page_title: Chicago Bulls
section_title: 1984–1998: The Michael Jordan era
hierarchical_section_title: Chicago Bulls / Franchise history / 1984–1998: The Michael Jordan era
caption_attribution_description: English: Chicago Bulls. Michael Jordan 1987-88
context_page_description: The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 16, 1966 and played its first game during the 1966–67 NBA season. The Bulls play their home games at the United Center, an arena on Chicago's West Side shared with the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League.
  The Bulls saw their greatest success during the 1990s when they played a major part in popularizing the NBA worldwide. They are known for having one of the NBA's greatest dynasties, winning six NBA championships between 1991 and 1998 with two three-peats. All six of their championship teams were led by Hall of Famers Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and coach Phil Jackson. The Bulls are the only NBA franchise to win multiple championships while never losing an NBA Finals series in their history.
  The Bulls won 72 games during the 1995–96 NBA season, setting an NBA record that stood until the Golden State Warriors won 73 games during the 2015–16 NBA season.
context_section_description: In the summer of 1984, the Bulls had the third pick of the 1984 NBA draft, after Houston and Portland. The Rockets selected Hakeem Olajuwon, the Blazers picked Sam Bowie and the Bulls chose shooting guard Michael Jordan. The team, with new management in owner Jerry Reinsdorf and general manager Jerry Krause, decided to rebuild around Jordan. Jordan set franchise records during his rookie campaign for scoring (third in the league) and steals (fourth), and led the Bulls back to the playoffs, where they lost in four games to the Milwaukee Bucks. For his efforts, he was rewarded with a selection to the All-NBA Second Team and the NBA Rookie of the Year Award.
  In the following off-season, the team acquired point guard John Paxson and on draft day traded with the Cavaliers for the rights to power forward Charles Oakley. Along with Jordan and center Dave Corzine, they provided much of the Bulls' offense for the next two years. After suffering a broken foot early in the 1985–86 season, Jordan finished second on the team to Woolridge in scoring. Jordan returned for the playoffs, and led the eighth-place Bulls against the 67–15 Boston Celtics, led by Larry Bird. At the time, the Bulls had the fifth worst record of any team to qualify for the playoffs in NBA history. Though the Bulls were swept, Jordan recorded a playoff single-game record 63 points in Game 2 (which still stands to this day), prompting Bird to call him 'God disguised as Michael Jordan.'
  In the 1986–87 NBA season, Jordan continued his assault on the record books, leading the league in scoring with 37.1 points per game and becoming the first Bull named to the All-NBA First Team. The Bulls finished 40–42, which was good enough to qualify them for the playoffs. However, they were again swept by the Celtics in the playoffs.
  In the 1987 draft, to address their lack of depth, Krause selected center Olden Polynice eighth overall and power forward Horace Grant 10th overall, then sent Polynice to Seattle in a draft-day trade for the fifth selection, small forward Scottie Pippen. With Paxson and Jordan in the backcourt, Brad Sellers and Oakley at the forward spots, Corzine anchoring center, and rookies Pippen and Grant coming off the bench, the Bulls won 50 games and advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals, where they were beaten by the eventual Eastern Conference Champions Detroit Pistons in five games. For his efforts, Jordan was named NBA Most Valuable Player, an award he would win four more times over his career. The 1987–88 season would also mark the start of the Pistons-Bulls rivalry which was formed from 1988 to 1991.
  The 1988–89 season marked a second straight year of major off-season moves. Power forward Charles Oakley, who had led the league in total rebounds in both 1987 and 1988, was traded on the eve of the 1988 NBA draft to the New York Knicks along with a first round draft pick used by the Knicks to select Rod Strickland for center Bill Cartwright and a first round pick, which the Bulls used to obtain center Will Perdue. In addition, the Bulls acquired three-point shooter Craig Hodges from Phoenix. The new starting lineup of Paxson, Jordan, Pippen, Grant, and Cartwright took some time to mesh, winning fewer games than the previous season, but made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they were defeated in six games by the NBA champion Pistons.
  In 1989–90, Jordan led the league in scoring for the fourth straight season and was joined on the all-star squad for the first time by Pippen. There was also a major change during the off-season, where head coach Doug Collins was replaced by assistant coach Phil Jackson. The Bulls also picked up rookie center Stacey King and rookie point guard B. J. Armstrong in the 1989 draft. With these additional players and the previous year's starting five, the Bulls again made it to the Conference Finals and pushed the Pistons to seven games before being eliminated for the third straight year, the Pistons going on to repeat as NBA champions.
caption: Michael Jordan was drafted third overall by the Bulls in 1984. He won six championships and six Finals MVPs for Chicago.
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