The 1996–97 NBA season was the Bulls' 31st season in the National Basketball Association. The Bulls entered the season as defending NBA champions, having defeated the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1996 NBA Finals in six games, winning their fourth NBA championship. During the off-season, the Bulls signed 43-year old free agent All-Star center Robert Parish, who won three championships with the Boston Celtics in the 1980s. Coming off of one of the greatest seasons in NBA history, the Bulls, on the backs of recording another first-place finish in their division and conference, repeated as NBA champions. The Bulls were led by Michael Jordan, perennial All-Star small forward Scottie Pippen, and rebound ace Dennis Rodman, with the former two (Jordan and Pippen) both being selected for the 1997 NBA All-Star Game, in which Jordan recorded the first triple-double in an All-Star Game (14 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists). It was also Pippen's seventh and final All-Star appearance. Other notable players on the club's roster that year were clutch-specialist Croatian Toni Kukoč, and sharp-shooting point guard Steve Kerr. The Bulls got off to a fast start winning their first twelve games of the season, while posting a 42–6 record before the All-Star break. In April, the team signed free agent Brian Williams, who previously played for the Los Angeles Clippers last season, and spent most of the 1996–97 season as a free agent; Williams played in the final nine games of the regular season as a backup center for the Bulls. Though, the Bulls look to make history against the New York Knicks in their final regular season game of the year, Pippen missed a game-winning three-pointer and they finished with a 69–13 record, just missing out on becoming the first team in NBA history to have back-to-back 70 wins seasons. The Bulls had the fourth best team defensive rating in the NBA. Jordan led the league in scoring once again, averaging 29.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game, while being named to the All-NBA First Team, while Pippen averaged 20.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game, and was selected to the All-NBA Second Team. Both Jordan and Pippen were named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team. In addition, Rodman led the league with 16.1 rebounds per game, but only played 55 games due to suspensions and injuries, such as serving an 11-game suspension for kicking a cameraman during a road game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on January 15, 1997, and a knee injury which cost him to miss the final 13 games of the regular season. Kukoč provided scoring off the bench, averaging 13.2 points per game, but only played 57 games due to a foot injury, while Luc Longley provided the team with 9.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, Kerr contributed 8.1 points per game off the bench, while shooting .464 in three-point field goal percentage, second-year forward Jason Caffey averaged 7.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, starting at power forward in a few games during Rodman's suspension, and Ron Harper contributed 6.3 points and 2.5 assists per game. Jordan also finished in second place in Most Valuable Player voting. Meanwhile, Pippen finished in fourth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting, while Jordan finished in fifth place, and Kukoč finished in second place in Sixth Man of the Year voting. Kerr also won the Three-Point Shootout during the All-Star Weekend in Cleveland, Ohio. In the playoffs, the Bulls would sweep the Washington Bullets in three straight games in the Eastern Conference First Round. In the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, they defeated the Atlanta Hawks in five games, despite losing Game 2 at the United Center, 103–95. In the Eastern Conference Finals, they defeated the Miami Heat in five games to advance to the NBA Finals, where they defeated regular season MVP Karl Malone, John Stockton and the Utah Jazz in six games for their fifth title in seven years. Following the season, Parish retired after 21 seasons in the NBA, while Williams signed as a free agent with the Detroit Pistons, and Dickey Simpkins was traded to the Golden State Warriors.

Offseason

NBA draft

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Regular season

18,624 24,040 23,726 15,200 21,454 23,813 23,807 23,889 24,042 23,939 19,023 17,171 19,911 16,144 18,042 37,058 18,717 23,687 23,861 33,385 23,505 20,049 23,771 23,919 24,042 20,918 23,601 23,744 16,378 23,792 23,692 23,904 23,904 18,717 24,196 23,891 20,113 23,898 16,285 23,902 20,562 23,913 19,193 17,317 18,748 17,072 21,538 17,505 23,884 16,378 23,919 23,874 18,756 23,917 23,841 20,562 23,836 23,894 23,841 23,902 19,763 18,624 21,061 20,049 23,984 23,989 16,759 23,896 23,854 34,104 23,916 23,906 18,756 23,955 17,248 23,618 16,760 19,763 21,454 23,896 15,200 24,161

Playoffs

Player stats

Regular season

Playoffs

NBA finals

Schedule

The Finals were played using a 2-3-2 site format, where the first two and last two games are held at the team with home court advantage's (Chicago's) home court (United Center).

Game 1

Sunday, June 1, at the United Center

Game 2

Wednesday, June 4, at the United Center

Game 3

Friday, June 6, at the Delta Center

Game 4

Sunday, June 8, at the Delta Center

Game 5: The Flu Game

Wednesday, June 11, at the Delta Center Game 5, often referred to as "The Flu Game", was one of Michael Jordan's most memorable. Just 24 hours earlier, on June 10, 1997, Michael Jordan woke up nauseated and sweating profusely. He hardly had the strength to sit up in bed and was diagnosed with a stomach virus or food poisoning. The Bulls trainers told Jordan that there was no way he could play in the game. The Jazz had just won two in a row to tie the series, and Chicago needed their leader in this critical swing game. Against all odds, Jordan rose from bed at 3:00 p.m., just in time for the 6:00 tip-off at the Delta Center. Jordan was visibly weak and pale as he stepped onto the court for Game Five. At first, he displayed no energy whatsoever, and John Stockton, along with reigning MVP Karl Malone, quickly led the Jazz to a 16-point lead. But in the second quarter, Jordan started to sink shots despite lacking his usual explosive speed and hardly being able to concentrate. He scored 17 points in the quarter as the Bulls hit the front before halftime. Luc Longley and Scottie Pippen did their best to keep the Bulls in the game while Jordan was fatigued again in the third. But Jordan turned it on again, scoring 15 points in the fourth quarter, including a clutch rebound and three-point shot with the game tied and under a minute left that put the Bulls up by three points. Chicago held on for a narrow victory. Jordan finished the game with 38 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and one block. Malone was the highest-scoring Jazz player with 19 points but suffered from some dreadful shooting. Jordan stayed on the court for 44 minutes, resting for only four minutes while being perpetually at the brink of fainting. With only a few seconds remaining and the game finally at hand, Jordan collapsed into Scottie Pippen's arms.

Game 6

Friday, June 13, at the United Center Michael Jordan was not fully recovered from the flu, but was feeling much better and led the Bulls with 39 points. In the third quarter Michael Jordan dunked after a steal, bringing the crowd to its feet. The Bulls trailed by 9 points early in the fourth quarter but went on a 10–0 run to take their first lead since the opening minutes when Steve Kerr hit a 3-pointer, but the Jazz would regain the lead. In the final minutes, Jordan's fadeaway on the baseline put the Bulls up by 3, before Bryon Russell hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 86-86. The two teams would fail to score on their next possessions. With 28 seconds left after Shandon Anderson missed a reverse layup, the Jazz expected Jordan to take the final shot. Instead, Jordan passed off to Steve Kerr, who hit a shot with 5 seconds left to send the United Center crowd into a frenzy. The Jazz looked for one final shot to stay alive, but Scottie Pippen made a massive defensive play as he knocked away Bryon Russell's inbound pass intended for Shandon Anderson and was able to pass the ball over to Toni Kukoč, who dunked the final 2 points of the game to bring the Finals to an end. Afterwards, Jordan was named the NBA Finals MVP.

Awards and honors

NBA All-Star Game