Michael Jordan never expected the Bulls to win more than 70 games in the 1995-96 regular season.
When people talk about the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, it is not just about their return to the NBA throne after a three-year gap; what’s more impressive was the sheer dominance they displayed across the five-month-long regular season. Coach Phil Jackson’s team became the first in NBA history to record 70 or more wins against their name. However, according to Michael Jordan, chasing such a historical milestone was never part of the initial plan. Only when the team found itself riding on an 18-game winning streak was when he realized something special was unfolding.
Michael Jordan on the Bulls’ 72-10 record in the 1995-96 season
Mike’s return before the 1995 playoffs had sparked major championship hopes, but the Bulls were eliminated in the second round by the Orlando Magic. Put simply, the Bulls were derived as ‘unbeatable’ when “His Airness” was on the roster. Therefore, it was no wonder that the loss stung the entire locker room. So, when the 1995-96 season began, Chicago looked like a team on a mission, storming out of the gates with 18 wins in their first 20 contests.
But what truly made the five-time MVP realize his team could achieve something unprecedented came after their third loss of the season. The Bulls responded by going on an 18-game tear, crushing opponents with an average margin of victory of 16.9 points. So, for Mike, it was then that he realized his Bulls weren’t just winning games; they were sending out a flat-out message.
“We took it game by game and next you know, it started to accumulate. We never started the season by saying, ‘We gotto win 70 games.’ We wanted to get back to the end result which was the championship caliber team,” Jordan said in an interview in 1997. “When we got to the 18-game winning streak, that’s when we really felt we had something special. We believed in ourselves and we had a certain attitude about each and every game once we stepped on the floor.”
The Chicago Bulls were relentless even when they lost games
Winning often boosts morale, but what defined Zen Master’s team was their fight even in defeat. Take, for example, the end of that 18-game streak, which came at the hands of the Denver Nuggets. The Bulls were down by 25 at halftime, and the deficit ballooned to over 30 points. Yet, instead of folding, MJ & Co. roared back with relentless energy and nearly pulled off the comeback, eventually losing by just six points. That fight, even in a loss, revealed the heart of a championship team.
Safe to say that it became clear that the Bulls weren’t just a championship-contending team, they were determined to etch their name in the league’s history. And for “His Airness,” the optimistic player of the team, that realization hit him only when he saw his Bulls register 18 straight wins, which ironically doesn’t even crack the top 10 longest streaks in NBA history.