Chicago Bears: Chicago’s Biggest Loser

If you grew up in the 1990’s, these were the glory days for the Chicago Bulls.  The Michael Jordan-led dynasty dominated the decade and spoiled a generation of fans.  We took for granted that winning basketball was a way of life.

The Bulls were the classic team that we watched grow up and develop into a championship caliber team.  At first, there was Michael Jordan and then they started to add pieces around him.  Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant were added and the team finally got past the Detroit Pistons to break through in the 1991 Eastern conference finals.  They went on to beat the Los Angeles Lakers for their first title.  They went on to beat win two more for their first three-peat from 1991 – 1993.

Whether you believe that Michael Jordan was sent to the penalty box under a super-secret suspension or just needed to get away and pursue his baseball dreams, the Bulls missed the NBA Finals in the two seasons he was away, but they bounced back nicely.

They added Dennis Rodman, Toni Kukoc and a new cast of supporting characters and rounded out another three-peat behind Jordan and Pippen from 1996 – 1998.  As the only other Chicago team not to win a championship in this century, the Bulls haven’t won a title since Michael Jordan hit that shot – and no, he didn’t push off – back in 1998.

The Bulls bottomed out in the post-Jordan era and the early 2000’s were pretty awful.  It looked like they might rebound with a new cast around top draft pick and local kid Derrick Rose.  Injuries derailed a promising career and although they got back to the Eastern Conference finals, they couldn’t get past Lebron James the way so many teams could never get past Jordan.