After the first three games of the 1996 NBA Finals, the results seemed to be a foregone conclusion. The Bulls, who won an NBA-record 72 regular-season games, had a 3-0 lead against the Seattle SuperSonics. Michael Jordan, that season’s scoring champ and NBA MVP, averaged 31.0 points in the first three games, which the Bulls had won by a combined 43 points. The Sonics were within four in Game 2, but Games 1 and 3 were blowouts.
Then, Sonics coach George Karl switched defensive stalwart Gary Payton onto Jordan. Now, no one has ever stopped Jordan, but Payton did make life difficult for MJ, who scored 23 in a Game 4 loss and 26 in a Game 5 loss, his lowest totals of the series.
The Games 4 and 5 losses were only the second time the Bulls had lost back-to-back games during their historic run to the NBA Finals. And the two losses double the number of defeats they had in the playoffs, as they were 11-1 heading into the finals.
As the series returned to Chicago for Game 6, Jordan had another atypical desultory game, going 5 of 19 from the field and finishing with 22 points. The game itself was a rock fight with the Sonics committing 20 turnovers while the Bulls had 19. Neither team shot better than .425 from the field, with the Bulls a ghastly 39.7 percent. But Dennis Rodman was spectacular as 11 of his 19 rebounds came on the offensive end.
“Dennis,” Karl said, “gave them all those extra possessions.”
Those extra possessions helped the Bulls to an 87-75 win and their fourth title in six years, but their first since 1993, as Jordan won his fourth Finals MVP.