It wasn't even fair. Honestly, looking back at the 1996 season, it felt like the rest of the league was just playing for second place from the moment training camp opened. If you’re asking who won the 1996 NBA championship, the answer is the Chicago Bulls, but just saying the name doesn’t really do justice to the absolute buzzsaw that team was. They didn't just win. They dismantled the very idea of competition.
After a 72-10 regular season—a record that stood for twenty years until the Warriors clipped it—the Bulls entered the playoffs with a chip on their shoulder the size of the Sears Tower. Michael Jordan was back for his first full season after his "retirement" to play baseball. He was angry. He was motivated. Most importantly, he was tired of people saying he’d lost a step after the Magic bounced him from the playoffs the year before.
The Bulls vs. The Sonics: A Clash of Identities
The 1996 NBA Finals pitted the Bulls against the Seattle SuperSonics. Seattle was incredible that year. You had Gary "The Glove" Payton, who was basically a defensive nightmare for anyone with a pulse, and Shawn Kemp, who was dunking on people with a level of violence we rarely see anymore. They won 64 games themselves. In almost any other year in NBA history, that Sonics team is a champion.
But they ran into the 72-win Bulls.
The series started exactly how everyone expected. Chicago took a 3-0 lead. It looked like a sweep. People were already talking about where this team ranked among the greatest of all time before the fourth game even tipped off. Then, things got a little weird. George Karl, the Sonics coach, finally decided to put Gary Payton on Michael Jordan. Why he waited until Game 4 is one of those great NBA "what-ifs" that still keeps Sonics fans up at night.
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Payton made Jordan work. He got under his skin. The Sonics clawed back, winning Game 4 and Game 5 in Seattle. Suddenly, the "greatest team ever" was heading back to Chicago for a Game 6, and the pressure was actually starting to mount.
Father’s Day and the Weight of the Moment
Game 6 took place on June 16, 1996. It was Father’s Day.
This is the part of the story that transcends basketball. It was the first championship Jordan won since his father, James Jordan, was murdered in 1993. You could see it on his face all game. He didn't actually play that well by his standards—he shot 5-for-19 from the floor. But it didn't matter. The Bulls defense, led by Scottie Pippen and the eccentric, rebounding-obsessed Dennis Rodman, was suffocating.
Rodman was a monster in Game 6. He grabbed 19 rebounds, 11 of them on the offensive end. He was diving for loose balls, getting in Frank Brickowski's head, and basically acting as a human vacuum cleaner.
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When the final buzzer sounded and the Bulls secured the 87-75 victory, the image that stayed with everyone wasn't a dunk or a jump shot. It was Michael Jordan on the floor of the locker room, clutching the game ball and sobbing. He’d proven he could get back to the mountaintop, but he had to do it without the man who had been by his side for the first three rings.
Why the 1996 Bulls Were Different
What made this team so special? It wasn't just Jordan. It was the structure.
- Phil Jackson’s Zen: He managed egos that should have been unmanageable. Keeping Rodman, Jordan, and Pippen on the same page was a coaching miracle.
- The Triangle Offense: It wasn't about one guy isolation-scoring; it was about spacing and read-and-react movements that left defenses dizzy.
- Defensive Versatility: Pippen, Jordan, and Rodman were all First Team All-Defense. You literally couldn't find a weak link to exploit.
- Toni Kukoc: People forget how vital he was as the Sixth Man of the Year. A 6'11" guy who could pass and shoot like a guard was a cheat code in '96.
The Bulls finished the postseason 15-3. They were never really in danger of losing the series, even when Seattle made it 3-2. There was an inevitability to them. They were a team built on the philosophy that if you work harder than the opponent every single night, talent will eventually take over.
The Legacy of the 1996 Finals
When we talk about who won the 1996 NBA championship, we’re talking about the peak of the 90s Bulls dynasty. This was the start of their second "three-peat." It validated the trade for Dennis Rodman, which many experts at the time thought would blow up in Chicago’s face. It also solidified Michael Jordan’s argument as the greatest to ever play, showing he could adapt his game from pure vertical athleticism to a more nuanced, mid-range post-up style.
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The Sonics, meanwhile, became one of the greatest "what-if" teams. They eventually moved to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder, leaving a void in the Pacific Northwest that hasn't been filled since. But for those six games in June of '96, they were the only thing standing between the Bulls and immortality.
If you want to understand the modern NBA, you have to look at this series. You see the roots of positionless basketball in Scottie Pippen. You see the importance of the "stretch four" in Kukoc. And you see the defensive intensity that every championship team since has tried to replicate.
How to Study the 1996 Season for Modern Success
If you're a student of the game or just a fan of excellence, there are a few things you can actually take away from the 1996 Bulls:
- Look at the rebounding margins. The Bulls didn't just win because they had MJ; they won because Rodman and Longley gave them extra possessions. In any competitive environment, the "extra possessions" are the small tasks no one else wants to do.
- Analyze the defensive rotations. Watch Game 2 of the Finals. The way the Bulls rotate to help the helper is a masterclass in communication.
- Evaluate the "Return" Narrative. Jordan's comeback wasn't immediate success. He failed in 1995. The 1996 title was the result of a full year of conditioning and mental recalibration.
The 1996 Chicago Bulls weren't just a basketball team. They were a cultural phenomenon. They paved the way for the global explosion of the NBA, and their 72-10 season remains the gold standard for a "perfect" basketball year.
Next Steps for Deep Diving into NBA History
To truly appreciate the 1996 Bulls, you should watch the "Father’s Day" footage from the locker room to understand the emotional stakes involved. Afterward, compare the defensive stats of the 1996 Sonics against the 2016 Warriors to see how the game evolved over twenty years of "greatest team" candidates. You can also research the 1996 NBA Draft, which happened just days after the Finals and brought stars like Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson into the league, effectively starting the next era of basketball.