Muse tomorrow, if you must, about all the other NBA teams that have achieved greatness.
Debate which teams in history have possessed more depth or more drama.
Question the way the Bulls went about this season, these playoffs, this evening.
But today, just remember these images:
Picture Michael Jordan as he once more placed the responsibility for this team upon his ample shoulders and scored nine of the Bulls’ 12 fourth-quarter points.
Envision John Paxson, he of the aching knee and stoic will, standing outside the three-point arc, gathering Horace Grant’s pass and, as cool as can be, burying one of the biggest in a long line of huge shots with 3.9 seconds remaining.
Recall Grant leaving Charles Barkley under the basket and racing out to fearlessly swat away Kevin Johnson’s 10-foot attempt as the final buzzer sounded.
Savor the scene that followed, as Bull fell over Bull into a giant red jumble, a joyous mob that attracted people like Velcro but still somehow seemed alone and solitary among the orange-and-purple sea that surrounded them.
And finally, enjoy the familiar ring to these words: “World champion Chicago Bulls.”
The Bulls defended their title and retained their moniker with their 99-98 victory Sunday night over the Phoenix Suns in Game 6 of the NBA Finals to become only the third team in NBA history to win three consecutive titles.
Not since 1966, when the Boston Celtics completed an improbable string of eight straight championships, back in the days when there were only nine teams and three rounds of playoff games, had a team accomplished what takes an incredible combination of strength and luck and endurance.
The Bulls scored an NBA Finals low 12 points in the fourth quarter that eventually thrust them into history, and so it may not be remembered as the grandest of finishes. But it was classic in every sense. And as the champagne spilled in the winner’s locker room afterward, it was clear that none of it really mattered anyway.
“It’s a dream. What else can I say?” said an exhausted and exalted Paxson as he leaned against a wall, dripping with the nectar of victory. “Maybe we were destined to win after all.”
There were no friends or relatives in the room, only video cameramen and photographers and reporters trying desperately to capture a scene that is nearly impossible to adequately capture. Those closest to the Bulls stayed home, for this return trip to Phoenix was neither expected nor welcomed.
Scottie Pippen simply wandered the crowded room, glassy-eyed, remarking to anyone who asked, “This is great, just great.”
Grant followed, stopping to hug anyone who would hug back and periodically giggling uproariously at the very thought of it all. What was he thinking on the last pass? “I wasn’t going to get fouled,” he said. “The way I was shooting free throws? I don’t think so.”
Could he have gone to a Game 7?
“Sure,” he said, jogging in place.
It was nervous energy to be sure, for this was an exhausted group, that much more so as the series swung back to Phoenix after the Suns survived elimination with an impressive effort in Game 5 Friday night in Chicago.
“The motto which struck me most coming out of this series,” coach Phil Jackson said, “is `Three the Hard Way.’ It certainly was the hard way after surviving 12 points in the fourth quarter.”
Jackson had some very specific messages for his team Sunday as the clock ticked down, and-after leading by eight at the end of three quarters-it found itself down by four with less than a minute remaining.
“I told the guys we would find a way to win,” he said. “I said, `We’ll get this thing over with if you play defense,’ and we did.”
The Suns’ defense, inspired by a crowd that stood and simply screamed the entire fourth quarter, clamped down but good in the final period, forcing three 24-second violations, two in the final 3:19.
But the Bulls, who led by as many as 11 points in the second quarter, would respond with what they know best. Fighting defense with defense, they bided time by holding the Suns to just 5 of 21 from the floor in the final period for 24 percent, taking the onus off their own 28 percent on 5-of-18 shooting.
And then Jordan went to work, re-entering the game at 8:07 and giving the Bulls their first point of the fourth quarter on a free throw more than 6 minutes into the period. He would score the next four baskets for the Bulls, the last after hauling down a Dan Majerle miss and taking it straight up the court and to the bucket with :38 left.
And finally, he would pass to Pippen, who would drive and dish to Grant, who would kick it out to Paxson.
“This means so much to us,” said Jordan, the finals Most Valuable Player for the third year in a row. “Winning this championship is harder than anything I’ve ever done before in basketball, with all the ups and downs I’ve gone through this season and the mental approach that I’ve had to take into each game. We never gave up hope, and now that this team has become part of history, it’s a very gratifying feeling for me.”
Paxson’s climactic shot, his second three-pointer of the game, was the 10th three-pointer of the game for the Bulls, a finals record. B.J. Armstrong was 4 of 5, Jordan 3 of 5 and Trent Tucker 1 of 1.
“We were going to get penetration,” Paxson said. “Michael drew the double team inside. I knew I was going to be in position to get the ball. I knew when it left my hand, it was going in. Of course I did. I would tell you that even if it didn’t.”
A championship, as we have come to know, is a crystalized moment that goes away just as quickly as it came. One year, it is Bobby Hansen sinking a key three-pointer, and the next year, it is Tucker and Armstrong and Paxson. More pages for the scrapbook, more highlights for the championship video.
But Sunday night, it was all a sticky, happy blur.
“I don’t know what I feel or what I was feeling,” Paxson said. “I am just thrilled to be able to step up and hit the shot in a key situation.
“I am also very tired.”
