The 1995-96 Chicago Bulls were something special.
Phil Jackson’s team had the best team offensive and defensive rating in the NBA and finished the regular season with a then-record 72 wins and 10 losses.
Michael Jordan had returned to The Association after the first of his three retirements and quickly re-asserted himself as the best player in the league.
The Bulls eventually won the title – their fourth of the ’90s – after beating the Seattle SuperSonics in six games in the ’96 Finals. MJ was named Finals MVP after averaging 27.3 points per game and the first championship of Chicago’s second three-peat was in the bag.
However, SuperSonics legend Shawn Kemp wants everyone to know it wasn’t Jordan who beat them in that year’s Finals.
It wasn’t even Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen.
Kemp recently said it was Dennis Rodman who was actually more more valuable than Jordan for the Bulls during that series.
Kemp recently appeared on All The Smoke Podcast to discuss the Sonics-Bulls Finals and explained how The Worm wore them down.
“Michael wasn’t the reason, he didn’t beat us,” Kemp said. “We was on his a**.
“Dennis Rodman was the one who beat us. We had no answer for Dennis Rodman. Every time that they needed a second shot or something special or an extra rebound, he was flying and winking and kissing.”
Rodman’s antics completely through Brickowski off in the series
Rodman averaged a whopping 14.7 rebounds to go along with 7.5 points and 2.5 assists in the series. He had several standout games with 20 rebounds in Game 2 and 19 rebounds in Game 6.
But his real impact on the series couldn’t be seen in a box score.
According to Kemp, Rodman distracted Seattle player Frank Brickowski so much with his strange antics that Brickowski was completely ‘discombobulated’ for most of the six games.
“He [Rodman] wore colored contacts during the championship with some lips***.
“He would be like he was trying to kiss Frank’s arm,” Kemp said. “Frank couldn’t take it. The man in him just couldn’t allow it. Dennis knew what buttons to push. We needed Frank to rebound.”
“He got him all discombobulated. Oh, s**t. I was just like, come on, man. So yeah… Dennis Rodman, he’s a genius.”
Brickowski only averaged two rebounds in the series so Rodman’s antics definitely worked.
Rodman’s crazy behavior undoubtedly got under the skin of Brickowski, who was ejected in Game 4 for committing a flagrant foul on the Bulls power forward.
The 6ft 7in Rodman is one of the finest defensive players and rebounders in the history of the game.
Rodman was a larger than life character
He is also one of the most colourful and enigmatic characters to ever grace the NBA hardwood, with a whole laundry list of on and off-court controversies.
Rodman dated Madonna and Baywatch star Carmen Electra, disappeared mid-way through the season for a ’48-hour vacation’ in Las Vegas, kicked a cameraman, ‘married himself’, and later formed an unlikely friendship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
He’s also a five-time NBA champion, two-time Defensive Player of the Year, seven-time All Defensive First Team member, seven-time rebounding leader and NBA Hall of Famer.
Rodman certainly came with a lot of baggage but without him the Bulls don’t win their second three-peat.