The Chicago Bulls became the first team to win 70 games or more in the 1995-96 season. Heading into the 1996-97 wars, the team's hot start indicated that the defending champions would replicate that feat.
That year, the Bulls got off to a hot start. They won their first 12 games, and buzz about another record run spread. However, one player who played it conservatively was guard Steve Kerr . The Arizona product was aware that, at some point, Chicago would be defeated.
"I don't think we will go 82-0, we may go 81-1," Kerr said via UPI after the Bulls win over the Denver Nuggets, 110-92. "We haven't had a tough schedule yet. We see Michael Jordan every day, so what he does doesn't amaze us anymore."
Bulls fall short of 70 wins
After that win over the Nuggets, the Bulls would be sent back to reality two days later. They lost to the Utah Jazz, 105-100, their first for the season. But as it turned out, that would simply be a minor tumble. Chicago would rack up another five-game winning streak before suffering their second loss of the season.
In the 1996-97 season, the Bulls never lost more than twice. Despite that, the Bulls finished the regular season with a 69-13 win-loss record. This was after the team dropped its last two games to the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks, still, the record that they achieved is amazing, and it is the second-best win-loss percentage in the franchise's history
Kerr ices Bulls season
Regardless, that regular-season record was enough to hand the Bulls the top seed in the East. They practically cruised to the Finals, the only time they encountered stiff competition. Ironically, the same team handed them their first loss that season, the Jazz.
Incidentally, the player who initially provided a conservative outlook for the Bulls would end up being the hero in that game-clinching Game 6. It was Kerr's iconic 15-foot shot coming off an assist by Michael Jordan that handed Chicago its fifth NBA title.
"He [Jordan] just said during the next timeout that 'Stockton's going to come to double-team me, so be ready.' And I looked way more confident in that shot than I really was," Kerr said .
Without question, the Bulls had a masterful run from 1995 to 1998. With Jordan and Kerr playing well, along with other stars such as Scottie Pippen, Toni Kukoc, Ron Harper, and Dennis Rodman, Chicago was a tough team to beat, and having back-to-back such a dominant season is a testament to that.
Related: Isiah Thomas thinks the Bulls could have won an NBA title without Michael Jordan: "Pippen and Kukoc were good enough at that time to win one maybe two"
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