In 1991, Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls finally got over the hump and reached the NBA Finals for the first time. After three consecutive seasons of heartbreaks and frustrations at the hands of the Detroit Pistons, MJ and the Bulls turned the tables around as they obliterated the ‘Bad Boys’, dominating them via a four-game sweep to end their reign as back-to-back champions.
Before this dramatic turn of events ensued, Michael sat down in NBC’s special one-on-one interview with Pat Riley and was asked who he preferred to face between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Portland Trail Blazers for the last stop to reach his first championship. Yet as competitive as MJ has ever been, he interestingly turned clever by picking the latter.
“I’d much rather face Portland,” Mike answered. “Being that, the Lakers got all that experience. They’ve been there many times, they got the [solid] players, Magic is so smart in those situations. Portland hasn’t won like we haven’t. Certainly they have mistakes, they have a little bit more flaws, and they still probably have a little more doubt than what the Lakers would have.”
A reasonable preference
Michael’s arguments make sense, considering that Magic and the Showtime Lakers have been battle-tested due to their dynasty existence in the ‘80s. By winning five championships in eight Finals appearances throughout the decade, the Lakers have conquered the league multiple times and are already built for these moments.
And even though Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was already nonexistent in their lineup upon retiring from the sport two years ago, they remained in strong contention with Johnson as their showrunner and James Worthy as his solid co-star.
That’s not a slight to what the Clyde Drexler-led Blazers have been since they made it to the title stage just a year ago. But their structure, timeline, and goals to take the next step were identical to the Bulls, which makes MJ’s selection reasonable enough to acknowledge.
MJ still beat Magic, Lakers for his 1st title
In the end, MJ didn’t get the Finals matchup he wanted as he and the Bulls eventually met Magic and the Lakers at the mountaintop with the NBA title on the line. Yet despite this, it turned out as an unexpected blessing in disguise for Mike to perform at his best.
Although inexperienced under the bright lights of basketball’s biggest stage, Mike didn’t shy away from the golden moment to introduce himself as the best player in the world. Facing his biggest adversity in Magic, Jordan was on a mission as he played marvelously by charging the Bulls to victory. After dropping Game 1 at home, Michael and Chicago retaliated by steamrolling Los Angeles in the next four games to clinch their maiden NBA championship – a perfect ending to their compelling run as one of the best teams in history.
It served as the first of many for Jordan and the Bulls. In hindsight, facing and beating Magic is the best thing that His Airness could have ever asked to kickstart his ruling in the league throughout the ‘90s and eventual coronation as the greatest ever.
