NBA on TNT analyst Kenny Smith joins the Dan Patrick Show and explains why, even if Michael Jordan doesn’t retire from basketball, his ’94 and ’95 Houston Rockets teams, led by Hakeem Olajuwon, still would have won those 2 NBA Titles
Related Posts
Golf Players
Kenny Smith Says His Rockets Teams Still Win Titles If Michael Jordan Doesn’t Retire | 05/10/23
21 Comments
If Kenny don’t sit his ass down somewhere 😂
Don't mind me I'm just here for the comments, MJ fanatics are already losing their minds.
Stop, you didn’t! If you could you would’ve!
Kenny Smith really speaking facts here. MJ was NOT rusty when he averaged 31/7/6 in the 1995 playoffs. They simply had no interior presence. No Grant, no Rodman, no Cartwright. If they couldn't deal with young Shaq, how they dealing with prime Hakeem? Instead, Jordan fans gotta push the myth that he was 'rusty' and somehow he became a lot better in 1996. No, look at the numbers, He was better in 1995 than 1996 by the numbers. If you don't have the right team around you, you don't win period. And that's what happened to Jordan in 1995. Stop it with the 'rusty' talk.
Not true Kenny, that was just one game…at MSG no less! EVERYONE (at the time) saw Jordan wasn't his full self yet. Just look at the Bulls record for the following season when Jordan was back in basketball shape.
Wilt had to go through Russell
Bird and Magic had to go through each other
Duncan had to go through Kobe and Shaq
Lebron had to go through the Spurs and Warriors 7 of 10 finals, Curry and Duncan won their conference 6 times each.
Jordan never had to go through Hakeem the next best player of his era.
People don't want to admit that Jordan really had a wide open league to dominate winning especially 2nd 3 peat.
Best sidekick Pippen
Best defender/rebounder Rodman
Best 6th man Kukoc
Harper a good defender who averaged 20ppg before the Bulls
Kerr best shooter statistically
Phil Jackson the best coach.
It's not like Jordan was overcoming improbable odds to win he had more than enough help to win relative to the 90s competition.
1998
11-71 Nuggets 16-66 Raptors 17-65 Clippers 19-63 Warriors 19-63 Grizzlies 20-62 Mavericks.
There were alot of bad teams to beat up on late 90s who were bad with healthy rosters not even tanking.
1998 best teams
Jazz 2nd best scorer Jeff Hornacek in his mid 30s , 2nd best player Stockton past prime 29mpg 12pts 8ast
Pacers 2nd best player Rik Smits, good but near the end of his prime not a Hall of Famer
Lakers with 19 year old Kobe , Van Excel and Eddie Jones who all made the allstar game because the depth of talent was watering down.
Spurs rookie Tim Duncan.
I know Jordan don't want to read all that but it's simply facts. If Hakeem had the kind of crew Jordan had and they were facing each other in Finals it would've been a real conversation who's better Hakeem or MJ because in the years Hakeem had terrible help he was more competitive than Jordan before Pippen and Grant became the best supporting cast in the league at the time.
What else is Kenny supposed to say he was on those Rockets teams? "Oh we wouldn't have gone back 2 back????" We'll never know so it's all just hearsay and speculation 🤷🏽♂️💯
Bold faced lie
Still all these years I’m not happy about Kenny Smith hitting that three at the end! But thank you for bring up the Magic beating a really good Jordan and the bulls team!
People who don't know history or don't understand basketball don't realize the importance of matchups.
He sort of has to say that since he was on the team but nah, I don't think so. The Bulls would have beaten them. Maybe they don't win 8 straight though, maybe they run out of steam after 6 in a row
The Rockets were swept by the SuperSonics in the 1996 playoffs.
It's just a fact that MJ didn't play the full season. The talking point that the Bulls didn't have enough size to stop Hakeem isn't true. It doesn't even matter. MJ playing a full season could average like 40 points a game if he wanted to in the finals. He could score more than half of the Bulls points. He could close out games during crunch time and hit game winners. I'm just saying that you can't count out MJ. It's really annoying to hear players saying that the Bulls wouldn't win because they couldn't stop Hakeem or they would be tired from the previous championship seasons. Hakeem wouldn't score nearly as many points as MJ.
I guess exhaustion could be a factor, but if the Bulls and MJ aren't exhausted, I think they could beat the Rockets.
Was rooting against the Bulls back then and it felt like teams caught the Bulls off guard that postseason. Soon as the Magic beat Jordan I just knew he was gonna come back next year super pissed and motivated. Valid point in losing Horace Grant and not having enough inside to deal with the bigs in the league (Ewing, Zo, Shaq, Hakeem, Smits, Robinson).
Yeah, it's just purely coincidence that the one team that could've allegedly beaten the MJ Bulls just so HAPPENED to arise RIGHT at the time that MJ was out the league. Lol. Please. Kenny and that bloated headcase Horry need to quit makin' fools of themselves. Chicago woulda' beat they as*. Hard. Both years.
Dont get it twisted Kenny Smith and Jordan are great friends. Asking him if the rockets beat the bulls had Jordan not retired is a meaningless question as there is no way to prove a counter-factual. We will never know.
Are you kidding me!! No freaking way!! The Bulls would have won 8 in a Row!! The Rockets definitely should have given MJ a championship ring for each of those two years they won it because he was just as big of a part of it by not playing!!
Here’s the thing. Houston did have the Bulls’ # from 91-95. They went 7-3, including 5-1 in the Bulls three-peat years. Obviously, that’s regular season, but that should tell you about the matchups. If the Bulls had won eight straight, Dennis Rodman does not join the Bulls. That’s the reason the Bulls won their second three-peat (along with MJ getting a fresh return). Plus, MJ had better numbers in the 95 playoffs than the 96 playoffs. So as far as this is concerning, Houston’s titles stand firm.
Now, if the Bulls and Rockets had met in the finals and let’s say both teams win a title, the Rockets have won and are a trivia question to who was the only team to beat the Bulls with MJ in the finals. The Bulls are still a dynasty regardless. Even the best dynasties have years where they lose in championships.
Jordanites love to diminish the accomplishments of other greats. Hakeem was on a different level at that time.
Kenny & those Rockets were spared from having that pain of defeat inflicted on them by MJ & those Bulls 😂
In the famous words of chuck, you’re a bus rider not a bus driver
Errrr No .