1989–90 Chicago Bulls season

The 1989–90 Chicago Bulls season was the 24th season for the Chicago Bulls in the National Basketball Association.^[1] The Bulls received the sixth overall pick in the 1989 NBA draft from the New Jersey Nets via trade, and selected power forward Stacey King from the University of Oklahoma, and also selected point guard B.J. Armstrong from the University of Iowa with the 18th overall pick.^[2][3][4] Despite their solid playoff run last year, the team fired head coach Doug Collins, and replaced him with assistant coach Phil Jackson.^[5][6][7]

Under Jackson, and with the addition of King and Armstrong, the Bulls played around .500 in winning percentage with a 5–5 start to the regular season, but then won 10 of their next 12 games, and later on held a 28–19 record at the All-Star break.^[8] The team posted a nine-game winning streak between February and March, and posted another nine-game winning streak between March and April. The Bulls finished in second place in the Central Division with a 55–27 record, earned the third seed in the Eastern Conference, and qualified for the NBA playoffs for the sixth consecutive year.^[9][1]

Michael Jordan averaged 33.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 2.8 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA First Team, to the NBA All-Defensive First Team, while Scottie Pippen continued to show improvement averaging 16.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.6 steals per game. In addition, Horace Grant provided the team with 13.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, while Bill Cartwright contributed 11.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, and John Paxson contributed 10.0 points per game. Off the bench, King averaged 8.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, while three-point specialist Craig Hodges contributed 6.5 points per game, and Armstrong provided with 5.6 points and 2.5 assists per game.^[10]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Miami Arena in Miami, Florida, Jordan and Pippen were both selected for the 1990 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Eastern Conference All-Star team; it was Pippen's first ever All-Star appearance.^[11][12][13] In addition, Jordan and Hodges both participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout, in which Hodges won the competition,^[14][12][15] and Pippen participated in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.^[16][15] Jordan finished in third place in Most Valuable Player voting, behind Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers, and Charles Barkley of the Philadelphia 76ers;^[17][18] Jordan also finished tied in fifth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting,^[18] while Pippen finished tied in sixth place in Most Improved Player voting,^[18] and Jackson finished tied in seventh place in Coach of the Year voting.^[18]

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1990 NBA playoffs, the Bulls faced off against the 6th–seeded Milwaukee Bucks, a team that featured Sixth Man of the Year, Ricky Pierce, Alvin Robertson and Jay Humphries. The Bulls won the first two games over the Bucks at home at the Chicago Stadium, before losing Game 3 on the road, 119–112 at the Bradley Center, despite a 48-point performance from Jordan.^[19] The Bulls won Game 4 over the Bucks on the road, 110–86 to win the series in four games.^[20][21][22]

In the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, the team faced off against the 2nd–seeded, and Atlantic Division champion 76ers, who were led by Barkley, second-year star Hersey Hawkins, and Johnny Dawkins. The Bulls took a 2–0 series lead, before losing Game 3 to the 76ers on the road, 118–112 at The Spectrum, despite a 49-point performance from Jordan.^[23] The Bulls managed to win the next two games, which included a Game 5 home win over the 76ers, 117–99 at the Chicago Stadium, thus winning the series in five games.^[24][25][26]

In the Eastern Conference Finals, and for the third consecutive year, the Bulls faced off against the top–seeded, and defending NBA champion Detroit Pistons, who won the Central Division title, and were led by the All-Star trio of Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, and Defensive Player of the Year, Dennis Rodman. The Bulls lost the first two games to the Pistons on the road at The Palace of Auburn Hills, but managed to win the next two games at home at the Chicago Stadium. After losing Game 5 at The Palace of Auburn Hills, 97–83, the Bulls won Game 6 over the Pistons at the Chicago Stadium, 109–91 to tie the series at 3–3.^[27][28][29] However, the Bulls lost Game 7 to the Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills, 93–74, thus losing in a hard-fought seven-game series.^[30][31][32] The Pistons would go on to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers in five games in the 1990 NBA Finals, winning their second consecutive NBA championship.^[33][34][35]

One notable highlight of the regular season occurred on March 28, 1990, in a road game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Coliseum at Richfield. Jordan scored a career-high of 69 points as the Bulls defeated the Cavaliers in overtime, 117–113; Jordan made 23 out of 37 field-goal attempts, made 21 out of 23 free-throw attempts, and also grabbed 18 rebounds. It was the highest scoring output by an NBA player since David Thompson's 73 points on April 9, 1978, against the Detroit Pistons.^[36][37][38] In the summer of 1997, Jordan admitted in an interview that he went off for 69 points after the Cavaliers' fans cheered when he was fouled hard by Cavaliers forward Hot Rod Williams, with Jordan lying on the ground in pain; Jordan said that the Cavaliers' fans were more in tune to winning than someone else's health, stating "that right there pissed me off, that's when I went crazy".^[39]

On February 14, 1990, before a road game against the expansion Orlando Magic, Jordan's number 23 jersey was stolen from the Bulls' locker room at the Orlando Arena; Jordan had to wear a number 12 jersey instead.^[40][41][42] Jordan scored 49 points as the Bulls lost to the Magic in overtime, 135–129.^[43] The Bulls finished fourth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 752,564 at the Chicago Stadium during the regular season.^[10][44]