Greatest Teams of the 90's

When you think of 90s basketball, you obviously think of the team that dominated the era by stacking SIX rings: The Chicago Bulls. The 1996 team, which won a record-breaking seventy-two games, is considered by most to be the best team of all-time. But what if we told you the 90s was stacked with a parity of other talented teams that highlighted unique styles of play and, despite falling short of winning it all, broke records and left their mark on the evolution of the league. Tune in to find out which teams made indelible marks on our hearts & minds throughout the 90s boom.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
He beats Michael Jordan. I don't think Michael Jordan like
recovers from that. Probably later on down the line. Think
about this, if the Lakers defeated them, Magic gets six.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Yeah, you're saying that that's breaking that will. Yeah, like
they split it up and Jordan got to come back
with a new cast.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
Baby, we get Jordan with the Knicks because he was
supposed to. He entertained it for a little bit. That's
another thing. That's another nugget. Yeah, Michael Jordan was entertaining
the Knicks at one point in time to go sign
with this.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
This is like that butterfly effect that to talk about.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
It's a butterfly effect.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
One series can change history. All right, what's going on? Everybody?
Welcome back to another episode of Goat, Greatest of their Era. Yeah,
I'm your host, Seth Curry tapping in with my god
trade was going on?

Speaker 1 (00:49):
What's going on? Goat, go hit that game? Back at it? Man.
We got a fun one today. Man, I can't wait
to talk about this one because you really got to
think of really hard art. You know, you know this
one got you on your toes, man, you know you
got to do you have to do your studying for
this one.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
I was born in this era. You know what I'm saying,
the nineties. Today we're talking about the best team of
the nineties. So we got a couple juggernauts in this era.
Like I said, I was born in this air. This
this is it's kind of my memory is kind of spotty,
to be honest, but I had to do a little
bit of research. But this is, this is this is
a big time basketball in the nineties.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
Well, don't feel bad, because I'm sure some of our
listeners are doing research every episode. So you all right,
you're in the You're in the right space, man, for real.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Like I always say, that's the point of the pot,
to reminisce. Yeah, show some love to the old g's,
the old teams that someone chip, some didn't win chips.
Some players got got the recognition they deserve, something you
forget about. So that's that's the point of the pot,
Like I said, to bring up these names, showing love,
debate who's the best, just keep it rolling.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
Yeah, man, So let's just jump into it. Trip down.
Let's make a trip down memory lane like we always do.
In the nineties. Man, we had obviously the three peat Bulls,
multiple three peats, we had to back to back Rockets,
and then we had all these classic teams, Man, that
you can really think about. Your pops played for the Hornets,
you know what I mean, It's part of that franchise.

(02:15):
And you know a lot of personalities that came out
of this era. Who was some of your favorite personalities
that came out of this nineties era?

Speaker 2 (02:23):
Obviously, I was born and raised in Charlotte around the Hornets,
the Alonzo Morning, Larry Johnson, my Pops, Mugsy bowls. They
had like I still take to this day. They got
the best logo, some of the best colors, and she
to see those colors all over the country and the
high was bumping. I think they led the league in
attendance for a few years back in the nineties. So

(02:45):
the Hornets, I mean, I love all those teams. Obviously,
I like the old Magic teams. The Knicks just play
their own styles. There was a bunch of teams that
I loved and really introduce them to the game.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
I feel bad, man, I've never been to Charlotte before
what they have never been to Shart, But that color was
worn in Los Angeles a lot, probably one of the
most popular jerseys, that pinstripe and nice Bust.

Speaker 2 (03:10):
You had an old started jacket.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
Yeah. Do you remember the old uh the old mascot.

Speaker 2 (03:17):
The Hornets mascot.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
Who was it, Hugo Hugo, Yeah of course.

Speaker 1 (03:22):
Yeah, yeah, Hugo. I mean Hugo was probably one of
Hugo was an NBA jam character, secret character on.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yeah, you going in at the game's on if you
know they had an air Hugo too. He would come out,
jump on the trampoline and do all the flips in
the dunks. So yeah, they had it jumping.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
Yeah, that was definitely one of the one of the
one of the ones. Man, what was your favorite jerseys
of this era?

Speaker 2 (03:43):
The Magic I don't have to go with the Magic pinstripes. Yeah, yeah,
those are our Yeah, man.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
I sold my Bulls fandom quite many times, man begging
for Penny Hardaway jersey. Yeah. And then also Larry Johnson
and a few others man, you know, the Jason Williams,
the Jason Kidd Dallas. Yeah, I was having my I
was Chris Webber Bullets.

Speaker 2 (04:08):
I feel like every team had a pin stripe back then.
I think of it the Bulls had the alternate pinstripes.

Speaker 1 (04:13):
It was like mandatory.

Speaker 2 (04:15):
The Pacers, Yeah, that was like a nineties thing. Yeahs
Rockets had their own style of stripes.

Speaker 1 (04:21):
It was crazy, definitely was there. Man, Well let's just
jump right into it, man. Chicago Bulls.

Speaker 2 (04:29):
Yeah, you can't talk about the nights and I start
with the Bulls.

Speaker 1 (04:32):
Got to start with the Bulls. You got two different runs, right,
we got the nineteen nineties through the nineteen ninety three,
and then we got nineteen ninety five to nineteen ninety eight.
This is two three peats, not one, two three peats, right,
And you know, we get into these goat talks, you
know what I'm saying. We talk about these things. But

(04:53):
basketball obviously is a team sport which falls sometimes in
the conversation and debates of an individual. And you see dominance.
And this team displayed dominance. And the why was led
by Michael Jordan, the Scottie Pippens, you know, Phil Jackson,
the mastermind with text Winters and his coaching staff or
the triangle offense, and they just dominated, man, like just excellent.

(05:17):
So seeing that team or just even watching the last
dance because you were a kid, young, super young, during
the Jordan run, but seeing the last dance and understanding
with the camera and all that other stuff going, what
was your ideal thoughts of looking at the Chicago Bulls
of that of that era.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
And we're talking about teams, right, we ain't talking about
individual players, So yeah, we talking about the thing that
stood out to me about those runs. And you said
bringing up the last dance and why Scotty was a
little saltiest. Everybody knew who MJ. Couldn't do it boy himself,
you know what I'm saying, Like he was, he tried
to do it when he was younger. He needed a team.
If Scotty didn't come over, if Phil didn't come over,

(05:59):
you know what I'm saying, If they didn't have the
right role guys around them to fit into the role
and let Jordan b Jordan when it matter most, they wasn't.
They wasn't winning one shit, probably let alone three in
a row twice. So it's about, like I said, fit
into the role. And that's that's predominance. Because they some
of the role guys came in and out, they changed,

(06:21):
you know what I'm saying, They kind of retooled within
within those two runs, but the main guys are the
main guys, and and they got it done as a unit.

Speaker 1 (06:29):
Now you've played on the Big three team, right, and
seeing it from a perspective of a Pippin Jordan Rodman. Right,
there's a lot of unsung heroes in these runs. Yeah right.
You got the Judd Booshlers of the World. You got
the Steve Kurrz, you got the Randy Browns, the Ron Harper's,

(06:49):
j u bj Armstrong, the Bill Winnington's Will Purdues, I mean,
Dicky Simpkins. The list goes on, right, and you've been
a part of it. How important is the role guy
in this run? When you're trying to make a playoff runt.

Speaker 2 (07:06):
You look at these role guys and it's like, oh,
you're playing with Jordan and Pippin and Rydman or whatever.
Your job's easier, not Sometimes the opposite. It's more pressure
on you because you got to perform with limited opportunities.
And when you're playing with a guy so demanding and
as good as MJ. You know, I got to be
on my p's and q's when it's my time where

(07:27):
he's gonna be on my ass. You know what I'm saying,
so that pressure is raised. You're on a bigger stage
every night and you're expected to win. What I'm saying,
if these role guys on a different team with lower expectations,
not playing with a high level superstar like MJ, you
can have an off night, you know what I'm saying,
And it's not gonna be magnified. But it's kind of
like these days, like the Laker role players. You're playing well,

(07:50):
whether Detroit at Lent whatever, different different different stops, then
you go over to LA and they turn into different
players because of the lights, because of the pressures higher.
It's because you're playing with Lebron More asked you, Yeah, absolutely,
I know. And one another thing we talked about these bulls.
We got to talk about the or because when I
when I talk to a lot of guys in this era,
me and my pops, whether it's monkey bulls, A lot

(08:13):
of the guys I played in the nineties, there was
they always talked about the or around the MJ teams
and they would look over sometimes they'll be in layup lines,
look over to the other end and like, oh, that's
the game's over before it starts. Did you, as a fan,
did you see that, man.

Speaker 1 (08:28):
Uh, it was it was so exciting man, Like you know,
I remember Jordan winning his fifth ring when I was twelve,
right yeah, And the coldest part about this, right, and
this is such a bar to me. WGN, right, Chicago,

(08:50):
think about this. I live in Compton, California. WGN, you
can watch every Bulls game. I'm locked in. I'm like,
I'm locked in. I didn't care about I mean, I
collected cards, so I knew the other guys like I didn't.
We didn't have the excess like we have now where
you can just NBA app or whatever. But just I

(09:14):
wasn't watching it from an analytic perspective. But like every
time Jordan took a shot, it felt like it was
going in, like every time, and he could do no wrong.
And I, as a kid and a teenager, the only
I never like. Now, I don't hate no teams. I
can watch it with no emotion. But as a kid,
I hated the Utah Jazz. I hated them like they

(09:38):
just they would stress me out, man, because they was
really good. They were a really good team. And like
I remember, you know the last shot joint where they
say he pushed him or not I'm watching this joint
in a then, and I'm standing up watching it and
not just jumping up and down because he made the shot.
But I wasn't processing the idea that this is this

(09:59):
is it, Yeah, this is it, Like this is this
is the last joint. Like I'm like, oh, we bought
the go you know, like another one Dominance was in
and also like Bandwagon, right, like a lot of people
might say, oh, you know they talk crazy about Jordan.
Now everybody was Bulls fans. I don't care. Everybody by
the time parade shoes jersey like you couldn't even botch her.

(10:21):
I remember, we couldn't even get Jordan jerseys because they
was gone. So so we all had ninety one jerseys
all robbin because we couldn't get the Jordan joint.

Speaker 2 (10:33):
Yeah. Like I was born in nineteen ninety, so the
early part of the nineties, my memory is spotty. I
was also young. I was a kid, but like the
only I remember my only two memories of like the
NBA back then that are crystal clear in my head,
or of MJ one. I remember going over to my
eyes house. She was a huge Bulls fan, and it

(10:54):
was like a Sunday, and I just remember that they
were about to play. It might have been it might
have been that the playoffs Boys Jet one of the
Bulls Jazz series. But I remember the NBA on NBC.
Was it Round Ball Rock They all that, the intros
and all that. I remember it was a day game
and MJ was playing, so everybody stopped they had to
go watch. And then two, I remember being at Charlotte Coliseum,

(11:17):
the one series my dad and the Hornets played against
the Bulls, and I remember like those games, and I
remember seeing MJ on the floor like crystal clear. I
was probably three four years old. Those are the two
images that strike out that are crystal clear Stark memories
in my head, which is crazy.

Speaker 1 (11:33):
You mentioned Aura, and I think about it. I don't
think we're ever going to get anything as magnifying, like
as big as the game like to that point, like
Lebron is amazing, Like I think the must game is
going to be his last game where every like where
time actually feels like it stopped when he actually said,
show this is my last game. Like Kobe sixty. That

(11:56):
was one of the moments where time stopped and it's
like you gotta lock it, but Jordan every night was
like time stopping. People would stop watching football to watch
Michael Jordan.

Speaker 2 (12:09):
He was that big and his teams were like rock
stars on the road, like everywhere they went, police escorts,
fans flocking if they came into town. Know, the stadium Solda,
that arena sold out, Like what teams like compared to
that and al like in this day and age, are
any will there ever be any?

Speaker 1 (12:31):
I mean I feel like the Warriors were like that.

Speaker 2 (12:33):
The Heats the Heatles, Okay.

Speaker 1 (12:35):
The Heatles hype like beyond like especially for social media too,
because they were able to put a little extra on it.

Speaker 2 (12:43):
But you know, like it was all the difference is
kind of like it was all love mainly for mj Like, yeah,
the Heatles was hate people came no.

Speaker 1 (12:51):
Well no, people hated Michael Jordan. But it wasn't enough
because again, the advertising was so good, like yeah, across
the board. And that's the thing the power of the nineties,
which is different now, is that the advertising helped sell
the player so much more off the court and the visibility.
So the likelihood of like Charles Barkley, like I'm not

(13:14):
a role model, right, but then he's also fighting Godzilla,
and then he's also making appearances, and then he's also
has this bad boy image. And then you got Dennis
Rodman doing his thing. He's burying himself dressed in a
wedding gown, and then he's also you know, riding a motorcycle,
and then the team can't find him and this is

(13:35):
must conversations. Then you got Larry Johnson's personality is Grandma Ma,
and the list goes on. When you really think about
the nineties over so like Penny, most people think of
Penny dominating for like ten years. It was a four
year run dot four years, but Nike's campaign was so
good even when he missed the season, Little Penny picked
up the slack and made it to a point where

(13:58):
you thought Penny was still dominating because the commercials was
still running, like the shoes was selling out off of
Little Penny alone. And I think that's what like, that's
just like peak. And we also had an imagination, Like
I don't think a lot of kids you believed everything
they were selling everything, every super Soakers, whatever, anything that

(14:20):
was ran during there playing NBA Jam. However, whatever you
were thinking about, you you was you bought into that.

Speaker 2 (14:28):
As you like you you assume it's a lie. You
assume it's fake. Now you got to be proven.

Speaker 1 (14:34):
You don't. You don't, you don't. You don't trust it.
You feel like somebody's selling it to you. But also
it's the exposed magic trick thing, you know, like we're
now like again, they know what you're doing. If you
took a nap, somebody said, oh he slept too long.

Speaker 2 (14:48):
Too much access. Yeah. That's the other thing about these
teams when they went on the road, that's the only
time you saw them. Yeah, it's on TV. The only time.
The only time you can see I mean person, You'll
pull up to the whel try to get a try
to get a glimpse of MJ. Pippen, rymean whoever it was, Like,
that's it's a different, different time.

Speaker 1 (15:09):
It's crazy when you think about the utmost respect of
all his peers in that like it ain't like I
don't I don't think everybody's gonna be talking like that
about other players from this earl.

Speaker 2 (15:22):
Don't happen.

Speaker 1 (15:23):
It don't happen.

Speaker 2 (15:23):
The fear factor was there back then, Like it's not.

Speaker 1 (15:27):
You can talk to Kenny Anderson, you talk to Muggsy Bogus.
Your pops probably say something, Doc Rivers. They gonna be
like even Magic Johnson, Matt Johnson, one of the greatest
bro mag Johnson be like, yo, Michael Jordan's I fail
and I'm glad. See that's the one thing I wish
you was old enough to like being a part of.
I was still young too. But that ninety one matchup

(15:47):
just being in La and it was one of those
how we wanted Kobe versus Lebron that that nine when
they lost to Orlando, like that was the one that
was supposed to happen. We got mad versus Jordan.

Speaker 2 (16:01):
What was it too late?

Speaker 1 (16:03):
No, it was not, because it was the I think
the next thing was Maggic Johnson was hooping by the
way until they put you put you know, they was
putting Scottie pipping on him. This is the thing that
Maggie Johnson was annoyed with, and this is the thing
that we were talking about with that Chris Paul Darren
Will's conversation. Maggie Johnson was used to point guard's Guardiani.

Speaker 2 (16:22):
Oh yeah, he always always had the size, the physical advantage.

Speaker 1 (16:26):
He could back him down. But he like it's almost
like somebody playing zone on you. You're like, man, come
on man, Like they switched it Phil Jackson, you know
they was like the Bulls was like, yo, Pip and
get on him. Yeah, Michael Jordan, get on him, tire
him out.

Speaker 2 (16:42):
Then the then switched it up.

Speaker 1 (16:45):
Switched it up on him. He was kind of caught
off guard because he's like, yo, this these two dudes
is athletic and they and they're using both guys on me,
you know what I'm saying, like to a point of
tiring me down. And you know, Magic five rings at
that point five only thirty one years old.

Speaker 2 (17:01):
Chray stacked teams now but five five five.

Speaker 1 (17:07):
And could have and could have and again, think about this,
he beats Michael Jordan. I don't think Michael Jordan like
recovers from that, probably later on down the line. But
it was like he that ninety one team is one
of the best teams ever. Simple think about that. Wait
and the.

Speaker 2 (17:24):
Ninety one okay, yeah, but.

Speaker 1 (17:27):
If if think about this, if the Lakers defeated them,
Magic gets six. Yeah, because Kareem had just retired.

Speaker 2 (17:33):
So you're saying that they have you saying that breaking
that's breaking the will, like they split it up and
Jordana got to come back with a new cast. Maybe
we get Jordan with the Knicks might move on because he.

Speaker 1 (17:44):
Was supposed to. He entertained it for a little bit.
That's another thing. That's another nugget. Yeah, Michael Jordan was
entertaining the Knicks at one point in time to go
sign with it.

Speaker 2 (17:53):
This is yeah, this is like that butterfly effect that
to talk about.

Speaker 1 (17:56):
It's a butterfly effect.

Speaker 3 (17:57):
One series can change history.

Speaker 1 (18:11):
You know, another team, we're trying to get a glimpse
of the Houston Rocky Rocket, the Houston Rockets in ninety
three to ninety five, right, and they feel that they
could have beat this Chicago Bulls team.

Speaker 2 (18:25):
I think they're the only ones that feel that.

Speaker 1 (18:27):
I mean, they faced them in the regular season, and
I understand the Bulls didn't have no option, no one
for you know, Elajawan and the Rockets did not have
an option for Michael Jordan. Because when you really think
about it, even though they be saying, oh, yeah, we
would have beat them. It's always funny because Ernon Maxis
has done plenty podcasts lately. Yeah, right, and he says, man,

(18:50):
I couldn't do nothing with Mike. He said one time
he's seen his shoe right by his face and I'm
you know, he putting extras on it, of course.

Speaker 2 (18:56):
But like we talking about the Rockets, that's why the
Rockets get a bad rap. They didn't to be the best.
You gotta beat the best, right, That's what they say. Yeah,
and they ain't really have to.

Speaker 1 (19:06):
They rolled through the magic.

Speaker 2 (19:07):
They have to beat. They didn't have to beat the
Chant and they beat the Knicks, which is not their fault.
But it's just the facts.

Speaker 1 (19:13):
I mean, look, they had a good team. Sam Cassell
coming off that bench, Kenny Smith, you got Kai Dretcher
came back for the second one. You know what I'm saying,
he got traded there, got his first ring, Robert Dorry.

Speaker 2 (19:27):
Sam could sell my guy. Those those teams were built
off defense, right, Robert always uh Elijah want winning Defensive Player.

Speaker 1 (19:34):
Of the years oldistort.

Speaker 2 (19:36):
And the way the way Sam talked about the King
is the way a lot of people then talk about MJ.
Like his reverence for a king and how good he was.
It's crazy. And Kenny talked the same way about Dream
like they can't anybody message dream when I like the footwork.
They like they knew when they went on the court
they had the guy and sounds like his teammates even

(19:59):
even if they messed up with m J. They were like, Oh,
any given night, Elijah one is the guy that's gonna
that's gonna we got it. We got somebody that can
be better than m J on any given night. You
know what I'm saying. That's what they felt.

Speaker 1 (20:11):
Are you on the side of the bulls would have
won eight straight or are you on the side of
the rockets still winning if MG played.

Speaker 2 (20:20):
I'm on the eighth straight side and I'm.

Speaker 1 (20:22):
On the h straight side. I don't see. They was
because they was this is the thing.

Speaker 2 (20:26):
A straight is crazy. At is crazy, But give me
I'm on I'm on the side of four or five.
You know what I'm saying, It is crazy.

Speaker 1 (20:33):
But they just kept adding a piece every year. They
didn't have to add too much. They was adding a piece.

Speaker 2 (20:41):
It gets harder every time you went, gets way harder
to win again, So a straight is I ain't No,
I'm not. I'm on the four or five in a
row if they keep going. But I still I also.

Speaker 1 (20:52):
Still think that it probably would have ruined sports for
basketball because a lot of people you don't want to
if you expecting a winner, you know. But I also
think about how much you gotta put it, Like think
about we ain't seen a three p said Shaq and Kobe.

Speaker 2 (21:10):
It's hard, bro, and you gotta find and like the
thing is, once you get to that two three, you
start beefing with your own teammates no matter what. So
you gotta find the coach in the front office. They
gotta find ways to motivate you. They gotta find ways
to mix it up, to get it like a to
create a spark, because everybody wants more. Once you start

(21:31):
winn a couple, you're gonna find like that locker room
make the same as when you check me, you're chasing
your first one.

Speaker 1 (21:41):
All right. Another team that was very good the Utah
Jazz ninety six that Karl Malone, John Stockton, Shandon Anderson,
Brian Russell, Adam Keith, Howard Eisley like they them them
Utah team. I still like the Jerseys too, but I
definitely hated them as a kid, but they.

Speaker 2 (22:02):
Were The Jazz was a system team. Like when I
think about the Jazz, especially all through the nineties and
even after that. Yeah, it was, it was. It was
the system. You can obviously stocked them alone played every
night throughout the whole era, but the role player switched
and they were still very good, like, yeah, they could.

(22:23):
And I think about those teams, Yeah, it was existency.
They played every like, they weren't taking nights off. You
look at the games played throughout the year they were
playing eighty two. Socked them on eighty two every every year,
plus playoffs like the durability.

Speaker 1 (22:38):
Reliability dog Like could you imagine having two stars available
every night every night, no dnps, no excuses, just for
eighteen years.

Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yes, and that gets you and that alone gets you
a top seed. So when at fifty sixty games every
year gets you a top seed, and that's getting to
that second third round. Yeah, and that that means something
you may you know, once you get to the conference finals, Fine,
you gotta meet MJ or whoever those other top teams are.
But that puts you in that in that round with

(23:15):
some of the best teams in the decade.

Speaker 1 (23:17):
They had two sixty win seasons. Carmelone beat out MJ
in ninety six ninety seven for the MVP. Yeah, and
John Stockton became the all time assist leader.

Speaker 2 (23:30):
Yeah, that assist record is one that will never be broken. Yeah,
Like you're looking number two and where Chris Paul is.
I was looking like he would have to play seven
more years or something crazy to get to that role. Yeah,
I was insane. That's that's what I was talking about. Like,
but it also is ability too, Yes, durability everything. Playing

(23:54):
every night in the system, you knew he was gonna
walk in and get eight nine assists just by running
the offense. And then you got Malone. That's why he
top five and whatever in all top scoring. It's just
because they showed up every night and over those however,
many years of their career, the stats and accolades follow.

Speaker 1 (24:11):
Up this team. They were good. I think they were.
They were in the team that stood in their way
with the Chicago Bulls. So the New York Knicks ninety
four and then the nineteen ninety eight ninety nine Nicks. Right,
Patrick Ewing, physical, tough, Anthony Mason, John Starks, Derek Harper's

(24:36):
to Charlie Ward to the world Alan Houston's Like, these
teams were very tough. They would always be fighting the
Miami Heat.

Speaker 2 (24:46):
And they were pat Riley teams like pat Riley knew
what you again when you when you played a pat
Riley team, tough, hard nos and especially about the the Knicks,
like ever since the nineties, the Knicks been trying to
get back to that style play no matter what, like
you bring. I remember when like I remember when like
the Knicks signed Brandon Jennings and once and they were like,

(25:08):
oh we.

Speaker 1 (25:08):
Got twenty sixteen, Yeah we got we got the nineties
Knicks back.

Speaker 2 (25:12):
Like they were trying to live up. They were trying
to bring on that or and that's style.

Speaker 1 (25:16):
Eric Rose, Joe Kim Noah, Yeah, they had they loaded
that team up. Yeah, it's just identity. I mean that's
that's kind of like the team that you look at
when you signed there, right, it's all all the guys
worked there, Larry Johnson, you know what I'm saying. Charles Oakley,

(25:36):
like them dudes, they are like still praise to this day,
you know what I'm saying when you really think about it,
and it is the the like the Epcot of like, yo,
this is how this is how you got to show
up to get our respects.

Speaker 2 (25:51):
Yeah, those teams love it, like that's that's the real
We just want you to play hard, like that's that's
the real definition. We just want you to play hard.
You know, some teams and some fan bases come out
there like, oh, we want you to play hard and
we'll support you. That's that's not true. They want you
to win and play hard, and what support you if
you If you're playing hard and lose and they gonna

(26:12):
they ain't gonna show up, They ain't gonna show love.
But in New York, playing hard is enough if you
if you look like one of those ninety teams, win
or lose. If we lose in the first round, it's
all right with me. As long as you lay it
out there on the floor.

Speaker 1 (26:25):
Absolutely, you're definitely gonna get you know, the fans on
your side if you play hard, Like I feel like
Pat Beall will be perfect for the Knicks bro. Like
you know, like they probably even rooting against him, and
then he just go out there and just play his
heart out like yes, look at campaign campaign, they love
campaign bro. Like he just played hard. One note. In

(26:47):
nineteen ninety four, they took the Rockets to seven in
the finals, Like imagine think about what we would be saying.

Speaker 2 (26:57):
They had a couple of heartbreaking losses too. They're on
the on the doors, like on the doorstep in the
chip in New York.

Speaker 1 (27:06):
Like, imagine they win ninety four, What does that change?
And shifts that shifts a lot, That shifts a lot.
I think Michael Jord would have came back faster. Hold on, I.

Speaker 2 (27:17):
Can't let the Knicks get one.

Speaker 1 (27:20):
Alright, all right, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (27:22):
Like Knicks like m J. I don't know if it
might be the garden being what it is, but it
felt like m J rival was a Knicks like he
all the time. He got a different, different level of
gumption and he could see it in his eyes. He
played different when he was matched up against the Knicks.

Speaker 1 (27:41):
Yeah. Well, to be fair man, he averaged thirty two
points against the Suns.

Speaker 2 (27:47):
And that's that's not the part of that is Charles
taking different.

Speaker 1 (27:51):
I mean he took he took it personal every time.
Let's talk about the nineteen ninety ninety two Portland Trailblazers, right, right,
they made it to the finals in nineteen ninety and
they made it to the finals in nineteen ninety two,
and they got a chance to play against MJ. Right,

(28:14):
this is a shrug game. Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter, Cliff Robinson,
Jeron Cursey, Kevin Duckworth, like these guys, Buck Williams. They
had a team that was put together, you know what
I'm saying, to compete, and they they couldn't get it done.

Speaker 2 (28:35):
This is one of the teams that showed you it
was levels to this because throughout the season everybody was
Clyde and MJ and neck and neck right, everybody thinking
Clyde is right, there is who's the best two guard
in the league. It's levels. Mjson. When they matched up,
it was it was clear. It was clear as that.

Speaker 1 (28:53):
I forgot who the journalist was, but he asked Michael Jordan,
so what's the difference between you and Clyde Drexler and
Michael Jordan. Of course he's super offended. He looks at
him and he didn't really give him nothing. He was
just kind of like, yo, you're kidding me. And then
that's when we got the six three pointers in the
first half. Yeah, you know what I mean. Like that

(29:14):
game and I rewatched that game so many times of
age and I'm like, oh, this game was not close
at all, like you know.

Speaker 2 (29:23):
But it was a beat down.

Speaker 1 (29:24):
Yeah, but he also just shrugged and was like, that's
the difference, bro, Like I could shoot the three if
I wanted to Portland. Man, like they they they definitely
came off hot because to kick off the decade, they
had three fifty game win seasons. So like going into
that's tough, man, That's that's tough. And that's the thing.

(29:47):
When I look at these teams, I got so much
respect for all of Like I didn't really see bad
bad team. Maybe I wasn't focusing like.

Speaker 2 (29:54):
There was some bad teams, but the good teams were
consistently good. Like it wasn't they took the regular season serious. Yeah,
like they were trying to win games. It wasn't no,
like we in the playoffs, so we can start resting, guys,
take a couple of weeks off and get ready. Now
we're trying to rack up these wins. You know. It
wasn't no, like I said, stocked them alone, played every night.

(30:15):
MJ played every night. Like we're not we'll get to
the We're worry about the playoffs when we get there,
but we're trying to We're trying to win in the
regular season to set the tone and that was a
mindset back there in the nineties.

Speaker 1 (30:26):
Man's that's so crazy, man, Just like I couldn't even
imagine this league this right now. Nobody missing games, Nobody missing.

Speaker 2 (30:36):
Games, Remember like seventy three and nine Warriors, right yep.
And people are trying to like talk them into resting
and getting ready for the playoffs and guilt them in
the oh, y'all, might y'all better get some rest because
if y'all lose in the playoffs, it don't mean as much.
They trying to break make history. Is one of the
best teams of all time. They playing every night, They

(30:57):
trying to win, They chasing the record. You know what
I'm saying. They had the they are the ones he
locked up. That was the mindset of all those Jordan
teams in the nineties. You know what I'm saying, all
those dominant you TAK teams like Winter fifty games three
years in a row, whatever it is. It's none of
this restless like he done that.

Speaker 1 (31:14):
It's locked in, like we're on a mission. We're in
a mission to get to play in June. Like that's
all that's all that matters. So like really thinking about that, Like, man,
them dudes were crazy.

Speaker 2 (31:27):
And see it the matter like we want that home
court right, yes, and that was best of five. Yeah,
that's a good point.

Speaker 1 (31:38):
The best of five was sick, man, because you you
don't get too many hiccups, you don't get no filler game.

Speaker 2 (31:45):
You lose that game one.

Speaker 1 (31:46):
Boy, I think about that filler game. You know they
lost it or they were just trying to get that.
They were trying to see what that team do. No
first game count bro for real? You like.

Speaker 2 (32:02):
Best the five was different?

Speaker 1 (32:05):
Bring it back, man, bring it back, bring it back.
I think I don't know, man, I don't even know
what the intentions. I do think people compete down, but
I don't know. I think we gonna get more sweeps.

Speaker 2 (32:15):
We have Best the fives that money, man, we don't
want to sweeps. Yeah, they don't want to sweep that
all the drama.

Speaker 1 (32:20):
Definitely want the drama.

Speaker 2 (32:27):
Yo.

Speaker 1 (32:28):
This team had me cheating on the Bulls the ninety
two to ninety six Orlando Na Penny and Shack Brouh
for them to be able to draft them back to back.
It's still crazy.

Speaker 2 (32:39):
Those two that dude, a young duo was getting to
it and you had d three around. Who's the other
big hors Grant, the four horse Grant.

Speaker 1 (32:50):
I love the last dance, the animosity and things of
that nature like Jordan's and horse Grant have real beef. Yeah,
they had be for him to go to the Orlando
Magic and make it seem like he had them figured out.

Speaker 2 (33:04):
Oh my goodness, Bro, it was so talented. Bro. Just
Hoopers who was just young, young who were not ready
to win. I think, I mean, I think from I
hear they were. It was in the club night before
the game during the playoffs, living in part of doing
the right way in Orlando, but not not too serious

(33:24):
about the game. But just Hoopers and they were a
little bit before their time.

Speaker 1 (33:28):
As you mentioned, some of the best jerseys, one of
the best logos. Expansion team, by the way expansion team
they came. They debuted expansion team along with the Hornets
and the Miami Heat. You know what I'm saying. But
thinking about it from a perspective of this dominance, right,

(33:49):
you draft Penny Hardaway, well, you draft should Kill O'Neill two,
draft Penny Hardaway ninety three. You get to the finals
in ninety five, and then you get to the Eastern
Conference in ninety six before it ends before Shack goes
to l A. Yeah, dude, that run it's someone like

(34:12):
the one of my favorite times because obviously George's going
and I just like it's Penny's time.

Speaker 2 (34:19):
You think it's if they stay. And obviously with health
they get one. The Shack stays, they get they give
a couple one, they get one.

Speaker 1 (34:26):
I think they go back to back if they won one.

Speaker 2 (34:28):
You need a health, you need you need Penny to be.

Speaker 1 (34:31):
I think you know what I'm saying. I think they
exactly they end up.

Speaker 2 (34:36):
Yeah, that was the thing. The whole league knew they
were coming, like they the whole They had to respect you.
They reminded making that finals run the OKC thunder.

Speaker 1 (34:44):
Like young kind of making noise and they just like
split too soon.

Speaker 2 (34:49):
Yeah, because that both both teams got to the finals.
They were on the door. They were on the knocking
on the door of the championship, couldn't get through. They
just weren't ready. But it was a big gap, Like
you know what I'm saying, It was a big gap
between even though they got to the finals, the gap
between them and the Rockets was huge.

Speaker 1 (35:09):
I might I dubbed them as the coolest team of
of the era.

Speaker 2 (35:13):
I like that they're coolestager.

Speaker 1 (35:15):
Their swag was there, like Penny got kids wearing band aids.
Shack had me wearing a baldy with Ciber.

Speaker 2 (35:25):
And we don't need to hear about that.

Speaker 1 (35:27):
Man. It was just it was just a different time,
man voluntarily. Man, that's how cold Shaq was.

Speaker 2 (35:32):
Bro.

Speaker 1 (35:32):
Shaq had a candy bar. Shaq was and movies. He
had platinum albums.

Speaker 2 (35:38):
You know what I'm saying. They were doing it all.
He was the amount of distractions Shaq brought into his
own life off the floor.

Speaker 1 (35:45):
I mean it was great.

Speaker 2 (35:46):
I still got to it.

Speaker 1 (35:47):
Could you imagine if he had social media back then,
he would be the biggest bro outside of Michael Jordan.

Speaker 2 (35:51):
Just because you're doing it now he doesn't play no more,
He's still the biggest.

Speaker 1 (35:55):
Michael jorywad been scandled out, we would have been like, yo,
he is so unseerious.

Speaker 2 (36:00):
Would have been canceled. They probably would have ran him off,
ran him out of the league years earlier. He was
he was not.

Speaker 1 (36:06):
He was not. Shack was doing a lot then at
that time Seattle, they went sixty four and eighteen and
they pushed the Bulls to six games. Now, Gary Payton
always feels like they should have won that series, But
it wasn't that close. It wasn't that close. But I

(36:28):
loved the ring man and Peyton. They made some great plays.
He used to throw him some crazy lobs.

Speaker 2 (36:34):
By the way, you talked about all these teams and
like it's the Jordan era, the Bulls era, Like these
are really good teams, just don't have the ring because
of the Bulls. So it's like you gotta when we evaluate,
you gotta evaluate them a little bit differently. Yeah, without

(36:54):
a ring, Like the win in the ring isn't an
end all be all to me in this era about
how good of a team you were, Yeah, because it's
not overcoming you. You can't get over that hump sometimes.

Speaker 1 (37:05):
Yeah, I mean, because when you talk about rings, you
only talk about two.

Speaker 2 (37:08):
Teams exactly, like you to talk like the Bulls. You know,
they won sixty percent of the chips in this in
this era, Yeah, and two teams won eighty percent. So
it's like, I mean, some of these teams are better
than the teams that want to chip in my we're

(37:29):
gonna get to it.

Speaker 1 (37:30):
But yeah, sometimes I couldn't put it together, man, you
know it was that. It's a little bit of luck,
a little bit of greed, a little bit of you know,
just lack of just focused. I mean they say Michael
George's biggest, biggest flexus his focused to just to be
so in tune from start to finish in finals games,
like no distractions at all, Like you know what I mean,

(37:53):
Like somebody just that laser focused to like finish the
job and then just get to it. It's crazy. Uh
you around this team, well not you were born, but
you definitely was around this team. The Charlotte Hornets ninety five.
Uh they you know, I love this, A young franchise

(38:13):
with Larry Johnson, Alonzo morning Dale Curry. The Hornets was
a scrappy playoff team and they knocked out the Celtics
in ninety three, you know what I mean.

Speaker 2 (38:23):
And just scrappy, that's the word. Just scrappy and fun. Yeah, Like,
at no point did anybody think they were knocking on
the door of a conference or of a finals or
NBA championship. They're not going to be in the in
the realm of goat team in the era yea by
any stretch of imagination. But fun You can't talk about
the nineties without talking about these teams because they did

(38:44):
it in their own way, and they had I mean,
they had an owner who took a lot of slack
back in the day for letting their young stars go,
especially more specifically Alonzo Morning like drafted them, turned it
to a star and didn't want to pay them, let
them just walked to Miami. So and if that happened
in this day and age, they he would be getting crucified.

Speaker 1 (39:06):
Oh he would be getting cooked. Oh my goodness. The
crazy thing about that too, They was doing seven year deals. Yeah,
he was doing seven year deals, bro, like seven I
remember jaw I guarantee. I remember Juwan Howard got his money.

(39:26):
I remember that.

Speaker 2 (39:27):
That was the era of like dudes getting a deal
and shutting it down. Yeah, like, oh I'm nice in
the contract again. Once I signed my deal, I ain't
working out in the summer no more. I ain't getting
in shape, man.

Speaker 1 (39:39):
That's that's tough. Man.

Speaker 2 (39:46):
One team we got to mention, who had one of
my favorite players of the era is then in the
patient of day nineties, you got ready, you got Reggie,
Like I said, he birthed a lot of the great
shooters in today's era.

Speaker 1 (39:59):
He would been so good in this era and then
like a social media era just because he just was
he leaned into that villain arc so much like that's
we don't have enough villains in this era. Like I
get it because your brain, you know what I mean.
Like Miller time was a thing, bro.

Speaker 2 (40:18):
Like he was hooping and talking like those matchups with
the Knicks and Spike court side. It's nothing like it, Like.

Speaker 1 (40:27):
Him and Jordan almost caught the fade, like that's it.
They was really into it at that point, you know
what I mean. And I really love that. And then
I also love Reggie Miller's uh his starting lineup thing
where he would do to Michael Jackson. Oh, like they
they had you know, they had the Davis guys, you
know what I'm saying, like Rick Smith's Rick Smith, Travis Bess, uh.

Speaker 2 (40:50):
Well not legendary coach, you know what I'm saying. Yeah,
Larry Brown, Larry.

Speaker 1 (40:53):
Brown for sure, And yeah, man, I mean you really
think about that team Derek McKee's of the world, just man,
like they was really hooping out there, you know what
I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (41:05):
Indianapolis, Yeah, they went the three straight conference finals. Had
that one finals appearance like they were getting it done.
You I mean, and talk about hate, Like my this
is always funny. Like when I think about this era,
I think about how much my my dad's sisters hated
Reggie Miller, like they got into it. They feel like

(41:26):
every time they played him and my dad got into it,
ready to like get in text talking to each other,
ready to fight, ready to squabble on the floor. So
anytime we were at a family get together and Reggie
Miller was brought up, my aunts wanted no parts of it,
like they hate this man. And I remember, like a
couple of years ago, the steps first All Star game,

(41:49):
they saw Reggi Miller in the back right, So walking
down the hall, we see Reggimel in the back. I'm like,
they go Reggie Miller like they And we were with
our family, like two of my mom my dad just
this her mind, So I'm like, they go Reggie Miller
like they they might they gonna say something slick to him.
We walked past him and we get to him and
they ask him for a picture, Like I'm like, nah,

(42:11):
I ain't no way. I just folded like this back.
Bro much hated y'all and show Reggie. Y'all want a picture,
But nah, it's Reggie was special, man.

Speaker 1 (42:21):
I think that's the beauty of the respect though, right, yeah,
you know what I mean, Like, yeah, you you hate
him on that court, but he human just like everybody else,
you know what I'm saying. So and then they had
that muscle, you know what I mean, that front court
of the Davis. You know the Davis. I used to
think they was brothers just because I was just so young,
you know what i mean. I just just they got

(42:41):
they got the same last name. Why not, you know
what I'm saying. But then also you got you got
the Rick Smiths of the world, you know what I'm saying.
And Chris Mullen. Chris Mullen got there a little later
though down the line. But yeah, they were just they
were just a tough team to stick around, man, and
they competed hard, man. And you know Reggie Miller the
shots that he made, Like obviously y'all came into the

(43:02):
mixing and changed the game with the three pointers. But
like you would think that Reggie took way more threes
than he did.

Speaker 2 (43:10):
Now you're shooting Madi.

Speaker 1 (43:13):
Yeah, he was sitting a Midi man.

Speaker 2 (43:16):
Trying to get jump shots, but not threes. It was
Midias he was shooting. He probably he's probably shooting four
or five threes a game, and he's known as one
of the best shooters ever.

Speaker 1 (43:26):
Yeah, that that's just a test to him. But again,
he played eighteen nineteen.

Speaker 2 (43:31):
He was nasty, bro. Those teams were nasty, like doing
anything to win.

Speaker 1 (43:37):
I mean, I know, I know a lot of people,
like I said, don't want to you know, they see
him as a broadcaster now and you know, try to
say what they want to say. But he was cold.
He was one of them, you know. I mean, like
I said, they star power was so there that you
just can't disrespect him. You just can't. Your favorites don't

(43:57):
fold when they see him cute.

Speaker 2 (43:59):
I mean, it all comes back to the bulls obviously
because it's their error. But that's what you that's kind
of what these teams had to do to beat MJ.
You knew you couldn't outskal him, you weren't gonna be
out playing, you weren't better, and you had a nasty
game up and that's why so many of these teams
were so physical and when they met, like met up
in the playoffs. It was borderline fights every night because

(44:20):
we got to do what it takes to win. You know,
we ain't gonna jump higher, be faster. It ain't gonna
be if it's a pretty game. Were losing, Like a
lot of them thought MJ was soft and those those
Bulls teams were soft to be honest.

Speaker 1 (44:32):
Yeah, I mean, you know the files that he was getting,
he was getting to the line, he thought he got
a whistle and you know, like Mike wasn't no pump.
But after he lost Charles Oakley, you know what I'm saying.
It just it was more finesse than actually physical. He
wasn't trying to.

Speaker 2 (44:47):
Fight no more.

Speaker 1 (44:48):
He was trying to do keyword.

Speaker 2 (44:50):
I thought he was.

Speaker 1 (44:51):
They thought he was soft. He was definitely down for
a fade for sure. This last team and just talk
about it was the Golden State Warrias. They had to
run TMC trio of Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, and Chris Mullet,
and like man, they high scoring style, like they was
running it up. They was running it up. They scored

(45:13):
one hundred and forty three points in the playoff game
in nineteen ninety one.

Speaker 2 (45:19):
Yeah, like that they had a short run, short run together,
but they were that was musty TV. Yeah, buckets, buckets.

Speaker 1 (45:28):
Definitely, definitely definitely a good team to uh to watch,
you know what I'm saying. And they're still celebrated to
this day, you know what I'm saying. They had the
nice campaign, the Flip of the Run DMC, and you know,
obviously guys went there own separate ways. You had Rock
Miss Richmond go Sacramento and do his career. Chris Mullen,
you know, he bounced around, ended up going to Indiana

(45:51):
and cooking over there, and Jim Hardaway and Miami so respectfully, like,
you know, they had a good run with what they did.

Speaker 2 (45:58):
Yeah, like I said, they could add a sure run
sat the Spurs and ninety was I think it was.
But they get that proper love out there in the day.

Speaker 1 (46:05):
Yeah. Absolutely, When we come back, we're gonna give our
goat top five of greatest teams of the nineteen nineties.

(46:26):
All right, steth Man. We talked about a lot of
classic teams, a lot of specialists, a lot of champions,
well not that many champions, but you know what I mean,
I'm really curious. I'm really curious because I made it
very difficult for this one right here, right. You can't
just pick no era. You can't pick no these individual teams,

(46:49):
individual teams by the year. I'm really curious to hear
your top five because again you say you did your research,
and I'm deaf only shocked on this one because I
think I know who's on this list, but you might,
you might, you might prove me wrong.

Speaker 2 (47:07):
All right, let me lay it out to you. I'm
gonna spare all the suspense. Number one ninety six Bulls, right,
the best team of the era. Number two, I'm going
to Utah Jazz ninety eight. Utah Jazz pushed Bulls to
the brink. I feel like they had they had championship

(47:30):
quality level team. The common thing would be champions if
it wan't for the for the Bulls in the era.
Number three the Houston Rockets ninety five. Whatever the Houston Rockets,
they didn't they get. They get the tough end of
stick because MJ left to play baseball or whatever you

(47:52):
wanted to do. But they won two chips back to back.
One of the best players of the era, the dream
they got it. Number four ninety nine, two thousand, Los
Angeles Lakers Kobe and Shaq. That duo speaks for itself.
And the last one, number five ninety three Phoenix Suns

(48:18):
Charles Barkley, MVP Dan Marley, one of my favorite players ever,
Dan Marley, Thank your damn. They played a fun, fun
style of basketball, got him and down and that nobody
like nobody before after play like Chuck, you know what
I'm saying. So they got to it and they it
took MJ, very motivated MJ trying to show he's still

(48:40):
the best player in the world, should have won MVP
to get them out of there. So a bunch of
a couple of these teams on this list should have
been champions. Like I said, if it wasn't for the MJ.

Speaker 1 (48:50):
I'm honestly shocked. Man. We got some similarities on here. Man,
I'm so shocked.

Speaker 2 (48:55):
Man.

Speaker 1 (48:58):
I'm gonna start with my I'm gonna start with the
five all right, man, I'm gonna started to five ninety
three Sons. Very good defensive team led by Charles Barkley.
The MVP came up short to Michael Jordan and the Bulls.
Great story. Talk to Horace Grant many moons ago. I
want to say this is like ten years ago. Right.

(49:19):
He says that then the game a must win game, right,
But this is also like the the game for them
to win the chip if they did win in Phoenix.
So the Bulls are traveling. The guys got their suits,
they got their stuff because they think they're going to
be there for another day. Michael Jordan gets on the
plane with a backpack and they're like, Yo, where your stuff.

(49:42):
He's like, Yo, we're not coming back. We're not coming back.
We're about to win this team. That's what type of
dude Jordan was. That was the type of time he
was on. With respect to the Son, they are a
very good, talented team that just fell short and ran
into the Bulls. So they're my number five, the number
four ninety one Bulls, the first one Okay domination, one

(50:05):
of the greatest teams ever, you know, kicked it off where.

Speaker 2 (50:08):
It all the way You were talking about them being
the Lakers, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (50:13):
They definitely, they definitely was in the mix. So they
get that spot at number four, Number three nineties Pistons,
nineties Pistons bad boys, physical gave put. Honestly, I don't
think Michael was gonna win it for a minute. You
know what I'm saying, kept running, They was physically putting,

(50:34):
like tiring him out. He was scoring, averaging probably forty
on them.

Speaker 2 (50:37):
But that's before MJ had a team. Man, that was
MJ trying to do it.

Speaker 1 (50:42):
But like again, that wasn't even the conversation back then.
It wasn't like, oh, get him some.

Speaker 2 (50:46):
Help talking about these pistons. Why are they not talked about?
Why the NBA don't get them in love like they
like they didn't go back to They just got a
stain bro They got at like they're white from the
memory of the league.

Speaker 1 (50:59):
There, get their their their style of play was just
kind of just tasteless, you know what I'm saying. They
got it done. They were very physical and they feel like,
I mean, I think they should be celebrated. Isaiah Thomas,
you know most people still give me crap about it,
you know step one four rings. I always be like, yo,
Isaiah number two. You know what I'm saying, just off

(51:20):
of like.

Speaker 2 (51:21):
How he did in that conversation.

Speaker 1 (51:23):
But he gets disrespected a lot, and like for what
he was able to do at his height, at his size,
the points like being the leader of that team. You know,
he played with no other All Stars. He's the only
All Star on his team. Just kind of crazy.

Speaker 2 (51:39):
You think MJ got a lot to do it wiping
away his legacy their beef, Sure, I mean not, but
like MJ's power around the league and around around the media, like.

Speaker 1 (51:53):
You could you could lean into it. I mean the
timing lines up. But I'll say no, I just think
that you know how Isaiah went about business. I mean,
he's still respected, you know what I mean to the point,
you know what I mean, Like he was a He's
responsible for drafting Damon Stodomar, the Toronto Raptors, you know
what I'm saying, coach the Knicks, he coached the Pacers.
You know, he had he did some stuff, man, you

(52:15):
know what I mean. He's responsible for a lot of
good things too in the NBA. But again you know,
the Dream Team and you know, again not shaking somebody's hand,
you know what I mean, Like these are things that
you know, him basically stepping up and calling Larry Bird
all saying like it was kind of like a race
factor thing, you know what I mean, Like he's had
too many headlines in his career that just kind of

(52:38):
just they just don't want to just show him love
like that, And I'm really not knocking him like that.
He still wanted to.

Speaker 2 (52:43):
Go to the freshman. Remember who they beat in finals Portland?

Speaker 1 (52:47):
Okay, all right, and they beat the Lakers.

Speaker 2 (52:49):
Keep going. Number two, they beat the Showtime they beat the.

Speaker 1 (52:51):
Showtime Lakers, and they beat a fifty win Blazers team.

Speaker 2 (52:55):
All right, Number two? Who you got?

Speaker 1 (52:58):
Number two Rockets ninety five Rockets is one of those
teams that, uh the what ifs, you know, very dominant,
one of the back to back teams. You gotta put
them in the top because at the end of the day,
they are one of the champions under the rare champions
during the Bulls dominance. Yeah, so respect to akem.

Speaker 2 (53:22):
I mean, that's not doing the Bulls dominance, though, with
all due respect.

Speaker 1 (53:25):
Fair fair the Michael Jordan Lysz era of basketball.

Speaker 2 (53:30):
You gotta go nineties, and then to me, that little
two year stretches its own era.

Speaker 1 (53:35):
Yeah, it's the Rocket era, the clutch City era, that's
what they call it.

Speaker 2 (53:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (53:40):
And then number one ninety six. You don't mean, dude,
you don't win it. They don't mean the thing without
a ring seventy to ten like that, that team is
o D like obviously seventy three nine Warriors.

Speaker 2 (53:52):
Was you remember the seventh and that twenty sixteen year
and all the hate. They don't mean the thing without
the ring came.

Speaker 1 (53:59):
Back was driving the bus, driving the bus.

Speaker 2 (54:03):
Parallel, PAULA, y'all better win, y'all better win.

Speaker 1 (54:06):
I was sick to my stomach because they was just
too good. I don't I'll tell k you know, I'll
be looking at it. When he joined, I was sick
because I thought they was gonna do it again. I'm like, oh,
they they gonna they're gonna win eighty because you know
that's always the thing.

Speaker 2 (54:20):
You know how hard that is. Bro. I knew they
I knew they wasn't gonna do it because I saw
because I'm watching it, I saw what it takes to
win seventy three games. Like the mental told, not let
one physical, but the mental told how hard you can
be the best team in the toever relates like you
can have all all stars. It's you're not winning seventy
three games, man, you know when you're not going seventy

(54:43):
to and ten.

Speaker 1 (54:43):
Like, think about that. Jordan one three retired, came back,
kicked it off seventy two in ten and never again
and then did three feet again, Bro, Like, you gotta
just be That's why I I be so mad. I
shouldn't get emotional. I get so mad when they compare

(55:06):
him bro, like it it's really like I know, I
know basketball is not an individual theme, Bro, but he
number He the number one points per game guy in
this theme. He making majority of the shots. He willing
this team to victory. So you kind of got it

(55:26):
leaning it sure? You know I got the painting back there.
Pipping's helping him want the flu game, right, but like sure,
like Bro was so greedy. He greed, like you know
the amount of greed you have to have the amount
of focus. Think about it when somebody wins their first ring.

Speaker 2 (55:43):
He was so good, bro, Like it dims Pipping's light.

Speaker 1 (55:48):
Great?

Speaker 2 (55:48):
You know how nice Pippin was. Peppin great, Pippin, MJ
Lee is Pipping damn then win the MVP himself. He
was hooping like.

Speaker 1 (55:58):
That gotta hurt your stomach because he wanted to prove
that he was. He didn't need Mike so bad. Like,
and I get it, like I was, I was there
for the ride. I'm like, bro, him Tony Cook coach.
You know what I'm saying, Like, I'm like, ton this
is how crazy Michael Jordan was right during this ninety
four year when he didn't play and he went to

(56:20):
go play baseball. Bj Armstrong was the number one vote
getter for point guards in the Eastern Conference Finals off motion.

Speaker 2 (56:30):
Yeah. B j Armstrong was a star to me in
my eyes, because I remember after the cat he came
up to the he came over to the Hornets and
I'm looking at it. He played with him j That's
what I was looking like. He was on the bus.

Speaker 1 (56:44):
That's like cold cold bro. He was fun. Fact. Bj
Armstrong is the first player to have him Jordan pe Wow.
He debuted the Jordan nine in the All Star Game
and his Jordan I has number ten in the back.

Speaker 2 (57:03):
That's a good little nugget right there, Yo.

Speaker 1 (57:06):
Bj Or Struggle like bro, bj I was picking bj
Or Struggle over like like I was drinking the bulls
kool aid all day.

Speaker 2 (57:15):
Like I used to bumper him on Live he knocked the.

Speaker 1 (57:19):
Three days like he used to get it like you
know how killer? You know what type of six was? It?
Just the arrogance you gotta have to walk around like yo,
I started on them teams. Yeah, what I'm treating other
franchises like crap, bro, what I just came from the Bulls, Bro.
I don't know what you're talking about. This is what

(57:40):
we did over here.

Speaker 2 (57:41):
That's that Derek Fisher energy. Like, I'm the point guard.
You know what happened without me?

Speaker 1 (57:49):
It don't happen without me.

Speaker 2 (57:50):
Man, No, but I list mean, I want to argue
with you a little bit more about the list. But
they too similar, They too similar?

Speaker 1 (57:58):
Mutual? Hey, game recognized game. Man. We're gonna take a
quick break and when we get back, we're gonna talk
about born in the Wrong Era. Man. We talked about

(58:19):
a lot of great teams. We got similarities in our
goat fives. Man, this this is always a fun one
for us. Are born in the wrong era? Segment? Which
team do you think could hold their own in twenty five?

Speaker 2 (58:38):
I'm rolling with the ninety four Magic but born in
the wrong era for the simple fact they were young,
like back in the day in the nineties two thousands,
like you felt like you had to be a veteran
to take over this league, to make a run to
the finals. You had to have a veteran led team
and those two young cats Penny Shaq coming in the

(58:59):
league and all of it in what second third year
making a run to the finals unheard of. Like the
style of player that flair, getting up and down, athletic shock,
pushing the ball like that's that's got modern day hoops
and like written all over it.

Speaker 1 (59:20):
Yeah, man, I mean, for me, it's the ninety six Bulls.
I just think that like the idea. You got Pipp
and Garden point guards. You got Dennis Robin Garden five
Garden point guards, Ron Harper. They started three guys six
six and up, you know what I mean, Like Ron

(59:40):
Harper six six, Jordan six, Pipping six eight, six seven
six eight, rob In six eight. Then you got Looke
Longley at seven to one. Luke probably get played off
the off the floor. But then you go small ball
five like.

Speaker 2 (59:53):
Yeah, take them at the five.

Speaker 1 (59:57):
Like man and then again Tony and then they got
Tony who coach coming off the bench and the sixth man.

Speaker 2 (01:00:01):
Like defensively for sure, offensively they got like they gotta evolve,
they gotta they gotta move that triangle out a little bit.

Speaker 1 (01:00:09):
Yeah, I mean, Michael Jordan, I feel like after after
a couple of.

Speaker 2 (01:00:12):
Games at MJ but some of the other they gotta
shoot some trade balls to give them some space. But
I like what you're thinking right there.

Speaker 1 (01:00:20):
Yeah, man, you know, gotta gotta gotta think the big picture. Man.
And obviously maybe that's a cheat because they've been compared
to some of these current teams and in some of
these debates. But man, this was this was a fun episode. Man.
I can't I can't front this is. This is one
of the ones that we might have to part to,
especially when.

Speaker 2 (01:00:40):
Again we gotta come back with a guest who played
in their era. Yep, and here they thoughts.

Speaker 1 (01:00:44):
Yeah, definitely, man. I want to thank all the listeners
for tuning in. Be sure to tell a friend to
tell a friend to follow the show, leave a comment,
rate and review. We appreciate all that. Make sure you
hit up myself at travn Edwards t R A v
O N N E E.

Speaker 2 (01:01:00):
D W A R D S and you can hit
up Seth that's dot Curry, that's d O T c
U R Y everywhere hot. Let us appreciate y'all listening.
Once again, were getting the conversation started. Best teams in
the nineties greatest of the era got.

Speaker 1 (01:01:24):
This has been a Unanimous Media original.

Speaker 2 (01:01:26):
Goat was produced by.

Speaker 1 (01:01:28):
iHeart Podcasts and Unanimous Media. It was hosted by me
Travon Edwards and Steph Hurk. Executive produced by Stephen Curry
and Eric Katon. Co executive producer Klenna Maria Cutton. The
executive producers at iHeart podcast are Sean Titane and Jason English.
This series was produced by Derek Jennings and Peter Cutch,

(01:01:48):
Co producer Kurt Reddy. Original music by Jesse Woodard. Special
thanks to Stephen Curry and Will Pearson. Goat is a
production of Unanimous Media and iHeart Podcasts. For more podcasts
from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you get your podcasts.