1990–91 Chicago Bulls season

1990–91 Chicago Bulls season
First World Championship
Head coach	Phil Jackson
Owner(s)	Jerry Reinsdorf
Arena	Chicago Stadium
Results
Record	61–21 (.744)
Place	Division: 1st (Central) Conference: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finish	NBA Champions
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	SportsChannel Chicago, WGN
Radio	WLUP

The 1990-91 Chicago Bulls finished in first place in the Central Division, as well as first overall in the Eastern Conference with a 61-21 record. In the playoffs, the Bulls swept the New York Knicks in the first round. Then in the semifinals, they defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in five games. In the Eastern Conference Finals, they swept the defending champions Detroit Pistons. The Bulls would go on to beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1991 NBA Finals, winning their first ever championship in franchise history. This season was the first of three consecutive NBA titles for the Bulls.

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
2	29	Toni Kukoč	SF	Yugoslavia ( Croatia)	KK Split

Roster

Chicago Bulls roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From PG 10 Armstrong, B.J. 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Iowa C 24 Cartwright, Bill 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 245 lb (111 kg) San Francisco PF 54 Grant, Horace 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Clemson SG 14 Hodges, Craig 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Long Beach State SG 2 Hopson, Dennis 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Ohio State SG 23 Jordan, Michael (C) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) North Carolina PF 21 King, Stacey 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Oklahoma PF 53 Levingston, Cliff 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Wichita State PG 5 Paxson, John 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Notre Dame C 32 Perdue, Will 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Vanderbilt SF 33 Pippen, Scottie 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Central Arkansas PF 42 Williams, Scott 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) North Carolina	Head coach Phil Jackson (North Dakota) Assistant coach(es) Johnny Bach (Fordham) Jim Cleamons (Ohio State) Tex Winter (Southern California) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Chicago Bulls depth chart

• C - Bill Cartwright
• PF - Horace Grant
• SF - Scottie Pippen
• SG - Michael Jordan
• PG - John Paxson

Regular season

Season standings

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Chicago Bulls	61	21	.744	—	35–6	26–15	25–5
x-Detroit Pistons	50	32	.610	11	32–9	18–23	19-11
x-Milwaukee Bucks	48	34	.585	13	33–8	15–26	16–14
x-Atlanta Hawks	43	39	.524	18	29–12	14–27	11–19
x-Indiana Pacers	41	41	.500	20	29-12	12–29	15-15
Cleveland Cavaliers	33	49	.402	28	23–18	10–31	11-19
Charlotte Hornets	26	56	.317	35	17–24	9–32	8–22

Game log

Key:      Win      Loss

1990–91 game log Total: 61–21 (Home: 35–6; Road: 26–15)
November: 9–6 (Home: 3–2; Road: 6–4) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 November 2, 1990 7:00 PM CST 76ers 116–124 Chicago Stadium 0–1 2 November 3, 1990 6:30 PM CST @ Bullets 102–103 Capital Centre 0–2 3 November 6, 1990 7:00 PM CST Celtics 108–110 Chicago Stadium 0–3 5 November 9, 1990 6:30 PM CST Celtics 120–100 Boston Garden 2–3 14 November 28, 1990 7:30 PM CST Bullets 118–94 Chicago Stadium 8–6
December: 11–3 (Home: 10–1; Road: 1–2) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record
January: 9–4 (Home: 5–0; Road: 4–4) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 33 January 9, 1991 6:30 PM CST @ 76ers 107–99 The Spectrum 23–10
February: 10–1 (Home: 6–0; Road: 4–1) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 51 February 19, 1991 7:30 PM CST Bullets 118–113 Chicago Stadium 37–14 54 February 26, 1991 7:30 PM CST Celtics 129–99 Chicago Stadium 40–14
March: 13–4 (Home: 7–1; Road: 6–3) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 66 March 22, 1991 6:30 PM CST @ 76ers 90–95 The Spectrum 50–16 70 March 29, 1991 6:30 PM CST @ Bullets 112–94 Capital Centre 53–17 71 March 29, 1991 12 Noon CDT Celtics 132–135 (2 OT) Boston Garden 53–18
April: 8–3 (Home: 4–2; Road: 4–1) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 75 April 7, 1991 2:30 PM CDT 76ers 111–114 (OT) Chicago Stadium 55–20
1990–91 season schedule

Player stats

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
B. J. Armstrong	82	0	21.1	.481	.500	.874	1.8	3.7	.85	.05	8.8
Bill Cartwright	79	79	28.8	.490	.000	.697	6.2	1.6	.41	.19	9.6
Horace Grant	78	76	33.9	.547	.167	.711	8.4	2.3	1.22	.88	12.8
Craig Hodges	73	0	11.5	.424	.383	.963	.6	1.3	.47	.03	5.0
Dennis Hopson	61	0	11.9	.426	.200	.663	1.8	1.1	.41	.23	4.3
Michael Jordan	82	82	37.0	.539	.312	.851	6.0	5.5	2.72	1.01	31.5
Stacey King	76	6	15.8	.467	.000	.704	2.7	.9	.32	.55	5.5
Cliff Levingston	78	0	13.0	.450	.250	.648	2.9	.7	.37	.55	4.0
John Paxson	82	82	24.0	.548	.438	.829	1.1	3.6	.76	.04	8.7
Will Perdue	74	3	13.1	.494	.000	.670	4.5	.6	.31	.77	4.1
Scottie Pippen	82	82	36.8	.520	.309	.706	7.3	6.2	2.35	1.13	17.8
Scott Williams	51	0	6.6	.510	.500	.714	1.9	.3	.24	.25	2.5

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
B. J. Armstrong	17		16.1	.500	.600	.800	1.6	2.5	1.12	.06	5.5
Bill Cartwright	17		30.1	.519	.000	.688	4.7	1.9	.53	.41	9.5
Horace Grant	17		39.2	.583	.000	.733	8.1	2.2	.88	.35	13.3
Craig Hodges	17		12.3	.423	.393	.750	.2	.6	.65	.00	4.7
Dennis Hopson	5		3.6	.333	.000	.444	.8	.2	.00	.20	1.6
Michael Jordan	17		40.5	.524	.385	.845	6.4	8.4	2.35	1.35	31.1
Stacey King	11		7.8	.296	.000	.636	2.0	.2	.09	.09	2.1
Cliff Levingston	17		11.3	.512	.000	.500	2.4	.4	.59	.41	2.6
John Paxson	17		28.6	.530	.143	1.000	1.4	3.1	.65	.00	8.2
Will Perdue	17		11.6	.547	.000	.545	3.8	.2	.12	.47	4.1
Scottie Pippen	17		41.4	.504	.235	.792	8.9	5.8	2.47	1.12	21.6
Scott Williams	12		6.0	.462	.000	.550	1.7	.2	.08	.25	1.9

Playoffs

East First Round

(1) Chicago Bulls vs. (8) New York Knicks: Bulls win series 3-0

• Game 1 @ Chicago Stadium, Chicago (April 25): Chicago 126, New York 85
• Game 2 @ Chicago Stadium, Chicago (April 28): Chicago 89, New York 79
• Game 3 @ Madison Square Garden, New York City (April 30): Chicago 103, New York 94

Last Playoff Meeting: 1989 Eastern Conference Semifinals (Chicago won 4-2)

East Conference Semifinals

(1) Chicago Bulls vs. (5) Philadelphia 76ers: Bulls win series 4-1

• Game 1 @ Chicago Stadium, Chicago (May 4): Chicago 105, Philadelphia 92
• Game 2 @ Chicago Stadium, Chicago (May 6): Chicago 112, Philadelphia 100
• Game 3 @ The Spectrum, Philadelphia (May 10): Philadelphia 99, Chicago 97
• Game 4 @ The Spectrum, Philadelphia (May 12): Chicago 101, Philadelphia 85
• Game 5 @ Chicago Stadium, Chicago (May 14): Chicago 100, Philadelphia 95

Last Playoff Meeting: 1990 Eastern Conference Semifinals (Chicago won 4-1)

East Conference Finals

(1) Chicago Bulls vs. (3) Detroit Pistons: Bulls win series 4-0

• Game 1 @ Chicago Stadium, Chicago (May 19): Chicago 94, Detroit 83
• Game 2 @ Chicago Stadium, Chicago (May 21): Chicago 105, Detroit 97
• Game 3 @ The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills (May 25): Chicago 113, Detroit 107
• Game 4 @ The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills (May 27): Chicago 115, Detroit 94

Last Playoff Meeting: 1990 Eastern Conference Finals (Detroit won 4-3)

NBA finals

Game 1

Sunday, June 2, at the Chicago Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	Tot.
Los Angeles	29	22	24	18	93
Chicago	30	23	15	23	91

Game 2

Wednesday, June 5, at the Chicago Stadium The Bulls shot a Finals record 61.7% from the floor, with a Jordan layup over Sam Perkins a highlight.

Team	1	2	3	4	Tot.
Los Angeles	23	20	26	17	86
Chicago	28	20	38	21	107

Game 3

Friday, June 7, at the Great Western Forum

Team	1	2	3	4	OT	Tot.
Chicago	25	23	18	26	12	104
Los Angeles	25	22	25	20	4	96

Game 4

Sunday, June 9, at the Great Western Forum

Team	1	2	3	4	Tot.
Chicago	27	25	22	23	97
Los Angeles	28	16	14	24	82

Game 5

Wednesday, June 12, at the Great Western Forum

The Lakers were facing elimination, and the lack of Worthy and Scott was not any help to the Lakers. This would not stop Magic Johnson as Johnson had 20 assists in the game, but it was not enough. Elden Campbell outscored Michael Jordan with 13 points in the first half, but it was not enough. The Lakers still fought and even led 93-90 in the fourth quarter, but a Bulls 9-0 run, and Paxson's 10 points in the final half of the fourth quarter helped secure the Chicago Bulls', and Michael Jordan's, first NBA title.

Team	1	2	3	4	Tot.
Chicago	27	21	32	28	108
Los Angeles	25	24	31	21	101

Award winners

• Michael Jordan, All-NBA First Team
• Michael Jordan, NBA Most Valuable Player Award
• Michael Jordan, NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award
• Michael Jordan, NBA All-Defensive First Team
• Scottie Pippen, NBA All-Defensive Second Team
• Michael Jordan, Regular season leader, Field Goals (990)
• Michael Jordan, Regular season leader, Field Goal Attempts (1837)
• Michael Jordan, Regular season leader, Total Points (2580)
• Michael Jordan, Regular season leader, Scoring Average (31.5 points per game)
• Michael Jordan, Associated Press Athlete of the Year^[1]

NBA All-Star Game

• Michael Jordan, Guard

References

1. Associated Press Athlete of the Year (male)

• Bulls on Database Basketball
• Bulls on Basketball Reference
• "Learning To Fly" – Documentary on the 1990–91 Chicago Bulls on YouTube