{"id":723554,"date":"2026-04-12T21:26:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T21:26:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/723554\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T21:26:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T21:26:18","slug":"our-frontline-was-so-unbelievable-larry-bird-on-why-the-86-celtics-would-dominate-the-96-bulls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/723554\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cOur frontline was so unbelievable\u201d – Larry Bird on why the \u201986 Celtics would dominate the ’96 Bulls"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael Jordan<\/a> and the Chicago Bulls<\/a> won 72 regular-season games in 1995-96. That mark broke a 24-year-old record by Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain’s 1972 Los Angeles Lakers.<\/p>\n

In doing so, that version of the Bulls cemented themselves among the best, if not the best, basketball teams in NBA history. Others under consideration are Larry Bird’s 1986 Boston Celtics, Magic Johnson<\/a>‘s 1985 squad, and even Julius Erving<\/a>‘s 1983 Philadelphia 76ers, which went 12-1 in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

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Bird, Magic, and Dr.J weighed in<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hypothetical matchups have always existed in basketball because they make for a fun, intelligent discussion. That is especially true when you have legends of the sport pitching in their two cents, as in the case with Larry, Magic, and Dr. J.<\/p>\n

As the all-time great trio admitted, the ’96 Bulls were, without question, one of the best teams that existed. Winning 60 games is a feat in the Association, much less 72! That said, there is no such thing as “unbeatable,” and Bird<\/a> felt there was an area where his ’86 Celtics could thrive.<\/p>\n

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“It’s true,” Bird agreed<\/a> with Bob Costas on the notion that the Celtics’ height advantage could be their trump card over Jordan’s Bulls. “I think that’s the reason why we might do some good against them because we had the height advantage and our frontline was so unbelievable. With Robert Parish, Kevin McHale, and Dennis Johnson in the background, with Danny Ainge\u2026 I think our only downfall at the time was Bill Walton coming in as our sixth man.”<\/p>\n

Of course, in true LB fashion, he was joking about Big Red and his contributions. Walton won the Sixth Man of the Year award that year and played a career-high 80 games. He was the main reason why the ’86 Celtics never missed a beat when either McHale or Parish sat down.<\/p>\n

In a similar vein, Dr. J and Magic also thought their frontline would pose problems for Chicago. Erving’s 1983 Sixers had Moses Malone, the best offensive rebounder the game has seen. The guy dominated the glass, averaging 18 boards in that Finals series over the Lakers.<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was a devastating interior scorer, and he had guys like James Worthy, Bob McAdoo, and Kurt Rambis. Johnson himself was 6’9″!<\/p>\n

“The only way you can beat this Bulls team is to have a dominant frontline, and that’s what we had, and that’s what the Celtics had, and that’s what Dr. J had with Moses. It would have been a great series, but I think in the end, Kareem would have ended up winning it for us in a Game 6 or 7,” Magic stated.<\/p>\n

Related: “Michael was always the sickest” – Bulls reporter revealed Michael Jordan was often ill during his career<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Could the 80s best really handle MJ’s Bulls?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The problem with these hypothetical discussions is that nobody admits defeat. However, were they really equipped to beat the Bulls, which were on their way to a fourth title in six years?<\/p>\n

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While elite bigs like Abdul-Jabbar, Parish, McHale, and Malone (not to mention Larry and Dr. J) could pose problems for the Bulls, Phil Jackson’s team had counters they could lean on.<\/p>\n

For one, Chicago’s versatility allowed them to play different styles without losing structure. With Toni Kukoc<\/a> off the bench, they could move the ball, space the floor, and execute in the half-court without missing a beat.<\/p>\n

The Bulls were also an elite shooting team. They hit 40 percent from deep all season with Kukoc, Steve Kerr, and Michael Jordan connecting on their rainbow attempts. Kerr made nearly 53 percent of his 3-point attempts, while His Airness and Kukoc hit 42.7 percent and 40.3 percent, respectively. Scottie Pippen hit 37 percent, which is still above average by modern standards!<\/p>\n

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And we’re not yet touching Jordan’s offensive brilliance, Dennis Rodman’s rebounding and defense, and Luc Longley and Ron Harper being superstars in their roles.<\/p>\n

Therefore, it’s a given that they beat Chicago, but it’s close enough to make the argument worth having. Whatever the case, hoops fans would surely pay good money to watch all these teams slug it out.<\/p>\n

Related: “It really is better seeing him on the bench” – Jeff Hornacek was glad Larry Bird retired and chose to be a coach<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Basketball Network<\/a> on Apr 12, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School<\/a> section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls won 72 regular-season games in 1995-96. That mark broke a 24-year-old record…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":723555,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[40],"tags":[3125,3127,3961,3141,76178,4255,60619,1260,3123,62,67,132,68,59883],"class_list":["post-723554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-boston-celtics","tag-chicago-bulls","tag-larry-bird","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-magic-johnson","tag-michael-jordan","tag-moses-malone","tag-nba","tag-philadelphia-76ers","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-wilt-chamberlain"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116393855412446956","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=723554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723554\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/723555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=723554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=723554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=723554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}