The year 1998 sealed the status of the Chicago Bulls as one of the greatest NBA dynasties in basketball history. In a span of eight years, the team captured six titles, split by two three-peats, and it would have been a four-peat in the last leg had the tight crew, headed by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, stayed together for another campaign.
Things were shaping up in favor of the Bulls after winning the 1998 crown. The next season turned out a shortened one because of the NBA lockdown. It would have meant for Jordan and company a longer and better preparation for the war to come.
CBS Sports said Pippen and MJ were clearly on their peak level when the squad went their separate ways. Jordan, for instance, chose retirement instead of playing for a different coach as the Bulls management moved on from Phil Jackson.
When he left, Jordan averaged over 32 points per outing, and Pippen shone, even more, when he suited up for Houston and Portland. It was easy to see, the two main men for Chicago still had the fire and the chops to win, and the same applied to the rest of the crew.
Winning a fourth title in a row was a big possibility for the team, and that's according to Dennis Rodman, speaking on his appearance with ESPN's "First Take." The Worm said it would have been an easy win for the Bulls had the core players stuck together, at least for another year.
"I would go to war with these guys any time of the day. It was just sad in the fact that we could have come back and won a fourth championship very easily," Rodman was reported as saying.
His argument is not a hollow one. Rodman could point to the last time that the Bulls fought for the Larry O'Brien. The might of Chicago overwhelmed the Utah Jazz that the Finals series was wrapped up in just six games, somehow underpinning the claim by Rodman that his team then was a juggernaut.
Rodman's former teammate Steve Kerr is in complete agreement. And the ex-Bulls guard recalled that the team was so solid there was no force to disrupt the crew, not even the surprise arrival of Rodman in the middle of the 1990s.
Rodman brought trouble with him, but for Chicago, it was not the case and Kerr it was because the presence of Jordan and Pippen, and add to the mix was Jackson. According to Clutch Points, the trio served as the team's "strong foundation," per the description from Kerr.
"He wouldn't mess with the chemistry," the report quoted Kerr as saying, citing a story from Mac Engel of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Sure enough, Rodman flourished the whole time that he had spent with the Bulls. He won NBA rings and collected fortune and notoriety (as expected) along the way.
