"If you're going to come out here and just hand it to them, you're weak" - What Shawn Kemp told his team after falling to 3-0 in the 1996 Finals

The Seattle SuperSonics had their best regular season in franchise history in the 1995-96 campaign when they finished with a 64-18 record. It would have been tops in the league if it weren't for the Chicago Bulls running to a 72-10 standing. So, it was only fitting that those are the protagonists that met in the 1996 Finals.

However, the championship didn't look like a series at first, as the Bulls took a 3-0 lead. It was a good thing the Sonics didn't give up, with one of their two best players, Shawn Kemp , rallying his troops before Game 4 with a hard-hitting pep talk.

"If you're going to come out here and just hand it to them, you're weak, man," Kemp said . "You're a coward."

Sweepless in Seattle

Chicago didn't take long to assert its dominance in the title bout, sandwiching a four-point Game 2 victory with blowout wins. The first meeting saw Seattle lose its captain, Nate McMillan, to a back injury, while the third contest featured an inspired Michael Jordan, who poured in his best performance in the series with 36 points.

Still, the home crowd in Game 4 didn't back down, even going as far as to taunt the Bulls with "Sweepless in Seattle" placards. The Sonics were buoyed by Gary Payton, who finally drew the assignment of defending Jordan and McMillan's return. Kemp also did his part, registering a double-double (25 points and 11 rebounds) to stave off the broom.

With momentum on its side, the then-Western Conference champ denied the Bulls the Larry O'Brien Trophy again in the fifth meeting. Its defense held the opponent to a series-low 78 points, as MJ scored just two of his 26 points in the fourth quarter.

Ran out of gas

Unfortunately for the Sonics, they ran out of gas in Game 6. The United Center crowd went wild, as they probably didn't want to return to the arena for a deciding contest. Jordan led the way in scoring with 22, but he had plenty of help. Scottie Pippen had eight markers in the fourth period, while Dennis Rodman hauled in 19 rebounds and frustrated the Sonics with his defense.

Kemp even once said that it wasn't "His Airness" who defeated his crew. Rather, it was Rodman for whom they didn't have an answer .

Seattle likely didn't see itself finishing the campaign as a runner-up, but the Bulls just proved too much. At least the squad showed that it wasn't a pushover who would just hand the trophy over to Chicago, avoiding the possible ignominy of being the only foe who couldn't steal a win from Jordan in the Finals.

Related: Gary Payton says Seattle was the original Lob City: "I was doing that in the early 90s before even that boy was even in diapers"