96-98 Bulls had the best presentation in the history of NBA. And I'll fight anyone who says otherwise.
IIRC I read that Toni Kukoc said once that while it mattered who finished the game, not started, and the 6th man award was nice, being in the starting lineup because of that intro was something else (he started in 98 playoffs every game IIRC).
As a 90s kid from Milwaukee, I can't believe that I forgot about the Bulls' running-bull animation. Used to see that all the time. Shit was iconic, even though it looks like a bowling alley animation.
If you asked me about the intros before this video I would've had limited recollection. If you asked me .01 seconds after the light went out and the music started I would've been able to tell you every detail. This video just snapped me back
Unfortunately they fired the announcer for insubordination. When Jordan was with the Wizards, he was specifically told not to do his signature “From North Carolina, Michael Jordan!” But did it anyway so he got canned. Jerry Krause was still GM for the Bulls at the time
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Clay
It is absolutely mind-blowing that the org. did not want Michael Fucking Jordan to get his signature intro because he was on the Wizards. MJ IS Chicago.
Easily the most iconic starting lineup presentation of all time. I was in elementary school at the time and my friends and I would reenact it on the playground at recess every day and argue over who got to be MJ
The presentation is fine and all, but the thing that strikes me is how much freaking length that entire starting-5 had.
No wonder they could completely choke opposing offenses at will. There was no defensive weakness.
Yeah, one of the things that gets lost sometimes is how absurdly good their defense. It was way ahead of its time, super switchy with length at every position and the ability for most guys to guard up and down at least one spot without issue. Would love to have seen what a lineup like that could do against modern offenses.
Pippen and Jordan were both likely among the top 5 defenders in the league, and they could both guard damn near anyone. 'Twas a different game, and it (them against today's offenses) would be cool to see.
Jesus- I forgot all about Rodman! I guess I was thinking of the first three-peat.
Might have to say they had 3 of the top 5 defensive players in the league!
They were all up there but that era was stacked with defensive hounds— Hakeem, David Robinson, Gary Payton, Mookie Blaylock, Mutombo, Stockton, etc…hard to make a top 5 because you’re cutting out a defensive goat
Yea...as soon as I posted it I realized it was a bunch of hooey...but I left it anyway, because they had three guys that could have been the best defensive player on a whole lot of teams.
It’s amazing how Rodman turned in Chicago from detestable, Bad Boy Pistons villain, to beloved and much-needed defensive expert getting in the heads of Shawn Kemp and then Karl Malone in the NBA Finals.
Kukoc slots in for Longley and that starting line-up would have beaten every finals winner since. They could do everything (except Rodman couldn't shoot).
Yeah, a year or two later when they had the lighting effects outlining the Bulls logo blew my 10 year old mind back then, it was so frickin' cool.
I still have that intro music in one of my workout playlists because it still gets me excited as hell.
I still remember the LeBron and Kobe commercials during the playoffs like it was determined those 2 would meet in the Finals but the Magic had other plans.
One of the key benefits of PEDs is the recovery help it gives you
All the lifting, conditioning, shooting practice, full scrimmages, for the months leading up to the series, would have definitely benefited
Yeah sure they don’t need steroid muscle to shoot a basketball 23 feet. But the stamina to get open despite running your ass off all year? PEDs help you get there
Yeah, 1990 series went to 7 games and Pippen missed game 7 with a migraine. That was the lost ring for the Bulls, not 1995.
Also, 1995 MJ was surprisingly good given the hiatus and baseball, but 1990 MJ was arguably the best anyone has ever played basketball.
> 1990 MJ was arguably the best anyone has ever played basketball
Played all 82 games. Averaged 33.6 points per game, on +52% shooting. Added 6.9 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 2.8 steals per game. Not bad.
I still think 95-96 was better.
Just because that was Jordans best team doesnt necessarily mean that was Jordans best version of himself. Pippen maybe, but then he also has 94-95. Jordan in 1990 literally averaged more pts, more rebounds, more assists, more steals, more blocks on higher efficiency, higher FT% while in his athletic and defensive peak. Yet somehow you think thats worse than 96 Jordan with much better help vs. a more diluted league?
It depends how you want to measure. Statistically, 1990 is better. In 1995-1996, he was MVP, All-Star MVP, Finals MVP, returned to the top and started another three-peat. It's also the first championship he won while I lived in Chicago, so I have no qualms admitting personal reasons inform my opinion.
I think the team was probably better, and MJ was better about playing in that system with other players (1990 was 1st year of Phil and the triangle), but that 1990 version of MJ was just...man.
Shaq also ran west because the Magic lowballed him in negotiations.
[How the Magic fell from the Shaq-Penny '90s powerhouse to the NBA's basement](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtEHbninWCs)
Waking up at 4:30 in the morning (eastern europe) to catch that one game of the week featured on the national television and the going straight to school and trying to replicate the moves of all these great players. I only had Magic's moves in my head, but everyone was special.
Great memories
>I only had Magic's moves in my head
Gary Payton for me. Couldnt shoot for shit. Couldnt really defend either but boy howdy did my friends hate my sweaty guts for trying that hard on D
Same here too man. 13 years old staying up to see (an excellent) Sonics get beat and MJ’s glorious first full season back was complete. I got chills watching this.
I can't imagine how intimating that intro had to have been for opposing teams. You're already going against Jordan and then he has this entrance? Good luck!
The crazier note was in the stadium, you never heard it. You would get from North…and the crowd noise would be so loud it would drown everything out. Even your random Tuesday night game in February. The stadium was at full capacity every single night and it was just full on screaming/applause when Jordan came out.
In the event you haven't already, follow this up by checking out Tim Robinson's sketch show I Think You Should Leave on Netflix and prepare to break your laugh box.
(Tim Robinson plays Dave Tesh in that sketch and was a writer on SNL for one season. Tim's sketches were too strange for SNL so he took a lot of them to ITYSL and it's some of the best sketch comedy I've ever seen)
What stood out to me was that this game involved 2 big teams.
The shortest guys on the court were all 6'6" between Nick Anderson, Ron Harper and MJ.
Many say MJ is really only 6'4 1/2" or a short 6'5"....dude might have been the shortest guy playing lol.
Not just big, but athletic, switchable, guys outside of Longley. And Lonley was skilled. Good passer and had a midranged game. Good, tall, 3pt shooters in DScott and Anderson. What the Bulls trotted out defensively and how the Magic surrounded a point forward and a freak of nature in the post with tall shooters is really modern from both teams. Almost every guy in both of the starting line ups I don't see any issue with them being quality starters on playoffs rosters in today's league.
I remember 96 was the year the young bullets led by cwebb and Juwan Howard got swept by the bulls in the first round. Was a competitive series even if it was 3-0…really can’t overstate just how much fear MJ imposed on opposing teams, it was palpable even for the viewing fans
There was nothing like that Bulls opening, especially at the old Chicago Stadium. The lights would go out, and the crowd would lose their minds. The old concrete stadium would shake to a degree that you simply couldn't believe unless you felt it for yourself. Absolute bedlam. Best opening in sports, bar none.
It's because there's been a total attitude shift. Back then the end goal was more about just wanting to compete. Jordan would approach a random game in December with the same intensity as a Finals game (probably not literally but you get the point). Nowadays it's much more about the end result. How will this affect their chances at getting a ring? How will it affect their next contract? I mean it's a practical attitude to have but it definitely takes away from the entertainment of the league.
Part of me wonders if it has to do with how the face of the league approaches the game. Like does their attitude permeate the whole league, or are they just a product of the league as a whole? Was the 90s that much more intense because of how intense Jordan was and people needed to try to match that to have a chance or he was so intense because that's just how the league was? And then I wonder if LeBron approached competition with the same intensity how it would affect the NBA as a whole
I feel blessed to be a 90’s kid in America. Good times, I kinda feel bad for kids being born today because they’ll never experience life without constant phone and technology use.
There was always something awry come crunch time. They were never going to win this series against Jordan with Penny operating on one knee and Anderson bricking at hall of fame levels.
There was an idea that he was a frontrunner - when he was losing and frustrated, his body language changed and his concentration on defense lapsed. This could have spread over to teammates during a series if we were to play couch psychologist, but who knows.
Well 1994 1st round I remember Pacers and Byron Scott hitting a game winner vs the Magic, then they swept the Magic.
* So 1994-1996 were sweeps.
* 1997 Shaq goes to Lakers and 2nd round it was 5 games to the Jazz (rookie Kobe shooting airballs).
* 1998 WCF swept by the Jazz.
* 1999 2nd round swept by the Spurs.
* 2000 Kurt Rambis is out and Phil Jackson is in and they win it all.
I was so hyped for this series. People forget how good this Magic team was. They were coming off a Finals appearance, having eliminated the Bulls with Jordan the previous year. They won 60 games and had swept the playoffs up until that point.
The first half of game 1 lived up to the hype. If I'm not mistaken, I think Penny hit a half-court buzzer-beater at half time. It went on to be a sweep, but the anticipation for this series was something else.
Can't remember if it was Ron Harper or the announcers that came up with the nickname "the mitten" as an homage to the glove, but that shit was funny af
Ron Harper never gets enough credit for his contributions to that second 3 peat. Or, hell, for his career in general. Dude was a 20-5-5 with 2 steals player for the first 8 years of his career, then went to the Bulls and accepted a role as a pure secondary player as a high end defender to line up with Jordan and Pippen. Everyone talks about Rodman and I get it, but Harper was a fucking great basketball player whose name just doesn't come up.
Harper def gets overlooked and not a stats kind of guy that would pop out at you. That's why I think 96 bulls have a good chance at beating 2017 warriors. Kukoc, Rodman, Harper, MJ and Scottie. No other team can match that type of cohesion + the fear of GOD overlooking you.
If you were in the stadium you couldn’t even hear Michael Jordan’s name over the crowd. Just “from North Carolina…” and then pandemonium.
This is the series that drove Shaq out of Orlando to LA.
I think it is worth noting that the in game experience for NBA Finals games still looks to be badass, but ABC always goes to commercial for lineups, so we have to watch Tide commercials instead of getting these chills. It’s really bad for the game I think, because much of what makes all this cool to all of us is the nostalgia and for young kids this kind of thing is super cool. Hell, it’s cool for me. But Disney rather make a buck off some Nissan commercial or some shit. Intros are still cool, presentation to fans through TV is lame as fuck.
> The song was used by longtime public address announcers Tommy Edwards and Ray Clay of the Chicago Bulls organization during the Michael Jordan era as the theme for the visiting team at Bulls home games.
(wikipedia)
TIL the opposing team doesn't pick their own song.
That was way too badass of an intro to end that anticlimactically. Like, you started with a sudden blackout, then went into a laser show, then went through 4 members of the starting lineup, and you have the GOAT coming out. I was ready for a nice, drawn out, “Miiiiiiiiichaellllllll JORDANNNNNNNNN!”
Instead, it’s just “Michael Jordan.”
2017 Warriors is sort of similar. Davidson, Washington State, and Georgia the country. I get Davidson is a good program and Washington State is D1 (although so is Miami OH). And the other is a freaking country. But still pretty obscure places for good basketball players.
There's like 5 relevant players from Washington State. Besides Klay, Elho is probably the next most well known and that's only because MJ kept hitting game winners over him.
There's 3 relevant players (5 all time) from Davidson. One being Steph and two others from the 60s.
And Georgia as an entire country has only had 6 total NBA players. And Zaza is by far the best one lol. Next most well known is either Goga because he's still active and got into that fight a couple of weeks ago or Nikoloz Tskitishvili because he went 5th overall and busted out of the league in 172 games.
Miami OH has the second best player of all these places in Wally Szczerbiak. Probably the third too actually by stats. Although I don't know who Wayne Embry is but 11 seasons, 5 all stars, and basically a double double average is good. 1958 tho.
But yeah unsurprisingly Pippen is the only player form Central Arkansas and Rodman is the only one from Southeastern Oklahoma State. Actually.. Southeastern Oklahoma State does have a guy who was on the 1964 Gold Medal team and was drafted. He played in the AAU instead which apparently is that AAU that high school kids compete in now. I don't completely understand and don't care to continue reading. And another guy who was in the BAA in the 40s which eventually became the NBA so he counts. Not sure why basketball ref didn't show him.
Long story short idk I was just curious and looked into those places.
The best part of being a teenager in Chicago during all this was I'd run home or to my best friends apartment and as soon as the Bulls theme would play we'd get all hyped, run around the living room trying to impersonate the announcer
And then you got to watch Michael fuckin Jordan in his prime and how is Rodman gonna dye his hair this game. You could hear people in other apartments watching the game, freaking out and it was such a cool feeling in the city.
I love those memories.
Lol that they said luke longley was from New Mexico. I know they are calling the colleges they played at. But surely he’d have a bigger response of saying he was from Australia
Six or seven years ago I went to Toys R Us to get gifts for my kids and pretty much every single brand was stuff I played with as a kid. Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, Transformers, Jurassic Park, and more. It felt pretty weird.
I'm here on a business trip ironing my shirt and getting ready, and godamn if I'm not ready to sprint back on defense and crash the offensive glass after that Bulls intro.
The Big 3 TV networks (NBC, ABC, and CBS) all use (used? dunno if they still do) Very High Frequency radio for over-air TV transmissions (opposed to Ultra High Frequency transmission, popularized by a plucky young startup named Ted Turner who bought a UHF TV station for next to nothing to launch his empire).
VHF feeds are (obviously) low-res, but if you were watching a VHF television, you were probably watching it on a TV that was optimised for it.
tl;dr -- it did look better because you were watching it on a screen built for that exact resolution, unless you had one of those dummy thicc CRT 50 inch behemoths, in which case why would you have one of those and not satellite
I honestly have no idea. An old German neighbor gave us a free 20+" color tv from Germany. Had exactly 13 numbers for 13 channels, so couldn't watch the higher cable channels. I remember seeing details like the sweat on Shaq's dome and the spaces between the rim netting.
Was the biggest tv we've seen, an upgrade over our black and white >10" combo tv/radio.
This is great and all, but the truly classic version comes from [Chicago Stadium](https://youtu.be/bdmBQOozmlM).
That old school light-bulb display is fixed in my memory. Cheesy CGI animation, not so much (I’d forgotten about that intro!).
“On the Run” by Pink Floyd ( Dark Side of the Moon is the album name) is what was playing during the announcement for the Magic. The Bull’s intro song is called “Sirius” and it’s by the Alan Parsons Project.
Yup, he was also the audio engineer for *Abbey Road*, *Let It Be*, and a bunch of other dope singles over the years. Dude’s a lowkey legend in the industry
It's so dumb that most of the broadcasts skip over player introductions, outside of the Finals. The Bulls intro is legendary, but I always feel like they add something to the playoff atmosphere.
The original Chicago Stadium was better. It was tighter. Lower roof made of tin. The sound the energy. It was like a Roman arena. United Center was the beginning of the corporate sterile stadium. It rocked but not like the original Madhouse on Madison.
Me and my friends were the kids screaming “the starting lineup of YOUR chicago bulls” at the playground introducing ourselves as the starting lineup. Some amazing memories, Im so glad I got to experience this era of basketball.
Born in Philly, I'm a Sixers fan but lived in North Dakota as a kid. All we had was WGN so I watched all the Bulls games. I wonder how much of a significance WGN's distribution played for the Bulls' fandom in the midwest. These videos give me all the goosebumps.
I was wondering for a bit why they announced the Magic forwards first instead of using the default guards to center order, then I realized that they probably wanted it to follow the Bulls order. And of course the Bulls had to be announced with Pippen first and Jordan last.
The Ringer had a [nice article](https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/11/13/18082986/oral-history-chicago-bulls-introduction-michael-jordan) on the Bulls intro.
watched this intro more times than i can even count when i was young, never gets old
96-98 Bulls had the best presentation in the history of NBA. And I'll fight anyone who says otherwise. IIRC I read that Toni Kukoc said once that while it mattered who finished the game, not started, and the 6th man award was nice, being in the starting lineup because of that intro was something else (he started in 98 playoffs every game IIRC).
As a 90s kid from Milwaukee, I can't believe that I forgot about the Bulls' running-bull animation. Used to see that all the time. Shit was iconic, even though it looks like a bowling alley animation.
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Wait - are they still using that 90s animation?? Pls say yes.
[unfortunately no. they've updated the video graphics over the years](https://youtu.be/1jur3EeVB3w)
Slightly better graphics than the 90's version.
If you asked me about the intros before this video I would've had limited recollection. If you asked me .01 seconds after the light went out and the music started I would've been able to tell you every detail. This video just snapped me back
Unfortunately they fired the announcer for insubordination. When Jordan was with the Wizards, he was specifically told not to do his signature “From North Carolina, Michael Jordan!” But did it anyway so he got canned. Jerry Krause was still GM for the Bulls at the time https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Clay
thats so wack
Suits the bulls
GOAT and gives us 6 rings but on Wizards? Straight to jail
It is absolutely mind-blowing that the org. did not want Michael Fucking Jordan to get his signature intro because he was on the Wizards. MJ IS Chicago.
Good ole Jerry Reinsdorf
That's a Krause call
Happy to read that he was invited to Philly to introduce Jordan for his last game. Here is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROnF4HdAJaI
When MJ is in the building how can you not let the man cook.
Easily the most iconic starting lineup presentation of all time. I was in elementary school at the time and my friends and I would reenact it on the playground at recess every day and argue over who got to be MJ
> argue over who got to be MJ Obviously whoever was 6'6" and from North Carolina.
The presentation is fine and all, but the thing that strikes me is how much freaking length that entire starting-5 had. No wonder they could completely choke opposing offenses at will. There was no defensive weakness.
Yeah, one of the things that gets lost sometimes is how absurdly good their defense. It was way ahead of its time, super switchy with length at every position and the ability for most guys to guard up and down at least one spot without issue. Would love to have seen what a lineup like that could do against modern offenses.
Pippen and Jordan were both likely among the top 5 defenders in the league, and they could both guard damn near anyone. 'Twas a different game, and it (them against today's offenses) would be cool to see.
Then add Rodman a 2 time DPOY and Ron Harper who was the most underrated defender on the team.
Jesus- I forgot all about Rodman! I guess I was thinking of the first three-peat. Might have to say they had 3 of the top 5 defensive players in the league!
They were all up there but that era was stacked with defensive hounds— Hakeem, David Robinson, Gary Payton, Mookie Blaylock, Mutombo, Stockton, etc…hard to make a top 5 because you’re cutting out a defensive goat
Yea...as soon as I posted it I realized it was a bunch of hooey...but I left it anyway, because they had three guys that could have been the best defensive player on a whole lot of teams.
It’s amazing how Rodman turned in Chicago from detestable, Bad Boy Pistons villain, to beloved and much-needed defensive expert getting in the heads of Shawn Kemp and then Karl Malone in the NBA Finals.
Except whoever was guarding Shaq, that was always the defensive weakness
Kukoc slots in for Longley and that starting line-up would have beaten every finals winner since. They could do everything (except Rodman couldn't shoot).
Longley started but their death lineup was with Kukoc. Harper, MJ, Scottie, Kukoc, Rodman destroyed teams.
I’ll fight anyone who says that isn’t the best into song of all time.
Yeah, a year or two later when they had the lighting effects outlining the Bulls logo blew my 10 year old mind back then, it was so frickin' cool. I still have that intro music in one of my workout playlists because it still gets me excited as hell.
What a lineup.
For real. That Orlando squad was stacked.
>That Orlando squad was stacked Only squad to knock out prime MJ I know this doesn't count because reasons to MJ stans please don't crucify me
Our 09 team knocked out prime Lebron too.
I still remember the LeBron and Kobe commercials during the playoffs like it was determined those 2 would meet in the Finals but the Magic had other plans.
The puppet commericals were so good
[Who want to buy some DVDs?](https://youtu.be/6ytOjwv5lbQ)
Oh man. The nostalgia!!!
Mo Williams is not a Scottie Pippen tier number 2.
As much as it pains me to say, give the magic credit. 09 bron was so good on his own
and how good Dwight Howard was for a period of time.
The Turkoglu / Lewis PED series
The only nba players to ever use PEDs I’m sure
It's hilarious that y'all think no one, especially bulked up Miami tank Lebron, wasn't on PEDs.
Bron developed the cro magnum forehead to prove it too
It's hilarious to think that any of these athletes these days aren't on peds. I mean supplements.
Yea im sure the PEDs let them go absolutely bonkers on corner 3s that series.
One of the key benefits of PEDs is the recovery help it gives you All the lifting, conditioning, shooting practice, full scrimmages, for the months leading up to the series, would have definitely benefited Yeah sure they don’t need steroid muscle to shoot a basketball 23 feet. But the stamina to get open despite running your ass off all year? PEDs help you get there
At least half the league is on some sort of cycle anyways
glad you're keeping the salt mine operating lol
> Only squad to knock out prime MJ If anything, Pistons knocked out prime MJ 3x while the magic knocked out a clearly rusty MJ
Yeah, 1990 series went to 7 games and Pippen missed game 7 with a migraine. That was the lost ring for the Bulls, not 1995. Also, 1995 MJ was surprisingly good given the hiatus and baseball, but 1990 MJ was arguably the best anyone has ever played basketball.
> 1990 MJ was arguably the best anyone has ever played basketball Played all 82 games. Averaged 33.6 points per game, on +52% shooting. Added 6.9 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 2.8 steals per game. Not bad. I still think 95-96 was better.
Just because that was Jordans best team doesnt necessarily mean that was Jordans best version of himself. Pippen maybe, but then he also has 94-95. Jordan in 1990 literally averaged more pts, more rebounds, more assists, more steals, more blocks on higher efficiency, higher FT% while in his athletic and defensive peak. Yet somehow you think thats worse than 96 Jordan with much better help vs. a more diluted league?
It depends how you want to measure. Statistically, 1990 is better. In 1995-1996, he was MVP, All-Star MVP, Finals MVP, returned to the top and started another three-peat. It's also the first championship he won while I lived in Chicago, so I have no qualms admitting personal reasons inform my opinion.
In no timeline of any universe was Jordan a better player after his baseball stint. His prime was clearly late 80s / early 90s
I think the team was probably better, and MJ was better about playing in that system with other players (1990 was 1st year of Phil and the triangle), but that 1990 version of MJ was just...man.
Yeah this is it. As crazy as it sounds, MJ's atheletic prime was almost over by the end of the first 3 peat.
*”The Bad Boys Pistons helped end two NBA dynasties and delay the start of a 3rd.”* From the ESPN 30for30 on the Pistons.
Can’t really say he was prime MJ when he was just getting back to basketball after about 18 months.
88-89, 89-90 MJ > 94-95 MJ coming off retirement. Extremely disrespectful to ignore the Pistons here
MJs Bulls retooled ( Rodman ) and swept the Magic causing Shaq to run west.
Shaq also ran west because the Magic lowballed him in negotiations. [How the Magic fell from the Shaq-Penny '90s powerhouse to the NBA's basement](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtEHbninWCs)
There was one playoff game where all Orlando points were scored by that lineup, 0 points from bench.
Waking up at 4:30 in the morning (eastern europe) to catch that one game of the week featured on the national television and the going straight to school and trying to replicate the moves of all these great players. I only had Magic's moves in my head, but everyone was special. Great memories
>I only had Magic's moves in my head Gary Payton for me. Couldnt shoot for shit. Couldnt really defend either but boy howdy did my friends hate my sweaty guts for trying that hard on D
Ayooooo Go on
[nothing kills the vibe at a pickup game quicker than having a dick on your leg the second you get the ball](https://i.imgur.com/lCfL8Dq.gifv)
Set those fruity picks.
LMAO Basketball tactics are ridiculous, gotta watch out for mind games, elbows, and dicks haha
Same. I was 12 yrs old waking up at 4.30am to watch the Finals v the Sonics. Did the same thing the following years against Utah.
Same here too man. 13 years old staying up to see (an excellent) Sonics get beat and MJ’s glorious first full season back was complete. I got chills watching this.
This lineup was the magic at its best. Imagine being a 14 y/o fan watching. Was dope, good memories. So much hope for the future but now we here.
Jordan’s career is truly story arc shit. The muhfucca literally had Final Boss music. There is none greater and likely will never be
I can't imagine how intimating that intro had to have been for opposing teams. You're already going against Jordan and then he has this entrance? Good luck!
Magic was already down 0-15 after the intro 😂
The crazier note was in the stadium, you never heard it. You would get from North…and the crowd noise would be so loud it would drown everything out. Even your random Tuesday night game in February. The stadium was at full capacity every single night and it was just full on screaming/applause when Jordan came out.
Bring back the NBA on NBC!
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Hubie Brown is legitimately 89 years old, too
Thank you for excepting the exceptional Hubie Brown
Love Hubie "Oh ohh woah wooooahh woah!!!"
Plus that kick ass theme song. Ba ba ba ba ba basketball, gimme gimme gimme the ball because I'm gonna DUNK IT.
LOLL I've never heard those...lyrics before and yet I heard the whole melody
[the lyrics are canon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-uSWAJd9GE)
How the fuck have I never seen this
In the event you haven't already, follow this up by checking out Tim Robinson's sketch show I Think You Should Leave on Netflix and prepare to break your laugh box. (Tim Robinson plays Dave Tesh in that sketch and was a writer on SNL for one season. Tim's sketches were too strange for SNL so he took a lot of them to ITYSL and it's some of the best sketch comedy I've ever seen)
I don't know how to hear any more about tables.
The [NBA on NBC melody perfected](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yf35s55Uyg)
Core memory
It’s crazy to me how great those running bull graphics looked to me back in 1996.
One year after Toy Story.
What stood out to me was that this game involved 2 big teams. The shortest guys on the court were all 6'6" between Nick Anderson, Ron Harper and MJ. Many say MJ is really only 6'4 1/2" or a short 6'5"....dude might have been the shortest guy playing lol.
same! both these teams would still dominate today.
Not just big, but athletic, switchable, guys outside of Longley. And Lonley was skilled. Good passer and had a midranged game. Good, tall, 3pt shooters in DScott and Anderson. What the Bulls trotted out defensively and how the Magic surrounded a point forward and a freak of nature in the post with tall shooters is really modern from both teams. Almost every guy in both of the starting line ups I don't see any issue with them being quality starters on playoffs rosters in today's league.
Agreed. Only major adjustment would be getting used to modern rules and the extra 3pt shooting
I remember 96 was the year the young bullets led by cwebb and Juwan Howard got swept by the bulls in the first round. Was a competitive series even if it was 3-0…really can’t overstate just how much fear MJ imposed on opposing teams, it was palpable even for the viewing fans
We went up 14-2 after a dunk by Webber forcing them to call a timeout. I was losing my mind.
That was 1997
You are correct I got my years mixed up
There was nothing like that Bulls opening, especially at the old Chicago Stadium. The lights would go out, and the crowd would lose their minds. The old concrete stadium would shake to a degree that you simply couldn't believe unless you felt it for yourself. Absolute bedlam. Best opening in sports, bar none.
Felt like classic WWF intros, where you would get goosebumps. Man I loved the 90s everything
Not just 90s playoff basketball, 90s basketball in general. By far my favorite era of basketball.
The 90’s in general was the peak of humanity
Entertainment-wise, only. And only in the west. The world was still very fucked, probably even more.
Peak basketball intensity too. Now regular season don't even got rival games. Adam silver needs to fix up the league man. 90s were just so good.
It's because there's been a total attitude shift. Back then the end goal was more about just wanting to compete. Jordan would approach a random game in December with the same intensity as a Finals game (probably not literally but you get the point). Nowadays it's much more about the end result. How will this affect their chances at getting a ring? How will it affect their next contract? I mean it's a practical attitude to have but it definitely takes away from the entertainment of the league. Part of me wonders if it has to do with how the face of the league approaches the game. Like does their attitude permeate the whole league, or are they just a product of the league as a whole? Was the 90s that much more intense because of how intense Jordan was and people needed to try to match that to have a chance or he was so intense because that's just how the league was? And then I wonder if LeBron approached competition with the same intensity how it would affect the NBA as a whole
I feel blessed to be a 90’s kid in America. Good times, I kinda feel bad for kids being born today because they’ll never experience life without constant phone and technology use.
Shaq’s teams were getting swept out the playoffs on a regular basis prior to 2000
Yeah it’s really random too. Doesn’t matter how far he made it in the playoffs, it seemed like it would also end in him getting swept lol
And he had talent around him which makes it bizarre
There was always something awry come crunch time. They were never going to win this series against Jordan with Penny operating on one knee and Anderson bricking at hall of fame levels.
There was an idea that he was a frontrunner - when he was losing and frustrated, his body language changed and his concentration on defense lapsed. This could have spread over to teammates during a series if we were to play couch psychologist, but who knows.
Always felt like this was true watching him. You can see that in his personality on Inside as well
I only know of this one and the one in the finals with the Rockets.
Well 1994 1st round I remember Pacers and Byron Scott hitting a game winner vs the Magic, then they swept the Magic. * So 1994-1996 were sweeps. * 1997 Shaq goes to Lakers and 2nd round it was 5 games to the Jazz (rookie Kobe shooting airballs). * 1998 WCF swept by the Jazz. * 1999 2nd round swept by the Spurs. * 2000 Kurt Rambis is out and Phil Jackson is in and they win it all.
Chills and nostalgia
Every time I bring my dad to the Barclays he tells me how nothing will ever top the bulls intro and it seems he’s not wrong
Bro when you heard that music come on in the 90s.... some poor team was about to get rekt by the Bulls.
Inject this into my veins lol I don't know why but no matter how many times I've heard this I still get hyped from this song
I was so hyped for this series. People forget how good this Magic team was. They were coming off a Finals appearance, having eliminated the Bulls with Jordan the previous year. They won 60 games and had swept the playoffs up until that point. The first half of game 1 lived up to the hype. If I'm not mistaken, I think Penny hit a half-court buzzer-beater at half time. It went on to be a sweep, but the anticipation for this series was something else.
During the intros I was thinking “how did this team not dominate the league for years!?!?”
Jordan took 1995 personally and Shaq fled to the West.
Can't remember if it was Ron Harper or the announcers that came up with the nickname "the mitten" as an homage to the glove, but that shit was funny af
Ron Harper never gets enough credit for his contributions to that second 3 peat. Or, hell, for his career in general. Dude was a 20-5-5 with 2 steals player for the first 8 years of his career, then went to the Bulls and accepted a role as a pure secondary player as a high end defender to line up with Jordan and Pippen. Everyone talks about Rodman and I get it, but Harper was a fucking great basketball player whose name just doesn't come up.
Harper def gets overlooked and not a stats kind of guy that would pop out at you. That's why I think 96 bulls have a good chance at beating 2017 warriors. Kukoc, Rodman, Harper, MJ and Scottie. No other team can match that type of cohesion + the fear of GOD overlooking you.
Harper kind of filled the same role Shaun Livingston did for the dubs, and Livingston gets overlooked too
If you were in the stadium you couldn’t even hear Michael Jordan’s name over the crowd. Just “from North Carolina…” and then pandemonium. This is the series that drove Shaq out of Orlando to LA.
I think it is worth noting that the in game experience for NBA Finals games still looks to be badass, but ABC always goes to commercial for lineups, so we have to watch Tide commercials instead of getting these chills. It’s really bad for the game I think, because much of what makes all this cool to all of us is the nostalgia and for young kids this kind of thing is super cool. Hell, it’s cool for me. But Disney rather make a buck off some Nissan commercial or some shit. Intros are still cool, presentation to fans through TV is lame as fuck.
Got the goosebumps, this brought me all the damn way back to being a preteen and watching these games with my dad.
This is the shit that always made it feel like your team was Little Mac to their Mike Tyson. *and I miss it so much…*
> The song was used by longtime public address announcers Tommy Edwards and Ray Clay of the Chicago Bulls organization during the Michael Jordan era as the theme for the visiting team at Bulls home games. (wikipedia) TIL the opposing team doesn't pick their own song.
In the '95 finals, the Rockets played Disney's "It's a Small World After All" for the Magic. Brutal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxVEwsOBLqc
That was way too badass of an intro to end that anticlimactically. Like, you started with a sudden blackout, then went into a laser show, then went through 4 members of the starting lineup, and you have the GOAT coming out. I was ready for a nice, drawn out, “Miiiiiiiiichaellllllll JORDANNNNNNNNN!” Instead, it’s just “Michael Jordan.”
Always my only problem with it. You gotta make Jordans name something epic. It's Michael fucking Jordan!
Where’s that rat from space jam? Get him on the mic. He did that Tune Squad justice.
Literally better lol
It’s kind of hilarious that 3 starters from one of the greatest teams ever went to Central Arkansas, Southeastern Oklahoma State, and Miami Ohio lmao
2017 Warriors is sort of similar. Davidson, Washington State, and Georgia the country. I get Davidson is a good program and Washington State is D1 (although so is Miami OH). And the other is a freaking country. But still pretty obscure places for good basketball players. There's like 5 relevant players from Washington State. Besides Klay, Elho is probably the next most well known and that's only because MJ kept hitting game winners over him. There's 3 relevant players (5 all time) from Davidson. One being Steph and two others from the 60s. And Georgia as an entire country has only had 6 total NBA players. And Zaza is by far the best one lol. Next most well known is either Goga because he's still active and got into that fight a couple of weeks ago or Nikoloz Tskitishvili because he went 5th overall and busted out of the league in 172 games. Miami OH has the second best player of all these places in Wally Szczerbiak. Probably the third too actually by stats. Although I don't know who Wayne Embry is but 11 seasons, 5 all stars, and basically a double double average is good. 1958 tho. But yeah unsurprisingly Pippen is the only player form Central Arkansas and Rodman is the only one from Southeastern Oklahoma State. Actually.. Southeastern Oklahoma State does have a guy who was on the 1964 Gold Medal team and was drafted. He played in the AAU instead which apparently is that AAU that high school kids compete in now. I don't completely understand and don't care to continue reading. And another guy who was in the BAA in the 40s which eventually became the NBA so he counts. Not sure why basketball ref didn't show him. Long story short idk I was just curious and looked into those places.
Every year I eagerly watch the Magic trying to recapture the same excitement from this era.
The best part of being a teenager in Chicago during all this was I'd run home or to my best friends apartment and as soon as the Bulls theme would play we'd get all hyped, run around the living room trying to impersonate the announcer And then you got to watch Michael fuckin Jordan in his prime and how is Rodman gonna dye his hair this game. You could hear people in other apartments watching the game, freaking out and it was such a cool feeling in the city. I love those memories.
Lol that they said luke longley was from New Mexico. I know they are calling the colleges they played at. But surely he’d have a bigger response of saying he was from Australia
Pretty amazing how we are in the 2020s and culture still peaked in the 1990s (see all the 1990s nostalgia being shoveled by Disney and the like).
Oh snap, [Agent Smith was right.](https://youtu.be/y4Kc-hPcNgo?t=44)
Six or seven years ago I went to Toys R Us to get gifts for my kids and pretty much every single brand was stuff I played with as a kid. Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, Transformers, Jurassic Park, and more. It felt pretty weird.
I don’t want to blame 9/11 for the fall of American culture. But I’m gonna hold it accountable regardless
Social media is a big culprit as well. What a depressing wasteland.
Social media was the dagger I would say. Before Facebook there was a like a million websites now the internet has been mostly condensed into 6-8 sites
how much of it is the 90s and 00s becoming like prime nostalgia right now.
I'm here on a business trip ironing my shirt and getting ready, and godamn if I'm not ready to sprint back on defense and crash the offensive glass after that Bulls intro.
I wonder why these games are always higher resolution in my memory
The Big 3 TV networks (NBC, ABC, and CBS) all use (used? dunno if they still do) Very High Frequency radio for over-air TV transmissions (opposed to Ultra High Frequency transmission, popularized by a plucky young startup named Ted Turner who bought a UHF TV station for next to nothing to launch his empire). VHF feeds are (obviously) low-res, but if you were watching a VHF television, you were probably watching it on a TV that was optimised for it. tl;dr -- it did look better because you were watching it on a screen built for that exact resolution, unless you had one of those dummy thicc CRT 50 inch behemoths, in which case why would you have one of those and not satellite
I honestly have no idea. An old German neighbor gave us a free 20+" color tv from Germany. Had exactly 13 numbers for 13 channels, so couldn't watch the higher cable channels. I remember seeing details like the sweat on Shaq's dome and the spaces between the rim netting. Was the biggest tv we've seen, an upgrade over our black and white >10" combo tv/radio.
Then you were definitely watching VHF. Fun fact, there was no Channel 1 or 37 in the US because those frequencies were reserved for radio astronomy.
This is great and all, but the truly classic version comes from [Chicago Stadium](https://youtu.be/bdmBQOozmlM). That old school light-bulb display is fixed in my memory. Cheesy CGI animation, not so much (I’d forgotten about that intro!).
the motherfucking ALAN PARSONS PROJECT
Bro. Chills. Bulls were ready to never ever let someone beat them again
If you weren’t a bulls fan in the 90s you were a utah jazz fan or a liar.
Doesn’t even seem like that long ago
OG longbois matchup
Those boos for Horace Grant though. Goggles clearly wasn't welcome in Chicago anymore.
TIL the name of the Chicago Bulls intro song!
“On the Run” by Pink Floyd ( Dark Side of the Moon is the album name) is what was playing during the announcement for the Magic. The Bull’s intro song is called “Sirius” and it’s by the Alan Parsons Project.
Fun fact. Alan Parsons was actually a producer/engineer on Dark Side of the Moon, hence why On the Run and Sirius are equally DOPE AS FUCK
Yup, he was also the audio engineer for *Abbey Road*, *Let It Be*, and a bunch of other dope singles over the years. Dude’s a lowkey legend in the industry
Oh shit, thanks bro! Good looking out
https://youtu.be/je3g_8kagYM
For kids of a certain age, this will ALWAYS be [Ricky the Dragon Steamboat's](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kutn-yQp8vM) intro music.
22 years later, still gives me chills. "From North Carolina...."
Nothing tops 90s basketball, period. Only delusional children disagree.
On the Run was released closer in time to the 1996 playoffs than the 1996 playoffs are to today.
Bro Ron Harper was 6’6?!?! Grew up with the Bulls and had no idea.
That Alan Parsons Project song the Bulls use for their opener might be the best sports opening song ever.
It's so dumb that most of the broadcasts skip over player introductions, outside of the Finals. The Bulls intro is legendary, but I always feel like they add something to the playoff atmosphere.
The original Chicago Stadium was better. It was tighter. Lower roof made of tin. The sound the energy. It was like a Roman arena. United Center was the beginning of the corporate sterile stadium. It rocked but not like the original Madhouse on Madison.
Chills
Crazy to think that my dad was my age around this time...
Nobody did intros like the United Center
Still get shivers 30 years later
90s basketball was just different, but especially playoffs. It was always pandemonium when the biggest teams would play.
Best basketball intro ever...still gives me goosebumps
Chills!!!
The pageantry was amazing. I still get amped for the player introductions but I don’t think this could be improved upon
I got into the nba year or two prior hahah
Chills.
Me and my friends were the kids screaming “the starting lineup of YOUR chicago bulls” at the playground introducing ourselves as the starting lineup. Some amazing memories, Im so glad I got to experience this era of basketball.
Epic era
This whole album makes me feel like I'm slowly going insane.
Shit, im hype and this happened almost 30 years ago
Born in Philly, I'm a Sixers fan but lived in North Dakota as a kid. All we had was WGN so I watched all the Bulls games. I wonder how much of a significance WGN's distribution played for the Bulls' fandom in the midwest. These videos give me all the goosebumps.
Sirius gives goose bumps whenever and wherever I hear it. Never gets old.
Chills
I was wondering for a bit why they announced the Magic forwards first instead of using the default guards to center order, then I realized that they probably wanted it to follow the Bulls order. And of course the Bulls had to be announced with Pippen first and Jordan last. The Ringer had a [nice article](https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/11/13/18082986/oral-history-chicago-bulls-introduction-michael-jordan) on the Bulls intro.
You’d think with how much better tv broadcasting tech is, that’d it’d be even better nowadays. Safe to say it is not.
I forgot how good that Magic team was, that's a solid starting 5.