1995–96 Chicago Bulls season

The 1995–96 Chicago Bulls season was the 30th season for the Chicago Bulls in the National Basketball Association. During the off-season, the Bulls acquired controversial All-Star forward and rebound specialist Dennis Rodman from the San Antonio Spurs, and signed free agents Randy Brown, and James Edwards. At mid-season, the team signed John Salley, who was previously released by the expansion Toronto Raptors; Rodman, Edwards and Salley were all teammates on the Detroit Pistons during the "Bad Boy" era, where they won two consecutive NBA championships between 1989 and 1990. The Bulls had the best team offensive rating and the best team defensive rating in the NBA, and are widely regarded as one of the greatest teams in NBA history.

The 1995–96 Bulls were named one of the Top 10 Teams in NBA History during the celebration of the league's 50th anniversary in 1996. The team set the record for most wins in an NBA regular season in which they won the championship, finishing with 72 wins and 10 losses. The 2015–16 Golden State Warriors set a new milestone by finishing with a 73–9 regular season record, but did not win the championship; despite their remarkable performance, the team ultimately fell short in the 2016 NBA Finals. Notably, the Warriors' head coach, Steve Kerr, had a significant link to the 1995–96 Bulls team, having previously played as a point guard for the Bulls during that time.

The Bulls' started 37–0 at home, part of a then-NBA-record 44-game winning streak that included games from the 1994–95 regular-season. Their 33 road wins were the most in NBA history until the 2015–16 Warriors won 34 road games. The season was the best 3-loss start in NBA history at 41–3 (.932), which included an 18-game winning streak for the team. The team also went undefeated in January with a 14–0 record, and held a 42–5 record at the All-Star break. The Bulls became the first NBA team to ever win 70 regular season games, finishing in first place in the Central Division, in the Eastern Conference, and the entire league, and posted a league best 39–2 home record at the United Center. They are also the only team in NBA history to win more than 70 games and an NBA title in the same season. The Bulls qualified for the NBA playoffs for the 12th consecutive year.

In his first full season with the Bulls since the 1992–93 season, Michael Jordan averaged 30.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.2 steals per game, contributed 111 three-point field goals, and was named the NBA Most Valuable Player of the Year. In addition, Scottie Pippen averaged 19.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game, and also led the Bulls with 150 three-point field goals, while Rodman averaged 5.5 points and 14.9 rebounds per game, but only played 64 games this season, and served a six-game suspension for head butting a referee during a road game against the New Jersey Nets on March 16, 1996, and Croatian small forward Toni Kukoč played a sixth man role off the bench, averaging 13.1 points per game, and was named the NBA Sixth Man of the Year. Meanwhile, Luc Longley provided the team with 9.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, three-point specialist Kerr contributed 8.4 points per game and 122 three-point field goals off the bench, while shooting .515 in three-point field-goal percentage, Ron Harper provided with 7.4 points and 1.3 steals per game, and Bill Wennington averaged 5.3 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, Jordan and Pippen were both selected for the 1996 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Eastern Conference All-Star team, while head coach Phil Jackson was selected to coach the Eastern Conference. Jordan scored 20 points in 22 minutes, and won his second NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player award, as the Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference, 129–118. Meanwhile, Kerr participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout for the third consecutive year. Jordan and Pippen were both named to the All-NBA First Team, and NBA All-Defensive First Team, with Rodman being selected to the latter team, and Jackson was named the NBA Coach of the Year. Pippen finished in fifth place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Rodman finished in 15th place; Pippen also finished in second place in Defensive Player of the Year voting, behind Gary Payton of the Seattle SuperSonics, while Jordan finished in sixth place, and Rodman finished in seventh place, and Kerr finished in ninth place in Sixth Man of the Year voting.

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1996 NBA playoffs, the Bulls faced off against the 8th–seeded Miami Heat, a team that featured All-Star center Alonzo Mourning, All-Star guard Tim Hardaway, and Rex Chapman. The Bulls won their first two home games over the Heat at the United Center, before winning Game 3 on the road, 112–91 at the Miami Arena to win the series in a three-game sweep.

In the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, the team faced off against the 5th–seeded New York Knicks, a team that featured All-Star center Patrick Ewing, Anthony Mason and John Starks. The Bulls won the first two games at home, before losing Game 3 to the Knicks on the road in overtime, 102–99 at Madison Square Garden. After winning Game 4 on the road, 94–91, the Bulls won Game 5 over the Knicks at the United Center, 94–81 to win the series in five games.

In the Eastern Conference Finals, and for the second consecutive year, the Bulls faced off against the 2nd–seeded, and Atlantic Division champion Orlando Magic, who were led by the trio of All-Star center Shaquille O'Neal, All-Star guard Penny Hardaway, and former Bulls forward Horace Grant. The Bulls won the first two games at the United Center to take a 2–0 series lead, and then won the next two games over the Magic on the road, including a Game 4 win at the Orlando Arena, 106–101, in which Jordan scored 45 points; the Bulls won the series over the Magic in a four-game sweep to advance to the NBA Finals.

In the 1996 NBA Finals, the Bulls faced off against the top–seeded SuperSonics, who were led by the All-Star trio of Payton, Shawn Kemp and Detlef Schrempf. The Bulls won the first two games over the SuperSonics at the United Center, then won Game 3 on the road, 108–86 at the KeyArena at Seattle Center to take a 3–0 series lead. However, the Bulls then lost the next two games to the SuperSonics on the road. With a 3–2 series lead, the Bulls won Game 6 over the SuperSonics at the United Center, 87–75, thus winning the series in six games, and also winning their fourth NBA championship in six years; Jordan was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player for the fourth time, after scoring 22 points in Game 6, despite struggling as he only made 5 out of 19 field-goal attempts. The Bulls have the best combined regular and postseason record in NBA history at 87–13 (.870 in winning percentage).

The Bulls finished second in the NBA in home-game attendance behind the Charlotte Hornets, with an attendance of 969,149 at the United Center during the regular season. Following the season, Edwards retired, and Salley left to play overseas in Greece. For the season, the Bulls added new black alternate road uniforms with red pinstripes; eventually, they would remove the pinstripes from their jerseys in 1997.