1992–93 Chicago Bulls season

1992–93 Chicago Bulls season
Third NBA Championship
Head coach	Phil Jackson
General manager	Jerry Krause
Owner(s)	Jerry Reinsdorf
Arena	Chicago Stadium
Results
Record	57–25 (.695)
Place	Division: 1st (Central) Conference: 2nd (Eastern)
Playoff finish	NBA Champions
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	SportsChannel Chicago, WGN
Radio	WMAQ

The 1992–93 Chicago Bulls finished in first place in the Central Division, and second overall in the Eastern Conference with a 57-25 record. They advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the fifth consecutive season, becoming the first team since the 1987–88 Boston Celtics to do so.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Bulls swept the Atlanta Hawks in three straight games. In the semifinals, they swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in four straight games. Then after losing the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals to the first seed New York Knicks, The Bulls would win the next four games of the series. Then they would then go on to win their third consecutive NBA championship, defeating the Phoenix Suns in the 1993 NBA Finals. This was the last title the Bulls won while playing at Chicago Stadium. Chicago's offseason was also marked by the sudden retirement of Michael Jordan.^[1]

Offseason

NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	27	Byron Houston	Forward	United States	Oklahoma State
2	33	Corey Williams	Guard	United States	Oklahoma State
2	39	Litterial Green	Guard	United States	Georgia

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 23 Jordan, Michael 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 SF 22 McCray, Rodney 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Louisville PF 45 Nealy, Ed 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 238 lb (108 kg) Kansas 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 SG 6 Tucker, Trent 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 193 lb (88 kg) Minnesota SG 20 Walker, Darrell 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Arkansas PG 12 Williams, Corey 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Oklahoma State 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

Regular season

Season standings

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Chicago Bulls	57	25	.695	—	31–10	26–15	19–9
x-Cleveland Cavaliers	54	28	.659	3	35–6	19–22	22–6
x-Charlotte Hornets	44	38	.537	13	22–19	22–19	12–16
x-Atlanta Hawks	43	39	.524	14	25–16	18–23	12–16
x-Indiana Pacers	41	41	.500	16	27–14	14–27	11–17
Detroit Pistons	40	42	.488	17	28–13	12–29	12–16
Milwaukee Bucks	28	54	.341	29	18–23	10–31	10–18

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	74	30.4	.499	.446	.861	1.8	4.0	.80	.07	12.3
Ricky Blanton	2	0	6.5	.429	.000	.000	1.5	.5	1.00	.00	3.0
Bill Cartwright	63	63	19.9	.411	.000	.735	3.7	1.3	.32	.16	5.6
Joe Courtney	5	0	6.8	.444	.000	.750	.4	.2	.40	.20	2.2
Jo Jo English	6	0	5.2	.300	.000	.000	1.0	.2	.50	.33	1.0
Horace Grant	77	77	35.6	.508	.200	.619	9.5	2.6	1.16	1.25	13.2
Michael Jordan	78	78	39.3	.495	.352	.837	6.7	5.5	2.83	.78	32.6
Stacey King	76	3	13.9	.471	.333	.705	2.7	.9	.34	.26	5.4
Rodney McCray	64	5	15.9	.451	.400	.692	2.5	1.3	.19	.23	3.5
Ed Nealy	11	0	7.2	.435	.200	1.000	1.5	.2	.27	.09	2.1
John Paxson	59	8	17.5	.451	.463	.850	.8	2.3	.64	.03	4.2
Will Perdue	72	16	13.9	.557	.000	.604	4.0	1.0	.31	.65	4.7
Scottie Pippen	81	81	38.6	.473	.237	.663	7.7	6.3	2.14	.90	18.6
Trent Tucker	69	0	13.2	.485	.405	.818	1.0	1.2	.35	.09	5.2
Darrell Walker	28	0	13.1	.403	.000	.500	1.4	1.6	.82	.07	2.6
Corey Williams	35	0	6.9	.365	.333	.818	.9	.7	.11	.06	2.3
Scott Williams	71	5	19.3	.466	.000	.714	6.4	1.0	.77	.93	5.9

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
B. J. Armstrong	19		33.8	.524	.512	.909	1.5	3.3	1.00	.11	11.4
Bill Cartwright	19		23.4	.465	.000	.778	4.5	1.5	.58	.16	6.3
Horace Grant	19		34.3	.546	.000	.685	8.2	2.3	1.21	1.21	10.7
Michael Jordan	19		41.2	.475	.389	.805	6.7	6.0	2.05	.89	35.1
Stacey King	19		12.1	.394	.000	.806	2.1	.7	.47	.21	4.1
Rodney McCray	7		5.6	.167	.000	.000	1.9	.7	.00	.14	.3
John Paxson	19		17.4	.583	.625	.727	1.0	1.7	.32	.05	4.9
Will Perdue	13		7.8	.500	.000	.500	2.3	.4	.08	.15	1.9
Scottie Pippen	19		41.5	.465	.176	.638	6.9	5.6	2.16	.68	20.1
Trent Tucker	19		10.9	.413	.462	.500	.9	1.0	.37	.00	2.8
Darrell Walker	9		2.4	.250	.000	.667	.1	.6	.00	.00	.4
Scott Williams	19		20.8	.506	.000	.552	5.8	1.4	.37	.89	5.5

Playoffs

East First Round

(2) Chicago Bulls vs. (7) Atlanta Hawks: Bulls win series 3-0

• Game 1 @ Chicago Stadium, Chicago (April 30): Chicago 114, Atlanta 90
• Game 2 @ Chicago Stadium, Chicago (May 2): Chicago 117, Atlanta 102
• Game 3 @ The Omni, Atlanta (May 4): Chicago 98, Atlanta 88

Last Playoff Meeting: 1970 Western Division Semifinals (Atlanta won 4-1)

East Conference Semifinals

(2) Chicago Bulls vs. (3) Cleveland Cavaliers: Bulls win series 4-0

• Game 1 @ Chicago Stadium, Chicago (May 11): Chicago 91, Cleveland 84
• Game 2 @ Chicago Stadium, Chicago (May 13): Chicago 104, Cleveland 85
• Game 3 @ The Coliseum, Richfield (May 15): Chicago 96, Cleveland 90
• Game 4 @ The Coliseum, Richfield (May 17): Chicago 103, Cleveland 101

Last Playoff Meeting: 1992 Eastern Conference Finals (Chicago won 4-2)

East Conference Finals

(1) New York Knicks vs. (2) Chicago Bulls: Bulls win series 4-2 (after trailing 2-0 to Knicks)

• Game 1 @ Madison Square Garden, New York City (May 23): New York 98, Chicago 90
• Game 2 @ Madison Square Garden, New York City (May 25): New York 96, Chicago 91
• Game 3 @ Chicago Stadium, Chicago (May 29): Chicago 103, New York 83
• Game 4 @ Chicago Stadium, Chicago (May 31): Chicago 105, New York 95
• Game 5 @ Madison Square Garden, New York City (June 2): Chicago 97, New York 94
• Game 6 @ Chicago Stadium, Chicago (June 4): Chicago 96, New York 88

Last Playoff Meeting: 1992 Eastern Conference Semifinals (Chicago won 4-3)

NBA Finals

The 1993 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1992–93 NBA season, featuring the Chicago Bulls, led by Michael Jordan, and the Phoenix Suns, winners of 62 games and led by regular season MVP Charles Barkley. The Bulls became the first team since the legendary Boston Celtics of the 1960s to win three consecutive championship titles, clinching the "three-peat" with John Paxson's game-winning 3-pointer that gave them a 99–98 victory in Game 6. This series was also notable in that the road team won each game, with the exception of Chicago in game 4.

• The Phoenix Suns won game 3 in 3OT, 129–121. Suns Head Coach Paul Westphal became the only person to appear in both triple-overtime finals games. The first was the classic 1976 contest against Boston, in Game 5 as a player. Ironically, his Suns also appeared in that year's finals, thus becoming the only team to appear in two triple-overtime finals games. Back in 1976, the Suns lost 126–128 against Boston.
• The Bulls got off to a good start in Game 6 but struggled in the fourth quarter, wasting a double-digit lead to trail 98–94. Michael Jordan made a layup to cut the margin to 2 points, and the Suns missed a shot on their next possession. Trailing 98–96 and facing a Game 7 on the road if they lost that day, John Paxson took a pass from Horace Grant and buried a three-point shot with 3.9 seconds left, giving the Bulls a 99–98 lead. The victory was secured by a last-second block from Horace Grant.
• Michael Jordan, who averaged a Finals-record 41.0 points per game during the six-game series, became the first player in NBA history to win three straight Finals MVP Awards. He joined Magic Johnson as the only other player to win the award three times. The NBA started awarding the Finals MVP in 1969.

(W1) Phoenix Suns vs. (E2) Chicago Bulls: Bulls win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ America West Arena, Phoenix (June 9): Chicago 100, Phoenix 92
• Game 2 @ America West Arena, Phoenix (June 11): Chicago 111, Phoenix 108
• Game 3 @ Chicago Stadium, Chicago (June 13): Phoenix 129, Chicago 121 (3OT)
• Game 4 @ Chicago Stadium, Chicago (June 16): Chicago 111, Phoenix 105
• Game 5 @ Chicago Stadium, Chicago (June 18): Phoenix 108, Chicago 98
• Game 6 @ America West Arena, Phoenix (June 20): Chicago 99, Phoenix 98

1993 NBA Finals roster

1993 Chicago Bulls

Head Coach:Phil Jackson
Michael Jordan | Scottie Pippen | Horace Grant | B.J. Armstrong | Scott Williams | Bill Cartwright | Stacey King | Trent Tucker | John Paxson | Will Perdue | Rodney McCray | Ricky Blanton | Darrell Walker | Corey Williams | Jo Jo English |

1993 Phoenix Suns

Head Coach:Paul Westphal
Charles Barkley | Dan Majerle | Kevin Johnson | Tom Chambers | Danny Ainge | Richard Dumas | Negele Knight | Oliver Miller | Mark West | Jerrod Mustaf | Frank Johnson | Tim Kempton |

Series summary

Game	Date	Home Team	Result	Road Team	TV Time
Game 1	June 9	Phoenix	92-100	Chicago	NBC 9:00pm et
Game 2	June 11	Phoenix	108-111	Chicago	NBC 9:00pm et
Game 3	June 13	Chicago	121-129 (3ot)	Phoenix	NBC 8:30pm et
Game 4	June 16	Chicago	111-105	Phoenix	NBC 8:00pm et
Game 5	June 18	Chicago	98-108	Phoenix	NBC 8:00pm et
Game 6	June 20	Phoenix	98-99	Chicago	NBC 9:00pm et

Bulls win series 4-2

Award winners

• Michael Jordan, Associated Press Athlete of the Year
• Michael Jordan, All-NBA First Team
• Scottie Pippen, All-NBA Third Team
• Michael Jordan, NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award
• Michael Jordan, NBA All-Defensive First Team
• Scottie Pippen, NBA All-Defensive First Team
• Horace Grant, NBA All-Defensive Second Team

NBA All-Star Game

• Michael Jordan, Guard
• Scottie Pippen, Forward

References

1. "Jordan, N.B.A.'s Greatest Star, To Announce Retirement Today". New York Times. October 6, 1993.

• Bulls on Database Basketball
• Bulls on Basketball Reference