Chicago Bulls beat writer Sam Smith , known best for being the author of "The Jordan Rules," revealed that the 1990-91 Bulls team was his favorite of all time. Besides the fact that this team won the franchise its first championship, he said their winning proved to be some sort of validation for his belief in them since the season started.
"It also was the most personal for me because of all the grief I took believing in that team. There's no cheering in the press box, as my dear late colleague Jerome Holtzman famously wrote. But I have to admit I sure was cheering for those 1991 Bulls," Smith wrote in his essay for NBA.com.
The 90-91 Bulls
What sets this Bulls team apart was that they had yet to taste what success was like. They were hungry and frankly even more desperate to win after what Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Co. went through, especially against the Detroit "Bad Boy" Pistons .
"Because none of the others raised such doubt and required so much struggle, disappointment and failure. Those players repeatedly endured and rejected the stock refrains about being losers and worse. And then to experience their joy and release, even vicariously, remains the most memorable of times," Sam added.
Smith also reiterated that this Bulls team gave the city of Chicago relevance on the basketball scene. Before they won in 1991, the White Sox, the city's baseball squad, was the most popular team in the Wind City — they had their brief golden years by winning the most games in the sport in 1983. Then, in 1985, the Bears, the city's football team, won the Superbowl. There was pressure for the Bulls to finally deliver an NBA title, and that's exactly what they did.
Related: Phil Jackson on race differences he saw in players' approach to the game: "White players are more often willing to work collectively"
Person vindication
Before the 1991 Finals between Jordan's Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers began, Smith revealed that he was one of the few beat writers who thought Chicago had the advantage in this series against what was then perceived as the more experienced and veteran-laden Lakers team. Sam received a ton of backlash for picking the Bulls, to the point that L.A. media started to throw shots his way.
"The Los Angeles Times kept calling Chicago the Mayberry of the Midwest and dismissing just about everything from us rubes. Though the angriest was this guy from what was then this self proclaimed media elite, a daily sports publication called the National," Smith said.
"It was being run by the famed Sports Illustrated writer Frank Deford and claimed it was literature in sports journalism disguise and they had recruited only those in sports writing worthy of more than James. OK, maybe that's why I didn't make the cut. Anyway, the rest of us were gritting our teeth. And the National basketball guy was the angriest. He kept writing that the Tribune needed to take me off the beat if that's the way I saw this series," he added.
Despite losing Game 1, Smith's prediction that the Bulls would win the series in five games came true. Looking back, Sam thinks that was one of the most validating moments of his career. While Sam admitted that he was thankful social media didn't exist back in the day (imagine the amount of hate he would've received), there's no better feeling in sports than being rewarded by a team for believing in them from the beginning.
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