In the 1994–95 NBA season, Kenny Smith helped the Houston Rockets make history by taking home the championship. The Chicago Bulls’ two three-peats during the Michael Jordan-dominated era make the championship noteworthy.
Smith gets the message quite well. Whatever the circumstances surrounding Jordan or the Bulls at the moment, the Rockets made history.
Jordan had barely been retired for eighteen months. If he hadn’t, the Bulls could have won eight NBA titles in a row. Still, the 1995 playoffs, which saw the Rockets win the championship, witnessed the return of the NBA legend and perhaps the best player of all time.
In an interview with Greg Rajan of the Houston Chronicle, Smith defended the Rockets, saying that Jordan’s absence wasn’t the primary reason they won the 1995 championship because he returned to the floor for the postseason.
History cannot be changed. You can’t erase history, I don’t know if you get credit for it,” Smith asserted. “Well, Michael was out, everyone usually says. No, he wasn’t; in 1995, he was wearing No. 45. And all the people are like, “Oh, he was rusty.” When he scored 55 points at Madison Square Garden that same year, nobody was claiming he was out of touch. Against the Knicks, who were perhaps the finest defensive team in basketball at the time, he scored 55 points. No, he wasn’t
Jordan Michael. Simply put, the Bulls weren’t as good as a basketball team. We swept the Orlando Magic, the team they lost to.”
The 1995 playoffs saw Jordan at the peak of his game with no symptoms of rust. The Bulls team that year was just unfit for a championship. Rather, the Rockets emerged as the NBA champions after finishing the regular season with a 47-35 record.
The Houston Rockets’ series of victories over the Orlando Magic in the 1995 NBA Finals will make them the team’s eternal champions. Smith hinted that the past wouldn’t be lost.
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