Michael Jordan went 6-0 in the NBA Finals. But there’s more to his greatness and winning ways.  It started with 67,000 fans in the first major event at the Hoosier Dome.

The Dream Team was not only, arguably, the greatest basketball team to take the court, but in all sports – on ice, between end zones and on the diamond. Even with Larry Bird on his last leg (or, back), and Magic Johnson missing the previous season, the 1992 USA Men’s Basketball Team, America’s first professional basketball team to play in the Olympic games, elevated the sport, and changed the game.

Could anyone on earth beat them?

What if the answer was yes, and what if that anyone was only one?

In 1984 Michael Jordan entered the NBA draft. His game was known to many, but where it could go was a secret, a surprise that only he knew. That surprise party came in the summer of ’84 with Indiana University coach Bob Knight, Minnesota, Indiana, Iowa towns and stars like Mark Aquire, Magic Johnson, Isaiah Thomas and Larry Bird serving as witnesses.

Indiana, being the home state of Bird and high school basketball heaven, helped in securing a game of the college versus pros spectacle. As a pro, Bird didn’t taste defeat often in a series. In the Finals they only lost to the Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ‘Showtime’ Los Angeles Lakers. He never lost to Michael Jordan in the playoffs. But Jordan pulled off something that might even be more impressive than a playoff win against Bird. He beat Bird before he was even a rookie. In the summer of ’84, the Olympic squad beat the NBA star players, the National Basketball Players Association team.

There were unlimited fouls, the games were exhibitions, Magic and Bird only played once. Bird, with his ’84 champion teammates Robert Parish and Kevin McHale. Isaiah Thomas and Mark Aquire also suited up in the third of eight games. Still, Jordan and the Olympians won at the Hoosier Dome 97-82.

They won all eight games. Michael, according to Knight, was the best player on the floor.

Were the Celtics and Pistons early wins against Jordan in the NBA playoffs sheer dominance or was it payback and personal?

In all fairness it was the NBA off-season. To keep it fair, it was the off-season for the college kids too.

Jordan showed what would later prove to be a pattern. When he had a decent team, no matter the stage, he could and would win. Bird would confess on the Dream Team sidelines, slowed by a back injury in the ’92 Olympics that Jordan was indeed the new sheriff in town. That confession began eight years earlier in the summer of ’84.

The Chicago Bulls finally dethroned the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference and walked into the Finals. This is about the Dream Team, and no, coaches are not spared. The ‘Bad Boys’ had been next up in a loaded Eastern Conference that featured the Philadelphia 76ers and more recently the Boston Celtics. Several teams fought for next in the second tier that included the Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls. The Bulls lead by Jordan, a fierce front office of Jerry’s (Reinsdorf and Krause) and coaches Doug Collins then Phil Jackson, eventually took over the remainder of the decade. But they had to get through Detroit and Dream Team coach Chuck Daily. In 1991 the Bulls defeated the Pistons 4-0, advancing to the Finals for the first time.

The Finals showdown was the best and the next. Magic Johnson returned to the Finals after a year in 1991. The Lakers were a veteran, if not an overachieving, exhausted squad. They began a run of Finals in Magic’s rookie year, 1980, reaching the championship series every year except 1986 and 1990 (Houston, Portland) and were ready for another appearance and trophy. Appearance, yes. Trophy, no. Michael wanted to send a message. Johnson was the league’s all-time leader in assists per game. The Bulls guard averaged 11.4 assists per game, with only Magic Johnson averaging more in Finals series.  That was on purpose letting Johnson and the league know that he could do more than score. He could beat Magic while playing the passing game.

By 1991 Michael Jordan had defeated Larry Bird, Chuck Daily [Pistons], and Magic Johnson.

The Portland Trailblazers were the best 3-point shooting team in 1991. Guard Terry Porter was third in the league in percentage and made shots. In 1990 Michael Jordan’s competitive edge made him enter and tally the worst 3-point shooting round in the history of the three-point contest – and he wanted revenge. He would get it at the expense of Clyde Drexler’s Blazers. Drexler, one of the very best defenders the league has ever seen at the guard position, was another challenge for Jordan and if Clyde’s defense wanted to give MJ open 3s, then 3s he would take – and make. Jordan hit six 3-pointers in the first half of game 1, setting an NBA Finals record, and ending it with ‘the shrug’. The Bulls won in what would be the standard six games. Those threes? They were also on purpose; against a best defender, and one of the best 3-point shooting teams, reconciling his 3-point contest showing.

By 1992 Michael Jordan had defeated Larry Bird, Chuck Daily [Pistons], Magic Johnson and Clyde Drexler.

His ways were winning, but it would not be easy.

The term ‘three-peat’ was created by coach Pat Riley in 1989 as he positioned the ‘Showtime’ Lakers for another championship. It was relevant to Chicago, in 1993 as only the 1960s Celtics had been able to win three Finals in a row. The Bulls would have to fight peak 90s stars to do it. There was Hakeem Olajuwon, Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson and Charles Barkley. The Bulls battled the gritty Patrick Ewing and ironically, Pat Riley coached New York Knicks in a tough 7-game series. They won and would have a shot at the Western Conference-winning Phoenix Suns.

David Robinson does not get enough credit. Before his back injury, he was among the very elite players in the league and was the very best player in 1994. But his San Antonio Spurs lost in the playoffs to Barkley’s Suns, who would go on to face Jordan in the Finals. So, in fact Jordan, through the Suns beat Robinson, who he would never face directly in the playoffs.

In the 1993 Finals Jordan went against the small but solidly rotund forward Charles Barkley. The Phoenix Suns gave Jordan his biggest statistical challenge, scoring as many points as the Bulls in the series (640). If you add the injured slam-dunk champ Cedric Ceballos, sports history might look different. Ceballos remarkably led the league in field goal percentage – as a small forward – another Cedric (Maxwell) of the Celtics the only other to do it at the small forward position. In the series Jordan had to be ‘Superman’ averaging a Finals record 41 points per game. Without the Ceballos injury, the Suns win the series with a healthy Cedric or Jordan averages 45 for a Bulls win. After 6 games, Jordan had set the Suns and Barkley.

By 1993 Michael Jordan had defeated Larry Bird, Chuck Daily [Pistons], Magic Johnson, Clyde Drexler, David Robinson and Charles Barkley.

OJ, the baseball strike, the internet, Kurt Kobain. A lot was happening in 1994, but Michael Jordan on the Chicago Bulls was not one of them. Yet, even in his retirement, MJ managed to defeat a member of his Dream Team cast, and it was someone close to home.

The old Chicago Stadium was about to be destroyed. Figuratively and literally. The Bull’s arena was going to be replaced by the United Center. Scottie Pippen had secured the venue for one last home game; and he had to invite the one that filled the house. Scottie Pippen’s All-Star Classic tipped off on September 9, 1994, a farewell finale in Chicago. If rumors are true, Pippen stacked his team with the better players. The retiree scored 52 points in the exhibition, but competitive win over his former teammate. The game ended with Jordan famously kissing center court goodbye, leaving the soon to be empty lot with another win.

By 1994 Michael Jordan had defeated Larry Bird, Chuck Daily [Pistons], Magic Johnson, Clyde Drexler, David Robinson, Charles Barkley and Scottie Pippen.

Defense wins championships, and it’s the deciding reason the #1 rated Bulls defense escaped the Seattle Supersonics to win title four. It was ugly and the only season that Jordan’s output decreased from the regular season to the playoffs. He also had to get by New York Knicks and Patrick Ewing. The 1996 win would be the last of the Bulls-Knicks rivalry.

By 1996 Michael Jordan had defeated Larry Bird, Chuck Daily [Pistons], Magic Johnson, Clyde Drexler, David Robinson, Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen and Patrick Ewing.

The 1997 Atlanta Hawks aren’t a memorable team. They had one of the best defenses in the league and college kid, Christian Laettner. The Duke University standout gets a bad rap, being chosen over Shaq on the 1992 Olympic team. But his collegiate career is one of the best and it’s hard to go against his selection, especially as it relates to fit with the Dream Team. He had a solid rookie season and was an all-star in ’97. They still lost to the Bulls who went on to beat Karl Malone, the best player in the league and the best offensive team in the league, Utah Jazz in the Finals.

By 1997 Michael Jordan had defeated Larry Bird, Chuck Daily [Pistons], Magic Johnson, Clyde Drexler, David Robinson, Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen, Patrick Ewing, Christian Laettner and Karl Malone.

In ‘The Last Dance’ Jordan and the Bulls faced Reggie Miller in the Eastern Conference finals, with the Indiana Pacers taking them to seven games. Chris Mullin, past his Dream Team prime, still led the league in free throw percentage and was serviceable. But the Pacers lost to the Bulls who went on to beat Utah again winning their second three-peat and 6 championships.

By 1998 Michael Jordan and the Bulls had defeated Larry Bird, Chuck Daily [Pistons], Magic Johnson, Clyde Drexler, David Robinson/Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen, Patrick Ewing, Christian Laettner, Karl Malone, Chris Mullin and John Stockton.

Michael Jordan directly or indirectly beat every member of the 1992 USA Olympic basketball team and the head coach in competitive games during his career. He lost to the great 80s Celtics and Pistons his first six years in the playoffs – payback, and the Orlando Magic between his 6 titles.

It was the 1984 summer that let basketball know that they had to win while there was time. Then it happened; the dominance, scoring titles, defensive impact and championships that affirmed his greatness and winning ways enroute to Michael Jordan beating the Dream Team.

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