Getty Images Michael Jordan (L) of the Chicago Bulls against Shandon Anderson of the Utah Jazz
Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls won their first three championships in ‘91, ‘92 and ‘93
After the run, MJ retired from hoops, played baseball and the Houston Rockets won championships in ‘94 and ‘95.
Million dollar question: Would the Houston Rockets have beaten the Bulls had MJ not retired?
“Oh we would’ve beat them,” Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith told me a few years ago via Scoop B Radio.
“And actually everyone forgets he was playing the second year, he was wearing number 45 and the team they lost to the Orlando Magic,we swept them. We were that much better than them that year, they lost to them.”
Former Chicago Bull, Scottie Pippen vehemently disagreed with Smith, telling ESPN The Jump’s Rachel Nichols: “He forgot what my role was: “I cut the head off of snakes; and I’m calling him the snake of that team.”
Well, another former Houston Rocket has weighed in: Robert Horry!
“Michael and Scottie have their own opinions,” Horry told Scoop B Radio.
“But I truly believe the way that we were playing and that big dominant force, Hakeem Olajuwon; that we had down there was too much.”
On a recent episode of the Scoop B Radio Podcast, I posed that same question to former Houston Rocket Tracy Murray.
Check out our Q&A below:
Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson: Kenny Smith was on the Scoop B Radio podcast a couple years ago it went viral when I asked him had Michael Jordan not retired, would the Bulls still have won those two championships that you Rockets won on the team you were on in ’95 and he told me we would’ve beat them no question. That Orlando Magic team was tough. They were a young team. What were your recollections of Michael Jordan when he returned in ’95? How tough was he?
Tracy Murray: Michael was tough. Period. When he was making his comeback, we were playing pickup games at the Jordan Dome when he was filming ‘Space Jam’ because a lot of us were in the film as extras and things like that and he was tough then and that was off a couple years of playing baseball you know – he still hadn’t lost a step. He was just knocking the rust off, but he was STILL Michael Jordan. And then he came back and continued to – and you saw what he did when he came back… but to piggyback on what Kenny Smith is saying, Kenny was my teammate for one of those championships he got two of ‘em with Dream. There was NO answer with Chicago for Hakeem Olajuwon. No answer. He was the most dominant big man that I’ve ever played with and that I have ever seen. That’s no shade to Shaq, no shade to him at all – I played with him and Shaq. No shade, but Hakeem Olajuwon was – what he did to David Robinson, what I witnessed front row – what he did to David Robinson and that was the MVP year? I’ve never seen a center to that to ANYBODY ever. And I’ve seen Kareem all through my childhood you know, kill people. But what Hakeem Olajuwon did? He was THE DESTROYER! I’ve never seen a great center look like a college player against a pro. It was just a one-way butt kickin’ and I’ve never seen that before in my life.
Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson: Those hezzies and those Dream shakes [laughs] –
Tracy Murray: Awwww man, he was shaking, he had people falling spinning all over the place! People were turning circles. But there was no answer for him. Clyde was hungry coming from the Portland situation, the way – Houston was playing pretty much like they play now. But the only difference was it was inside-out instead of pick and rolls to 3’s. You know what I’m sayin’? It’s like throw it into Dream, let him work, let him make the decision, we all stand behind the 3-point line ready to clip somebody if they leave. And then the ball was moving. If I didn’t have a shot you swing it. You know, Mario [Elie] would knock down the three, Kenny would knock down the three, Vernon [Maxwell] would knock down the three and Drexler would knock down the three so it’s like you have so many people that was threat behind the three point line, it would’ve been hard for – you know you look on the other side and you see Michael. But you got Clyde that’s been trying to stand up to that challenge and set it up for the most part, Vernon Maxwell was always great against Michael. So you had people in place for that matchup, but there’s no one to stop Dream.