Dennis Rodman: 1996 NBA Finals MVP

[Calabis]

I think you meant 98' when Scottie Pippen was the #1 reason the Bulls defense wreaked havoc on the Indiana and Utah offenses, although Pippen's supporting cast helped defensively, especially Ron Harper's man-to-man defense on Stockton and Rodman. For all this talk about "options" Jordan was the #4 option on defense in the Utah series. The real work was given to Pippen, Rodman and Harper. Jordan wasn't even given the lead defensive role among guards on his team in the finals yet he made the all-Defensive first team that year.

Maybe you should try watching the Indiana Series. Harper,Pippen and Jordan.....constantly switched between Miller, Rose, Mullin and Jackson(basically grabbed whoever came into their area down the court)....lmao...funny how people say shit on this board yet can't remember a damn thing about the series, in case you can't remember it was Jordan guarding Miller when he pushed off and hit a game winner.

Also reference your All First Team Defense...last time I checked Kobe is getting the same treatment at a much younger age. Ariza and Artest have done all the dirty work, yet who is getting the First Team Defense accolades?

[Shep]

So 2 extra rebounds and 2 extra assists outweighs 14 more ppg and a staggering difference in efficiency

ofcourse not, but dominating mj in every category imaginable sans scoring outweighs his outscoring pippen by 10, along with being the best defender on the team by far

[Calabis]

ofcourse 16.9ppg/8.5rpg/5.9apg/2.6spg/.9bpg/2.28topg is better than 30.7ppg/4.9rpg/4.1apg/1.8spg/0.3bpg/2.33topg

no, jordan outplayed pippen in the '98 playoffs

WTF are you smoking?? Its obvious you didn't even watch that playoff run, because if you did then you would realize Pippen was horrible against the Knicks, I can recall that right off the top of my head, he sucked in the Finals too, Orlando he was decent......besides Heat series, I can't remember shit he did that was MVP worthy. But since you need stats

Pippen:
Heat: 19.67pts,56%FG,7.67Rebs,7Ast,3Stls,1.67Blk
Knicks: 15.6pts,33FG%,8.2Rebs, 5.2Ast, 3.2Stl, 0.2Blk
Orlando: 18.5pts,44FG%,7.25Rebs, 7Ast, 2Stl,0.25Blk
Sonics: 15.67pts,34%FG, 8.17Rebs,5.33Ast,2.33Stl,1.33Blk

Jordan:
Heat: 30pts,52%FG,3.67Rebs,2.67Ast,1.67Stl,0.33Blk
Knicks:36pts, 44%FG,4.8Rebs,4.4Ast,1.8Stl,0.2Blk
Orlando: 29.5pts, 49%FG,5.5Rebs,4.75Ast,2.25Stl,0.75Blk
Sonics: 27.3pts, 41%FG, 5.3Rebs,4.2Ast,1.7Stl,0.17blk

If I give Pippen 2pts for every REB,STL(over Jordan Avg)
Heat: 31pts
Knicks:27pts
Orlando:22.5pts
Sonics: 23 pts

One game better than MJ's avg, and who the hell are we kidding, we know not every rebound and steal Pip got resulted in points

If you want to go off actual pts contributed(Avg and Ast:2 points awarded)

Heat: Pip: 33ppg MJ:34ppg
Knicks: Pip: 25ppg MJ: 44ppg
Orlando: Pip: 32ppg MJ: 37ppg
Sonics: Pip: 25ppg MJ: 35ppg

Pippen was MVP of Heat series and that is about it.



Also, reference Rodman MVP, can someone please explain too me which one is better

7.5ppg, 49FG%,14.67rebs(6.83 OReb),2.5ast, 0.83Stls, 0.17sts

18.57ppg, 48FG%,11.57rebs(5 OReb), 3.71ast, 0.71Stls 2.57blks

[Kobe 4 The Win]

Rodman was one of my favorite players ever. I really miss seeing him play.

[Shep]

pippen was the mvp of the heat series and the sonics series, jordan was the mvp of the knicks series and the magic series. however, the manor in which pippen destroyed jordan in the heat series would be the overall difference in this instance.

pippen: 19.7ppg, 11.3rpg, 7apg, 3spg, 1.67bpg, 3.33topg
to
jordan: 30ppg, 3.7rpg, 2.7apg, 1.67spg, .33bpg, 1.33topg

[Solid Snake]

I always waited for that one last run in the NBA from him that just never happened.

I can't remember what string of events led him getting cut from the Lakers, then the Mavericks.

[Kobe_6/8]

7 offensive boards a game...damn....

[Manny98]

"Jordan will get his points, but Rodman's rebounds, that was the difference."

"His offensive rebounds at the end killed us," Detlef Schrempf said. "He kept them in the game."


"As you evaluate the series," said Karl, "Dennis Rodman won two games. We could control Dennis Rodman for four games, but Game 2 and tonight, (19 rebounds, 11 offensive after 20 rebounds, 11 offensive in Game 2) Dennis Rodman was the reason they were successful. We controlled Michael Jordan most of the series, but they got extra pressure."

There you have it the Coach of the Seattle Supersonics literally saying that Rodman was the MVP

[Manny98]

7 offensive boards a game...damn....

Best rebounder ever

[Da_Realist]

1996 NBA Finals

Michael Jordan: 27.3 PPG (42% FG, 32% 3PT, 84% FT), 5.3 RPG, 4.2 APG, 1.7 SPG, 0.2 BPG
Dennis Rodman: 7.5 PPG (49% FG, 58% FG), 14.7 RPG (6.8 ORPG), 2.5 APG, 0.8 SPG, 0.2 BPG

Of course there’s more to the game than a stat sheet, but Jordan averaged 20 more PPG, Rodman averaged 10 more RPG, and Jordan had more APG and SPG by considerable margins.

The reason why Jordan shouldn’t have won
His numbers weren’t as dominant as they have been in his other finals. Gary Payton played him very well in the final 3 games of the series, holding him to 23.7 PPG on 37% shooting. This was the first time we’ve really seen Jordan struggle on this magnitude. We had seen him lose before, but not looking this uncomfortable. It was eye-opening, but because it showed vulnerability, it showed how great his performances were prior to the 96 finals.

The reasons why Rodman shouldn’t have won
We saw the offensive rebounding numbers from Rodman, but I mentioned before how the Sonics were doubling off him. It was his inability to score efficiently, even when open, which caused the Bulls offense to stall so bad. So yes, Rodman did create a lot of second chances for Chicago, but if we’re being honest, he was also the reason the Bulls were missing so many shots too. Had he been a more reliable scoring option, then Seattle can’t double as much, and if that’s the case, does Jordan shoot 37% in the final 3 games if he’s getting single-coverage by the Sonics? I think not, especially when you considered what Jordan did the very next time they played, and Rodman missed the game due to suspension.

Chicago at Seattle Feb 02, 1996

Michael Jordan: 45 points (19/ 28 FG, 2/3 3PT, 5/6 FT), 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal

Now I know it’s not a finals game, and it’s a small sample, but it’s worth noting what happened with essentially the same rosters, without Rodman.
The other reason why Rodman shouldn’t have taken the finals MVP is Games 4 and 5. The Bulls were annihilated, and let's look at that closely. Shawn Kemp, the guy that Rodman was assigned to, exploded for 25 points on 12/17 FG, and 11 rebounds in game 4. Game 5 was another Sonic blowout, and Kemp had 22 points on 8/16 shooting along with 10 rebounds. This led to the Bulls forcing to collapse at times on Kemp when he was isolated with Rodman, and led to clean looks for Hawkins and Payton from the perimeter, and opened up their offense. Not all of Kemp’s points came at the expense of Rodman, as (in another crazy coaching move), Phil Jackson opted to put Luc Longley on the explosive Shawn Kemp. This should have been Rodman’s role, but Rodman was far too prone to foul trouble, so he’s not getting a pass here for his lack of discipline.

Continued below...

Great analysis from More Than 6 Rings - Michael Jordan's Legacy: The case for Jordan being the greatest NBA player of all time by Matthew Damian

(Edited to fit within word-constraint limit)

[Da_Realist]

Continued from ^^^

Who should have won then?
It’s still Jordan. If you look in horror at Jordan’s shooting numbers, scroll down to the Bulls second-leading scorer, Scottie Pippen:

1996 NBA Finals
15.7 PPG (34% FG, 23% 3PT, 71% FT), 8.2 RPG, 5.3 APG, 2.3 SPG, 1.3 BPG

Outside of the scoring numbers, this is pretty good production. Unfortunately for Pip, the point I am making is how badly he struggled in scoring. Look at those shooting numbers, and that’s for the entire series. Let’s examine his scoring in the final 3 games (just like we did for M.J.)

Scottie Pippen in games 4, 5 and 6 of the 1996 Finals
13.3 PPG (29% FG, 22% 3PT, 75% FT), 9 RPG, 5.7 APG, 2 SPG, 1 BPG

If you winced at Jordan’s shooting numbers during that stretch, you might need a bucket nearby after reading Pippen’s. Now after all this info, I will still accept the fact that the Bulls wouldn’t have won in 96 without Rodman (especially after the job he did on Shaq in the conference finals), but that doesn’t mean he was the most valuable. I’ll go far enough to say the Bulls might not have won without Rodman. But when you factor in how Rodman hurt the Bulls offense and limited their ability to score, you can make an argument that they would have still won that series. On the other hand, when you look at the lack of offensive firepower they had, and how badly their other 2 scoring options (Kukoc and Pippen) played in that series, Chicago would not have even been competitive without Jordan, and that’s why he was (deservedly so) Finals MVP.

Great analysis from More Than 6 Rings - Michael Jordan's Legacy: The case for Jordan being the greatest NBA player of all time by Matthew Damian

(Edited to fit within word-constraint limit)

[SouBeachTalents]

Fcking Jordan stans, most insecure nikka's on the board Just the idea that a teammate of his had an argument for FMVP sends them rummaging through decade old threads

[Uncle Drew]

The argument for Rodman not winning Finals MVP is a regular season game in February? What is that?

[Uncle Drew]

By the way, it ain't even correct. The Bulls played the Lakers on February 2nd, 1996. Rodman did miss a game against the Sonics, in November '95. A game the Bulls lost and Jordan shot 32%.

[FireDavidKahn]

Jordan did his best to choke away that series and failed