“How did it end? With the clutchest player ever pulling off the clutchest play ever” - Skip Bayless believes Michael Jordan’s 1998 Chicago Bulls team is the clutchest NBA team ever
On Fox Sports' morning show Skip and Shannon: Undisputed, Skip Bayless spoke about Michael Jordan's greatness and hailed him as the greatest clutch player the NBA has ever seen. Bayless said:
"There are actually six clutches teams ever and they started in 1991. I can go the 91' Bulls, 92' Bulls, 93' Bulls, or we can go the 96', 97' or 98' Bulls. But I'll just settle on the 1998 Last Dance Bulls because how did it end? With the clutchest player ever pulling off the clutchest play ever. It was the greatest walk-off clutch shot you'll ever see."
Former Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan was labeled throughout his illustrious career as one of the greatest closers the game has ever seen, if not the greatest.
He has produced some of the greatest clutch moments in the game's history, but the likes of Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and others have also produced incredible clutch moments with their respective teams.
What was the clutchest NBA team ever?
“1998 Last Dance Bulls. How did it end? With the clutchest player ever pulling off the clutchest play ever.” — @RealSkipBayless https://t.co/BPXHsq4g1F
Michael Jordan's final season with the Chicago Bulls
Michael Jordan's final season with the Chicago Bulls was something straight out of a movie. Jordan, along with Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and Toni Kukoč, captured yet another championship and achieved a second three-peat with Phil Jackson at the helm.
In pursuit of his second career three-peat, Michael Jordan played like a man possessed. He averaged 28.7 points per game and 5.8 rebounds per game, while shooting better than 46% from the field and over 78% from the free-throw line (career low).
Even more impressive was that Jordan played all 82 games for the third straight season and nearly 39 minutes a night at age 34.
Chicago faced the New Jersey Nets (now known as the Brooklyn Nets) in the first round of the playoffs.
Jordan dropped over 30 points in all three games as the Bulls swept the Nets. In the second round, the Bulls played the Charlotte Hornets (a franchise Jordan would later purchase).
Jordan averaged 29.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists while shooting better than 46% in this series. The Bulls needed five games to get past the Hornets.
In the Eastern Conference finals, the Indiana Pacers were waiting for Chicago. Considered to be the toughest matchup of MJ's career, barring the Detroit Pistons in the late 1980s, the Pacers pushed the Bulls to seven games.
Jordan averaged nearly 32 points on over 46% shooting from the field and 40% from 3-point range in the series.
Against the Utah Jazz, led by Karl Malone and John Stockton, Jordan maintained his unblemished record of never going the distance in an NBA Finals series.
The Bulls went on to win the series in six games. Michael Jordan averaged 33.5 points per game on better than 42% shooting. That performance led the Bulls to their sixth championship.