The initial dominant run for all-time great shooting guard Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s ended following the 1992-93 season. That was the first of three retirements during the playing days for Jordan in the NBA. Jordan tried his hand playing baseball in the Chicago White Sox organization until his return to the Bulls in the latter stages of the 1994-95 season.
But during the elusive third title in a row in the 1992-93 season, the Bulls likely had to work through their most difficult foe in the NBA Finals of the early 1990s. The Bulls defeated the reigning MVP and then superstar forward Charles Barkley and the Phoenix Suns to win the title in 1993.
This loss in the 1993 NBA Finals for Barkley and the Suns did hurt that team. That was the best opportunity to win a title for a lot of the players on that squad that were big stars at the time. That included the likes of Barkley, shooting guard/small forward Dan Majerle, and point guard Kevin Johnson, among others.
Michael Jordan, John Paxson, and the Chicago Bulls sunk Dan Majerle’s title hopes in 1993
Majerle and Johnson alone had eight career All-Star selections between them. A lot of their accolades show the capability to get at least one title. But that proves to be true among a number of stars from the 1990s that run into Jordan in the NBA Finals.
And according to a piece from USA Today on July 14, Malerje still thinks about this loss in the 1993 NBA Finals to Jordan and the Bulls at least once per week. He still very much feels the pain from the Suns’ loss in that special Finals run for that team.
Majerle specifically noted that he very much often remembers that game-winning three-pointer that John Paxson hit to win the Bulls Game 6 in the 1993 NBA Finals. That shot from Paxson in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter in Game 6 of the 1993 NBA Finals also sunk the Suns’ title hopes that year for good.
That was by far the most iconic moment of Paxson’s career. The former Bulls’ vice president of basketball operations Paxson did win three titles with the Bulls in the 1990s, but no single moment was more special than that one to win the 1993 Finals.
Majerle himself was one of the better players in the NBA in the 1990s. He spent most of his days as a star in the NBA with the Suns, for eight seasons. All three of his career All-Star selections came during his days with the Suns. He also spent five seasons with the Miami Heat, and one with the Cleveland Cavaliers to finally end his career following the 2001-02 season at the age of 36.
Jordan and the Bulls topped the Suns once to win one of their six titles in the 1990s. There were also wins over the Seattle SuperSonics, Los Angeles Lakers, and Portland Trail Blazers, once each, and then wins over the Utah Jazz twice in the late 1990s.