The Chicago Bulls saw some truly dominant years out of shooting guard Michael Jordan, but some opponents got it worse than others.
Even though he truly shined during the regular season, the time where the spotlight showed brightest on the Chicago Bulls legendary shooting guard Michael Jordan. There really isn’t a more dominant player in recent memory in the NBA, if ever, than Jordan come playoff time. He just couldn’t be stopped once he turned it on.
There were points when Jordan wasn’t at his best in the playoffs. But that either came after his one year playing baseball, or at the very beginning or end of his career. The only occasion where Jordan really slipped up in the prime of his career was when the Bulls lost to the Orlando Magic in the second round of the 1995 playoffs. And that was a very talented Magic team, that still fell short to the eventual back-to-back champion Houston Rockets in the NBA Finals.
The Bulls won six NBA Championships with Jordan leading the way in the 1990’s. If not for the early breakup of the dynasty team prior to the start of the 1998-99 season, there might have been one more in store. Let alone if Jordan hadn’t ever tried his hand at playing baseball with that one year in the Chicago White Sox organization.
That stint for Jordan playing baseball had a two-year long residual effect on the Bulls in terms of missing out on more potential titles. While Scottie Pippen was still a very solid player, he couldn’t get it done on his own without Jordan.
Outside of those few years of the 1990’s where the Bulls didn’t win a title (with or without Jordan at the helm), which opponents ran into all sorts of trouble trying to unseat him.
3. John Starks, Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley (New York Knicks)
Just in general in the 1990’s, the biggest rival and in all likelihood the most frustrated team by the Bulls was the Eastern Conference foe New York Knicks. During the 1990’s title runs for the Bulls, the Knicks were often the team left looking at what could’ve been if not for all of those dominant runs by Jordan.
And there are three players in particular that struggled while facing Jordan in the playoffs. The trio that includes shooting guard John Starks, and big men Charles Oakley and Patrick Ewing really had a lot of trouble beating Jordan and the Bulls. Usually the least recognizable of those three names is the former Oklahoma State Cowboy Starks, but he got plenty of matchups under his belt against Jordan and the Bulls.
He was still a one-time NBA All-Star selection, All-Defensive Team selection, and Sixth Man of the Year award winner. In the regular season, Starks owned a record of 6-18 against Jordan. In the playoffs, he had the same sort of misfortune, with a record of 6-15. Starks averaged 12.5 points per game, 2.9 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.1 blocks.
Adding to that, Ewing held a career record of 8-19 against Jordan in the playoffs. And Oakley also held a career record of 8-19 against Jordan and the Bulls in the playoffs. Oakley was not the most productive against Jordan and the Bulls in the playoffs either. He averaged 8.8 points per game, 9.7 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.2 blocks.
2. Charles Barkley, Forward
Maybe the most unfortunate of the three players/groups of players on this list is the former Phoenix Suns and Rockets big man Charles Barkley. As a frequent opponent of Jordan’s, despite playing in the Western Conference for most of his career, the “Round Mound of Rebound” was a bit of misnomer on this list too.
But most of the meetings between Jordan and Barkley in the playoffs came when the Round Mound of Rebound was a member of the Philadelphia 76ers at the outset of his NBA career.
Another weird tidbit in the Jordan-Barkley matchup is that the latter of the two actually held the edge in record in their 39 regular season meetings. Barkley got the best of Jordan in the regular season by a one game margin, with a record of 20-19. In the playoffs, Jordan held the series edge with a record of 12-4.
Jordan was very solid against Barkley in their 16 playoff matchups. He averaged 39.3 points per game, 7.8 rebounds, 7.1 assists, 2.4 steals, and 1.1 blocks. Jordan shot 51.5 percent from the field, 35.6 percent from beyond the arc, and 77.4 percent from the free-throw line.
Meanwhile, Barkley averaged 25.7 points per game, 13.4 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.5 blocks. Barkley shot 53.6 percent from the field and 67.3 percent from the free-throw line. He was also a dominant force against Jordan and the Bulls. But Jordan still got the best of Barkley in their one meeting in the NBA Finals, when he beat the Suns in the early 1990’s.
1. Alonzo Mourning, Center
An underrated opponent of Jordan and the Bulls in the 1990’s was the Miami Heat. They had plenty of talent, and just never were really able to get over the hump until the following decade. But it wasn’t for lack of trying between the likes of guard Tim Hardaway and big man Alonzo Mourning.
But Mourning did get the lone NBA Championship of his career with the Heat in the 2006 finals. That was when superstar big man Shaquille O’Neal and eventual Hall-of-Fame shooting guard Dwyane Wade also got titles of their own, leading the way for the Heat. Mourning was really aging at that point too.
However, Mourning was still a seven-time All-Star selection, two-time Defensive Player of the Year, and two-time All-NBA Team selection. He was closer to gaining the edge over Jordan in the regular season than he was in the playoffs. Jordan held a career regular season record of 12-8 over Mourning. But in the playoffs he held a record of 10-2 against Mourning.
Mourning averaged 18.3 points per game, 9.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.5 steals, and 2.4 blocks. But Jordan still averaged just shy of 31 points per game, 6.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.8 steals, and 0.7 blocks. The per game averages for Jordan against Mourning weren’t great in the playoffs since one of the series was just coming back from his stint playing baseball in 1995.