game, in 96 he was a better overall player playing on a much superior team, Jordan would score at will, but more importantly the Bulls in 96 were one of the best defensive teams of all time.


Bulls 4-0

86 Bird is a better player than 96 MJ and no,,, just no 96 MJ was not a better player than 87 MJ.

87 MJ might be the greatest player to ever play the game.