1996–97 Chicago Bulls season
The 1996–97 NBA season was the Bulls' 31st season in the National Basketball Association. The Bulls entered the season as defending NBA champions, having defeated the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1996 NBA Finals in six games, winning their fourth NBA championship. During the off-season, the Bulls signed 43-year old free agent All-Star center Robert Parish, who won three championships with the Boston Celtics in the 1980s. Coming off of one of the greatest seasons in NBA history, the Bulls, on the backs of recording another first-place finish in their division and conference , repeated as NBA champions. The Bulls were led by Michael Jordan, perennial All-Star small forward Scottie Pippen, and rebound ace Dennis Rodman, with the former two (Jordan and Pippen) both being selected for the 1997 NBA All-Star Game, in which Jordan recorded the first triple-double in an All-Star Game (14 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists). Other notable players on the club's roster that year were clutch-specialist Croatian Toni Kukoč, and sharp-shooting point guard Steve Kerr. The Bulls got off to a fast start winning their first twelve games, while posting a 42–6  record before the All-Star break. During the final month of the regular season in early April, the team signed free agent Brian Williams, who previously played for the Los Angeles Clippers last season, and spent most of the 1996–97 season as a free agent. Williams played in the final nine games of the season as a backup center for the Bulls. Though, the Bulls look to make history against the New York Knicks in their final regular season game of the year, Pippen missed a game-winning 3 and they finished with a 69–13 record, just missing out on  becoming the first team in NBA history to have back-to-back 70 wins seasons. The Bulls had the fourth best team defensive rating in the NBA. Jordan led the league in scoring once again, averaging 29.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game, while being named to the All-NBA First Team, and NBA All-Defensive First Team. In addition, Pippen averaged 20.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game, while Rodman led the league with 16.1 rebounds per game, but only played 55 games due to suspensions and injuries, such as serving  an 11-game suspension for kicking a cameraman during a road game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on January 15, 1997, and a knee injury which cost him to miss the final 13 games of the regular season. Kukoč provided scoring off the bench, averaging 13.2 points per game, but only played 57 games due to a foot injury, while Luc Longley provided the team with 9.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, Kerr contributed 8.1 points per game off the bench, while shooting .464 in three-point field goal percentage, and second-year forward Jason Caffey averaged 7.3 points and  4.0 rebounds per game, starting at power forward in a few games during Rodman's suspension. Jordan also finished in second place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Pippen finished in fourth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting, while Jordan finished in fifth place, and Kukoč finished in second place in Sixth Man of the Year voting. In the playoffs, the Bulls would sweep the Washington Bullets in three straight games in the Eastern Conference First Round. In the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, they defeated the Atlanta Hawks in five games, despite losing Game 2 at the United  Center 103–95. In the Eastern Conference Finals, they defeated the Miami Heat in five games to advance to the NBA Finals, where they defeated regular season MVP Karl Malone, John Stockton and the Utah Jazz in six games for their fifth title in seven years. Following the season, Parish retired after 21 seasons in the NBA, while Williams signed as a free agent with the Detroit Pistons, and Dickey Simpkins was traded to the Golden State Warriors. NBA finals. Schedule. The Finals were played using a 2-3-2 site format, where the first two and last two games are  held at the team with home court advantage's (Chicago's) home court (United Center). Game 1. "Sunday, June 1, at the United Center" Game 2. "Wednesday, June 4, at the United Center" Game 3. "Friday, June 6, at the Delta Center" Game 4. "Sunday, June 8, at the Delta Center" Game 5: The Flu Game. "Wednesday, June 11, at the Delta Center" Game 5, often referred to as "The Flu Game", was one of Michael Jordan's most memorable. Just 24 hours earlier, on June 10, 1997, Michael Jordan woke up nauseated and sweating profusely. He hardly had the  strength to sit up in bed and was diagnosed with a stomach virus or food poisoning. The Bulls trainers told Jordan that there was no way he could play in the game. The Jazz had just won two in a row to tie the series, and Chicago needed their leader in this critical swing game. Against all odds, Jordan rose from bed at 3:00 p.m., just in time for the 6:00 tip-off at the Delta Center. Jordan was visibly weak and pale as he stepped onto the court for Game Five. At first, he displayed no energy whatsoever, and  John Stockton, along with reigning MVP Karl Malone, quickly led the Jazz to a 16-point lead. But in the second quarter, Jordan started to sink shots despite lacking his usual explosive speed and hardly being able to concentrate. He scored 17 points in the quarter as the Bulls hit the front before halftime. Luc Longley and Scottie Pippen did their best to keep the Bulls in the game while Jordan was fatigued again in the third. But Jordan turned it on again, scoring 15 points in the fourth quarter, including a clutch rebound and three-point shot with the  game tied and under a minute left that put the Bulls up by three points. Chicago held on for a narrow victory. Jordan finished the game with 38 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and one block. Malone was the highest-scoring Jazz player with 19 points but suffered from some dreadful shooting. Jordan stayed on the court for 44 minutes, resting for only four minutes while being perpetually at the brink of fainting. With only a few seconds remaining and the game finally at hand, Jordan collapsed into Scottie Pippen's arms. Game 6. "Friday, June 13, at  the United Center" Michael Jordan was not fully recovered from the flu, but was feeling much better and led the Bulls with 39 points. In the third quarter Michael Jordan dunked after a steal, bringing the crowd to its feet. The Bulls trailed by 9 points early in the fourth quarter but went on a 10-0 run to take their first lead since the opening minutes when Steve Kerr hit a 3-pointer, but the Jazz would regain the lead. In the final minutes, Jordan's fadeaway on the baseline put the Bulls up by 3, before Bryon Russell  hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 86-86. The two teams would fail to score on their next possessions. With 28 seconds left after Shandon Anderson missed a reverse layup, the Jazz expected Jordan to take the final shot. Instead, Jordan passed off to Steve Kerr, who hit a shot with 5 seconds left to send the United Center crowd into a frenzy. The Jazz looked for one final shot to stay alive, but Scottie Pippen made a massive defensive play as he knocked away Bryon Russell's inbound pass intended for Shandon Anderson and was able  to pass the ball over to Toni Kukoč, who dunked the final 2 points of the game to bring the Finals to an end. Afterwards, Jordan was named the NBA Finals MVP.