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He lost to Shaquille O'Neal's Orlando Magic in the second round, a team the Rockets went on to sweep. The Rockets finally got their house in order by 1994, but by then, Jordan was in Birmingham, Alabama playing minor-league baseball.īut, as Olajuwon is quick to remind people, Jordan was back in time for the 1995 postseason. His relationship with management grew so poor that he demanded a trade in 1992. He just didn't have the team around him to reach the Finals during Jordan's first three-peat. The highest playoff scorer he faced in reality was Charles Barkley in 1993, who put up 26.6 points per game in that postseason.įor those two magical playoff runs, Olajuwon was completely and utterly unstoppable. Those numbers dwarf those of any Jordan Finals opponent. He averaged just under 29 points and 11 rebounds during the 1994 postseason, and then upped his scoring all the way to 33 points per game in the 1995 playoffs. Even despite the great lengths defenses went to contain him, Olajuwon posted two of the greatest playoff runs in NBA history en route to his two titles. One of the greatest defensive players ever and practically inarguably history's most skilled post player, the attention Hakeem drew generated the 3-pointers those Rockets loved so much. Robert Horry was one of the NBA's first stretch-fours, guards Vernon Maxwell, Mario Elie and Kenny Smith fired away with impunity, and for their second championship run they even managed to bring Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler in on the fun.īut the sun around which all of this revolved, though, was Olajuwon.
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Early adopters of the long-ball craze that has since swept across basketball, Houston led the NBA in 3-point attempts in both of their championship seasons. Largely forgotten now, the Rockets of the mid-1990s were offensive innovators. Who were the mid-90s Rockets, and why didn't they ever face the Bulls in the Finals?
#95 HOUSTON ROCKETS ROSTER SERIES#
How might a matchup between his Bulls and Hakeem Olajuwon's Rockets played out? Let's dive into the greatest series we never got to see. Unlike many of the Western Conference's best players during that era, they never had a chance to prove themselves in a head-to-head Finals matchup with His Airness himself, and without such public validation, they are subjected to more asterisk talk than any other championship in NBA history.īut imagine that Jordan didn't retire in 1993. The court of public opinion has since treated them as historical footnotes. Jordan and the Bulls reclaimed the title in 1996 and held it until his second retirement in 1998, leading his most ardent fans to write off Houston's two championships as nothing more than placeholders. History may remember the decade belonging entirely to Chicago, but a mini-dynasty was born immediately after their decline as the Houston Rockets snagged back-to-back championships in 19.
#95 HOUSTON ROCKETS ROSTER FULL#
Nearly two full seasons were played without him, and both of them crowned champions that weren't the Bulls. Contrary to popular belief, the NBA did, in fact, go on after Michael Jordan's first retirement in 1993.