The Chicago Bulls history tells us that they have won six NBA championships. More remarkable than the six championships is the “threepeated” twice, which is unheard of.
The Chicago Bulls were the third basketball franchise in Chicago following the Packer-Zephyrs (now the Washington Wizards) and the Stags 1946-1950. In their first season of 1966/1967 they posted the best record and made the playoffs.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s the team was a perennial cellar dweller. In 1979 the Bulls first chance at getting a franchise player did not work out when they lost a cooing flip with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The player was Ervin magic Johnson. In the summer of 1984 the Chicago Bulls were about to dramatically change when they received the third pick in the NBA draft. The Houston Rockets drafted Hakeem Olajuwon, the Portland Trail Blazers drafted Sam Bowie and the Chicago Bulls snatched up Michael Jordan.
No one knew at the time that Michael Jordan would become the greatest basketball player in history. Jerry Reinsdorf appointed Jerry Krause general manager in 1984 after purchasing the controlling interest of the franchise.
Jerry Krause has a background of being a successful baseball scout and was hoping that no one would draft Michael Jordan before the Bulls. He aw something in Jordan that no one else saw. Michael Jordan had an immediate impact on the Bulls franchise and their history.
When the Chicago Bulls history is written it is broken down into the Pre-Jordan Era, The Jordan Era (1984-1999) and the Post- Jordan Era. During the Jordan Era the team won six championships and dominated the NBA. He led the bulls back to the playoffs.
During the next couple of years Jerry Reinsdorf and Jerry Krause began assembling the pieces for a championship team. The Chicago Bulls developed an early rival with the champion Boston Celtics. The Bulls met the Celtics and Larry Bird in the 1985/1986 playoffs where there were swept but the battle between the two set up a fierce rivalry.
Even though the Chicago Bulls lost Jordan began his infamous reputation of becoming better in the playoff. He dropped 63 points in game two and prompted Bird to call him god-like. With the addition of rookie Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant, Jordan led the Bulls to the Eastern Conference Final in 1987.
They lost to the Detroit Pistons in five games but it began the deep hatred between the teams for the next four years. In the off-season Jerry Krause tinkered with the lineup and the Bulls advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals again coming up short in game seven to the eventual champion Detroit Pistons.
The following year, Coach Doug Collins was let go and replaced by Assistant Coach Phil Jackson; they again lost to the Detroit pistons in the Eastern Conference Final.
Pushing hard in the 1990/1991 seasons the Bulls broke through and rolled through the season, the playoffs, sweeping the Pistons and winning their first championship. They went on to win the next two championships for their first “threepeat”.
Michael Jordan retired for the 1994/1995 season to pursue baseball and Scottie Pippen led them to the playoffs but losing in the second round. Jordan returned for the 1995-1996 season and eventually started another “threepeat” in 1995/1996 – 1998/1999 seasons. The run came to end when Jerry Reinsdorf and Jerry Krause broke up the team. Over the next 5 years the Bulls missed the playoffs and returned to the playoffs form 2004/2005-2006/2007 seasons.
The wheel feel off in the 2007/2008 season and they qualified for the lottery with a 33-49 record. They had a 1.7% chance of getting the first pick and they did. Derrick Rose was the first pick, which they have been building around just like they did with Jordan.
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