1987–88 Chicago Bulls season

The 1987–88 Chicago Bulls season was the 22nd season for the Chicago Bulls in the National Basketball Association.^[1] The city of Chicago, Illinois hosted the NBA All-Star weekend at the Chicago Stadium this season. The Bulls received the eighth overall pick in the 1987 NBA draft, and selected center Olden Polynice from the University of Virginia, but soon traded him to the Seattle SuperSonics in exchange for rookie small forward, and first-round draft pick Scottie Pippen from the University of Central Arkansas; the team also had the tenth overall pick, and selected power forward Horace Grant out of Clemson University.^[2][3][4]

With the addition of Pippen and Grant, the Bulls won their first four games of the regular season, but posted a five-game losing streak after a 15–7 start to the season, and later on held a 27–18 record at the All-Star break.^[5] At mid-season, the team traded Sedale Threatt to the SuperSonics in exchange for Sam Vincent.^[6][7][8] The Bulls posted a six-game winning streak in April, and finished in second place in the Central Division with a 50–32 record, earning the third seed in the Eastern Conference.^[9]

Michael Jordan led the league in scoring averaging 35.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 3.2 steals and 1.6 blocks per game, shot .535 in field-goal percentage, and was named the NBA Most Valuable Player of the Year,^[10][11][12] and also named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year;^[13][14][15] he was also named to the All-NBA First Team, and to the NBA All-Defensive First Team. In addition, Charles Oakley averaged 12.4 points and 13.0 rebounds per game, while Vincent contributed 13.0 points and 8.4 assists per game in 29 games after the trade, Dave Corzine provided the team with 10.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game, and Brad Sellers contributed 9.5 points per game. Off the bench, Pippen averaged 7.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game, while Grant provided with 7.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, John Paxson contributed 7.9 points and 3.7 assists per game, and Mike Brown averaged 4.3 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.^[16]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Jordan was selected for the 1988 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Eastern Conference All-Star team. Jordan scored 40 points along with 8 rebounds, 4 steals and 4 blocks, and was named the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player, as the Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference, 138–133.^[17][18][19] In addition, Jordan also won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest for the second consecutive year;^[20][18][21] Pippen was also selected for the Slam Dunk Contest, but did not participate.^[22] Head coach Doug Collins finished tied in third place in Coach of the Year voting.^[23][24]

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1988 NBA playoffs, the Bulls faced off against the 6th–seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, a team that featured the quartet of All-Star center, and second-year star Brad Daugherty, Larry Nance, second-year star Mark Price, and second-year star Ron Harper. The Bulls won the first two games over the Cavaliers at home at the Chicago Stadium, but then lost the next two games on the road, which included a Game 4 loss to the Cavaliers at the Coliseum at Richfield, 97–91.^[25][26][27] With the series tied at 2–2, the Bulls won Game 5 over the Cavaliers at the Chicago Stadium, 107–101 to win in a hard-fought five-game series; Jordan averaged 45.2 points per game during the series.^[28][29][30]

In the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, the team faced off against the 2nd–seeded, and Central Division champion Detroit Pistons, who were led by the trio of All-Star guard Isiah Thomas, Adrian Dantley and Joe Dumars. The Bulls lost Game 1 to the Pistons on the road, 93–82 at the Pontiac Silverdome, but managed to win Game 2 on the road, 105–95 to even the series.^[31][32] However, the Bulls lost their next two home games at the Chicago Stadium, before losing Game 5 to the Pistons at the Pontiac Silverdome, 102–95, thus losing the series in five games.^[33][34][35] The Pistons would advance to the NBA Finals, but would lose to the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in a full seven-game series in the 1988 NBA Finals.^[36][37][38]

The Bulls finished second in the NBA in home-game attendance behind the Pistons, with an attendance of 740,411 at the Chicago Stadium during the regular season.^[16][39] Following the season, Oakley was traded to the New York Knicks on draft day after three seasons with the Bulls,^[40][41][42] and Brown was left unprotected in the 1988 NBA expansion draft, where he was selected by the Charlotte Hornets expansion team, who then traded him to the Utah Jazz.^[43][44][45] The Bulls had the third-best team defensive rating in the NBA.