Top 5 opponents of Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan, a 5-time Most Valuable Player and arguably the best basketball player to ever live, went 6-0 in the NBA Finals, though he never made it to a 7th final. He was so dominant in the Finals that none of the 6 rings were ever in doubt.
So who were Michael Jordan's 5 best opponents?
The Celtics and Pistons groomed Michael Jordan
Prior to his prime, Michael Jordan had to surpass legends. Facing Larry Bird's Boston Celtics (63 point game) and Isiah Lord Thomas' Pistons early on, and not having much success, was a proving ground for Jordan's Bulls to master, and eventually become a 6-time NBA champion.
They were his toughest matchups, and it's all documented how the Pistons beat up Michael Jordan in Jordan Rules. He also faced Charles Barkley with the 76ers on the way to the Finals in the Eastern Conference as well as in the 1993 NBA Finals.
He never lost in the playoffs to the Hall of Famer -- who was one of his best friends -- yet Barkley was a force. Let's get to the teams.
#5 The Houston Rockets
What Jordan Rules author Sam Smith told the Chicago Tribune's Jamal Collier about the Houston Rockets vs. Michael Jordan's Bulls, and if anyone could have defeated the Bulls in the Finals:
"Yeah, ’93-94 was possible, but Houston used to beat them quite a bit. They had a losing record against the Rockets during the championship years. Vernon Maxwell would play Michael, and Michael was better but Maxwell was nuts. He used to attack Jordan and curse at him and run him all over the court. Michael could still get his 35 points, but now he’s really working for it as this guy is harassing him endlessly, like nobody else did. And then the frontcourt, the Bulls were just so overmatched. Otis Thorpe dominated and Hakeem Olajuwon, none of the centers they had could do anything with Hakeem. Houston just had great matchups all over the floor."
Hakeem Olajuwon might be the most underrated basketball player of all time. The Bulls were 10–13 vs. Houston from 1984-98, and from 1991-1993 went 1–5 vs. Dream and his squad. Jordan averaged 33 points per game in 13 seasons vs. the Rockets and had five 40 point games, yet lost three of them.
Houston is number 5 here, and not in the top slot, only because the Rockets did not get a shot to defeat the Bulls in the NBA Finals given they were in the Western Conference. NBA fans lost out.
#4 The Seattle Supersonics
Hall of Fame point guard Gary Payton, one of the NBA's most versatile two-way players, and poster dunker Shawn Kemp were an entertaining matchup vs. Michael Jordan and the Bulls.
Though Jordan beat Seattle 14 out of 21 times -- including winning in 6 games vs. the Sonics in the 1996 NBA Finals -- his matchup with Gary Payton was a classic. Payton was a 9 time all star and 9 time All NBA 1st team defender. At an athletic 6'4", he could get under Michael Jordan's skin and up in his chest defensively. He could also post up Mike and told me so in a 2015 interview:
"I had so much confidence in my post-up game that I felt I could post up anybody and be effective. I wasn't fearful of nobody, and just because it was Michael Jordan -- we were all making 1st team All NBA defense. I had to prove I could score on him. Guys like Michael Jordan, Stephen Curry and Kobe Bryant, when they go at you, you have to go back at them. You had to make them make the play on you defensively. I felt like no one in the league could do it like me: shut down a player offensively and go down the floor and score on them. With MJ, I had to put pressure on him defensively to make him work. If I don't, then I'm no factor for my team. Michael Jordan takes things very personally. Once he saw me posting up his teammates at will and scoring on them, he said to his team, "I got him! I got him!" Then things got interesting and I knew it would be a battle. I got into a rhythm. We were calling each other all kinds of expletives. As you see in the famous pic of us, neither of us were going to back down."
# 3 Utah Jazz
Michael Jordan and the Bulls faced the Utah Jazz in consecutive NBA Finals during the 1997 and 1998 seasons. Hall of Fame 4 Karl Malone was a two-time MVP winner and one of the most ferocious power forwards; John Stockton, also a Hall of Famer, would be one of the first point guards to be picked on the asphalt no matter who is present.
Jerry Sloan, a former Bulls player, was an excellent head coach who got his team ready through his matter-of-fact will. His iconic shot vs. Utah -- his last shot with the Bulls -- in 1998 was as classic as any shot in NBA history. The Jazz fought hard each season with that legendary Stockton/Malone pick and roll, yet the Bulls were victorious both years.
We found out in The Last Dance documentary that Game 5 in 1997, the iconic flu game, was a game where Michael Jordan battled food poisoning, and not the actual flu. Michael Jordan was 19-19 vs. Utah in his career.
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