No matter how many times i look at Michael jordan, I have to say that the guy is a beast. You get him going and he's just impossible to stop. He's everywhere not only offensively, but defensively. Just a beast of a player.

The Finals matchup that never happened

MJ and Da Bulls always got it done when they needed to.

The difference of why you started seeing Jordan beat Hakeem late in their careers is because of matchups. By 95-96 MJ had Dennis Rodman while Hakeem didn’t have Vernon Maxwell anymore. Those two players made the biggest difference in their rivalry.

oh man thanks for uploading. i MISS that nba era with super superstars like mj, clyde, pip, hakeem, rodman... i really miss it...

That overputback dunk and the hook over Dream proves that Jordan would have no problem scoring down low whether Hakeem was there or not.

i realized they were going to win the title that year when they went to texas and beat houston and san antonio in their homecourt. no doubt.

I remember this game!! This is the game I said we could take them in the finals!!

I mean look at this guy. He's having an off game so what does he do? Take his game inside where against one of the greatest centers of all time. Out rebounding and shooting over him. The entire 4th quarter was MJ vs Hakeem. Amazing gaurd. Perhaps the best of all time.

I think it's more often that Rodman doesn't get enough credit. Your are right in that possession they showed, Rodman didn't do anything that great, in fact Hakeem got a very good look. But Rodman was much more effective than Longley on him throughout the game. Rodman's court sense and hoops IQ is phenomenal, and I don't think he got enough credit for what the Bulls were able to accomplish from 96-98.

i love these vids im subsribing

Mike never showed any fear of, or concern for Olajuwon. He simply took it to whoever was in his way like no guard in the history of basketball has.

i remember this game well. mj wasnt the mj himself in this game as his shot was pretty off. i think he was quite frustrated with that too. but then pippen and the rest are just too much for them. and of course mj's tip dunks is nice.

Man, the way the Rockets face-lifted their jerseys and their court was just sad...the old logo, with the red and gold, was just fine..

I have this game as well but it was on TBS and I had Danny Ainge and Dick Stockton as the commentators. It confused me hearing Johnny Red Kerr and Wayne as the announcers until the 3:18 mark confirmed that it was a satellite feed.

Real Basketball...pure joy

Yeah that court and them uni's brought a curse on Houston. They got swept by the Sonics the first year they started wearing those uniforms. and they went down hill for the time they wore them.

That was that year where about 5 teams put up disgusting looking floors. Too much, distracting to the eye. Houston only had that for that one season, they evidently figured out what I wrote by themselves.

It's too bad these teams never met in the finals. It would have been a fitting match up since the common belief is had Jordan not been away in 94 and at half speed in 95, the Rockets would not have any championships. Also if the 1997 Rockets with Barkley had played the Bulls that would have been a great series as well.

Una final con los originales rockets y originales bulls Esa si hubiera sido una verdadera final y No la verguenza de hoy en dia.

the rockets were the only team to really match up with the bulls

Sad we never saw them in the finals😪😪

this could have been the greatest NBA Finals of the 90s... unfortunately, it never happened... But up to now i am still wondering who could have won the championship had they faced off? for sure its gonna go down to the 7th and deciding game, with the title going to either team... of course, i wish the Bulls would win it...

@FuShengAlex Yes, MJ never made excuses.

The Greatest NBA Finals next to Boston and Lakers, unfortunately, it never happened... points to consider: Bulls' experience, deep bench, Jordan and Pippen could lead them past the Rockets... Bulls' backcourt would eat up Clyde and Kenny... But on the other side, Mario Elie and Vernon Maxwell could have been the big star stoppers... Just like what Raja Bell did to Kobe... and Hakeem would definitely be a monster inside... tough to call, but could've been an exciting series...

I guess Hakeem burned out after the 94-95 season after facing some very stiff competition?

I can’t argue with any Bulls fans. All I do know is that the first 3peat from 91-93 google how many times the Rockets an Bulls played and who won head to head. Jordan said himself he was glad they never saw the Rockets in the finals.

"But it wasnt just Davids fault. Dennis (Rodman) was intent on getting every rebound, but he wouldnt come out and guard anyone. Thats why Robert Horry killed us in that series. Dennis wouldnt guard him!"- Sean Elliott about Hakeem dominating David Robinson and the Spurs. No NBA-player would call out a teammate like that if he really didn't deserve it, all Rodman did in the 95-series was to grab rebounds, he didn't play defense on Horry for one sec, Horry bombed 3's all series.

Otis Thorpe, Clyde Drexler, Charles Barkley, Ralph Sampson

@FuShengAlex They did it time and time again.

yea that looked like the one dwyane wade hit against the pistons when he was falling down through the air and flipped it up backwards over his right shoulder, and-1, sickening

How this Houston team did not make the finals is beyond me!! They were loaded, and with Olajuwon in the middle, he should have dominated! And had these to teams met in the finals, it would have been a great series!

Jeroel, I'm not going to get into the "cursing" (you're always the muscle on these threads,lol). But must've been nice to have the kinda team that allowed MJ to win shooting 7-26 from the field in this game. Before 95-96 this woulda been another Bulls loss. This video should've been named: "The Chicago Bulls finally win in Houston.....despite MJ".

Indeed MJ dunked on Shaq in the 95 playoffs.....and tired at the end of games in that series, whereas Dream shot a lot of jumpers vs. Shaq and wasn`t tired in that series. Same 2 points.

@5:53 the only time i've ever seen mj use the hook

@FuShengAlex man he did often enough I think :-)

lol, I didnt knew they couldn't win in Houston for some years. I got tired of watching the Bulls beat this bicampeon team from 95 to 98. The Bulls won almost all their matches.

The Bulls had to go through the Rockets? ROFLMAO. Kidding aside, the home floor was aweful and I can't remember them using this one.

84'-95'...total domination by Houston. Players getting old after that.

Dream did indeed get dunked on by Shaq quite a few times in his career.....but then MJ never had to guard a guy that outweighed him by 80 lbs and powerful enough that he twice tore down basketball supports in his career. Btw In 95 playoffs Shaq did dunk on MJ off a rebound in a playoff game in Chicago when MJ was standing under the rim to collect a rebound. .

omg if that shot at 5:43 had went in...

Jeroel....not only no allstars on that 94 team, none of his teamates were even top10 at their position. I said he was the most awesome (but not greatest =ing better than everyone else) player I saw and I stand by it. Imo no player impacted the game AT BOTH ENDS like Olajuwon in the 90s. No basketball upbringing like the other NBA greats, 3 players kicked off his team the same year for drugs, lost a superstar in his prime. Overachieved his whole career. My role model on and off the court.

@jeroel Only Dream was on the downhill. A man who bagged two of the next three MVP awards was sure wasn't degrading. LOL.

I said Dream is the most awesome player I ever witnessed, but I never said I believe in him being the GOAT and better than everyone else outside of the center spot. I am content with calling him the greatest center ever. And MJ the greatest SG. I don't rank guys by top10 players ever, how can you do that without flaws? No one compares Larry Bird with say Shaq, so I don't see how you can say a SG is better than a center. I go by top 25, with each position having a top5.

This could've been the NBA Finals that settled once and for all who really owns the 90s, without destiny just handing it to Chicago on a silver platter... If this could've been the NBA Finals, rest assured, it will go to the full-7 game series, with either winning it...

youre wrong, he didnt have the unreal athleticism that he had when he was younger and just dominated off of hs physical advantages, this is when his fundamental was off thge charts and he dominated with smarts but was still as athletic as hell too to make it work

Yeah Waffle I like 00:15 of this video. Jordan gets added to one of the hundreds of guys that were foolish enough to think they could score on the NBA's GOAT shotblocker. :)

Did MJ just did a sky hook?

But the Sonic's had the Rockets number, they should've won in 94

well is easier to block someone than to dunk on someone.. dont you think?

that's all well and good...but the Bulls won and Mike has more rings. Over a playoff series please believe that the Bulls would have beat the rockets too. The Bulls had the strengths that the Sonics had (who always gave the rockets fits)...they simply never saw Houston as regularly as the west teams did.

Yes Hakeem was one of the greatest centers but he's not even in the same stratosphere as Jordan. Jordan is not overrated, his numbers speak for themselves. Even if he did "suck" in the 96 finals, he still found a way to make his teammates better. There has never been a more mentally tough player when the pressure is on and the odds are stacked against him. Numbers don't lie

All Star MVP? You're joking right? 1st team all NBA defence from 1996-98? You're telling me he deserved that being hidden while Pippen and Harper did the dirty work on 'D during this era so he could save himself for scoring at end of games? Dream never had this at the Center spot. 1st team all-NBA, well who was going to usurp him at the SG spot? Hakeem was facing the greatest centers night in and out and they cancelled one another out award wise at that spot. Much tougher.

2:38 it looks like MJ's chin fouled Drexler's elbow. Great officiating. Seriously speaking, it seems Stern was more concerned about the entertainment so refs were controling games with some allowances and gave the advantage to the favourites. In this case the Rockets were double-favourites: they were the home team and the defending champs.

Wrong...I said I disagreed with him saying MJ was "overrated". I think people overexaggerate a lot of aspects of his career. But overexaggerate and overrated are 2 different things.

either way..both teams went 5-1... houston had bad matchups against some West teams in the playoffs...but they had terrific matchup against the bulls since the Bulls never had Ron Harper at the point or Rodman in the middle from 91-93....Even rodman cant defend Hakeem because hes too short...and rodman was apart of the 95 spurs team that houston dominated. In 1995...Chicago choked in the playoffs...

In his career.....Olajuwon blocked MJ a hella lot more than he got dunked on.

hakeem looks like he ran out of gas half-way through this one. he wasn't the same player from last year. they needed another legitimate big for rebounding and interior defense. the rockets should have tried to get rodman.

Bulls never lost in the finals is all i can say ,every other team in the history of the NBA that has made it to the finals had took a lost. The bulls is the only team that can say they never lost in the finals .ha take that .

As much as I miss these guys....This was the time were the started painting all that ugly shit on the courts like giant rockets....Also the jerseys started getting really bad looking :) Definetely prefered Houston's championship jerseys. Utah is one of those teams that also made those ugly transitions back then. I love the classic look that the Bulls, Celtics, Lakers, Knicks, Blazers kept with.

The Houston Rockets had the lowest-selling uniforms the previous year, so it was fitting that they would come out with something flashy this year. Wow, are these things ugly!

rodman and kukoc makes bulls better

Woulda, coulda, shoulda.

bulls are a different animal in the finals rockets no chance against bulls Jordan don't loose finals

"Horry,Cassell showed up to save Hakeems ass with clutch basket after clutch basket" Rohoic....this is some sort of joke statement right,lol? Save Hakeems ass? How many times Dream slide over from weakside and erase their many defensive lapses with a block or big steal during those years? hey wouldn't have been in those "game winning shot situations" if Dream was that defensive presence. So MJ never had a teamate hit a clutch open jumper either in the playoffs huh?

MJ overrated? I'll disagree here, he did well with the Pistons throwing their whole team at him, he hit many clutch shots when counted on. He always played hard and gave 100%. But there's so much overhype about this guy it's incredible to hear these "experts/former greats" talk as if everyone else isn't remotely compared to him. Dream damned sure doesn't take a backseat to him talent wise I'll tell you that, nor Oscar. And anyone trying to tell me he has better "stats" is biased.

let's settle this Jordan and Olajuwon only faced each other 21 times in the regular season and never in the Playoffs, with Hakeem winning 12 times and Michael winning 9. Of course would have been very good if jordan would have been around , when he left those two years look at the videos on you tube when houston had maxwell on jordan chicago only won 6 games Olajuwon/Sampson duo, the Rockets beat Jordan's Bulls every time they met in the regular season (4 times). Sampson's departure coincides with the Bulls acquiring Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant, thus forming the nucleus of what would become Jordan's first three championship teams. That season, 1987-88, the Bulls sweep the season series against the Rockets., Regardless, they split the next two season series (88-89, 89-90) with the Bulls. , Scottie Pippen stepped up in the 90-91 season and the Bulls win three straight titles. The one team they have a losing record against? Olajuwon's Rockets, which swept them in two of those three seasons. But Hakeem still didn't have a championship team, and they were slowly building up to it with role players like Kenny Smith and Vernon Maxwell, Chicago's hardest matches always came against teams with strong centers , Olajuwon demolishes David Robinson in the Conference Finals and then sweeps Shaq's Magic in the Finals And really, what Olajuwon did in those two seasons isn't much less impressive. He faced off against the three best players at his position in his generation-not three of the best like Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutumbo, and Rik Smits; the three best in Ewing, Robinson, and Shaq-and beats two elite power forwards in Barkley (twice) and Malone. Combine that with Olajuwon What would have happened if things had been slightly different? What if Sampson didn't get injured and that 86 Rockets team didn't implode? Does the Hakeem/Sampson combo go to more Finals and hold off the Jordan/Pippen combo? What if Jordan stayed in 93-94 and they'd run into the Rockets that year in the Finals? Remember, no one since Russell had won three straight until the Bulls did, and no one since Russell had won four straight, certainly not in the postmerger era with salary caps. It's hard to bet against Jordan, but if any team had their number, it would have been those Rockets. What if Jordan came back sooner in 94-95 and had gotten into better basketball shape and figured out a way to beat Shaq's Magic? Do they beat Olajuwon's Rockets, with an aging Clyde Drexler (and would Jordan have gotten into Drexler's head even more)? Or do their weaknesses at the center position rear their ugly heads and get exploited by Olajuwon? Steve Kerr, a member of the second threepeat Bulls, basically said double-teaming Hakeem was impossible and screwed up defensive rotations. Who's on that 94-95 team (no Horace Grant and no Dennis Rodman and no Bill Cartwright) to guard Hakeem? thank you

Olajuwon got dunked on by MJ.

Your description is laughable and not in a good way

@oneman91 THat's my speculation... the Rockets probably would have won if they still had their old uniforms/logo.

There's a reason the video says finally... It's because bulls mostly lost to the rockets... Anyone that says bulls would have 8peat doesn't know shit...

@loutcb Lol what! Go watch the 92 Finals....

Houston has 2 of Mikes rings.....

"Not in the same stratosphere as Jordan"? Look pal I'll admit I disagree with the MJ overrated comment, but not in the same stratosphere as Jordan? Are you kidding me, I really don't believe in truly comparing a SG and a C, but Dream imo is as "talented" a player as Bird/MJ/Magic. Magic and Bird didn't have the 'D that MJ and Dream had. And sorry pal but the odds were WAAAAY more stacked against Hakeem than MJ in their careers.

This was the worst Rockets team ever. Losing Thorpe, Maxwell, Bullard, Herrera and KSmith meant most of the role players were gone and no one to guard MJ. My over 40 pick up team could have beat the Rockets this year.

This is finals .there playing that way Houston lost.

Some say Hakeem should be thanking Jordan for not being around for getting two rings. At the end of the day, who is better in the 90s? Bulls 6, Rockets 2 And Let us say that face eachother both years? Bulls 8, Rockets 0 or Bulls 7, Rockets 1 Or Bulls 6, Rockets 2 Bulls win, sorry to make this simple but I am.

No disrespect but that makes no sense. I can see if you were talking about any other team MJ wasn't on but any team with MJ has a chance...

Rodman shutting down Olajuwon.

Jordan came to sweep Houston the champions Hakeem couldnt three peat

``Attach a video MJ and Da Bulls always got it done when they needed to.`` Yeah even in the 95 playoffs too right??

Your so-called GOAT only shot 7-26 in this game.....thank goodness he had all the help in the free world from his teammates especially Rodman grabbing all his misses.

mikenot stF^

I remember how butt ugly that floor was the first year the Rox switched uniforms. DAMN that's ugly.

Houston was better with Vernon Maxwell

Haha, you're a joke. Rodman is the same guy that one year earlier let Dream absolutely crush David Robinson and he himself got killed by Robert Horry, it's everwhere. And Rodman couldn't defend Shaq, Ewing and Hakeem, are you kidding me?

Nah i truly believe rockets would beat the bulls' ass for several reasons...from 1991-1993..the bulls never won against houston. at home or on the road....houston swept every season series...and now in 1995 when Jordan returned in the middle of the season, they got beat by Shaq and the magic in the playoffs...and we swept the magic...so between 1991-1995 rockets owned the bulls....and 1996-98 bulls didnt own the rockets...but they were better than houston.

Clyde totally outplays Jordan!!!!

Bulls kicked the rockets ass.They never would have beat MJ in a final!!!!!

Si jordan le hacia esto a olajuwon que No le hubiera hecho al tal mamarracho lebron..con la pena pero asi es.

Yeah, that's one of the funnier things I've ever heard. Let's see, Hakeem was bigger, quicker, stronger, more skilled, could jump higher, could jump quicker, had longer arms, had more dexterity... Rodman couldn't guard Karl Malone much less Hakeem.

As much as I like Hakeem, he had role players on his team. Jordan played with two HOF's during his champ years. 1995 took everything Hakeem had left in his tank and he should have retired at that point. He was half the player in 1996. Should have came off the bench like Robert Parrish in his later years.

00:15....doesn't MJ ever learn?

The bulls were a great team in the 90's but the rest of the East sucked and the Bulls were able to coast for a good part of the season. No way the Bulls get all those titles playing full seasons in the WC, nor do they get those 72 wins. From 1991-2003 the only team from the East to win a title was the Bulls and after those 90s Bulls players retired the East sucked even more winning only 5 titles since 1999.

Jordan returned in 1995 and failed against the magic...end of discussion.