Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls were historically dominant on the road during their heyday, infamous for embarrassing teams on their own turf. During the 1996-97 season, SportsCenter did a feature about their record on their travels. Over their two championship runs from 1995 to 1997, the Bulls played 82 games on the road and finished with a record 64-18. That would rank as the thirteenth-best single record in NBA history.
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According to Bulls head coach Phil Jackson, the reason for his team’s unfathomable dominance on the road was Michael Jordan. Speaking to SportsCenter, he said:
“The biggest thing is we have a great performer in Michael Jordan on the road. He brings tremendous effort every game. He’s like an equalizer. So we are not like the road team, we are the home team every time he’s an away arena.”
Jackson’s assessment of Jordan’s impact on the road is spot on. In the 1995-96 season, the Bulls superstar averaged 28.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 4.7 assists at the United Center. In road games specifically, he averaged 32.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 3.9 assists. The trend continued in the 1996-97 season. Jordan averaged 28.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 4.6 assists at home and 31.2 points, six rebounds, and four assists in away games.
The six-time NBA Finals MVP elevated his game in hostile environments. Jordan loved silencing the crowd. Especially at Madison Square Garden, which he proclaimed to be his favorite place to play basketball. Of course, it didn’t hurt that he also had fans in every city he traveled to. His greatness made the Bulls a traveling circus that was a must-watch for any patron who could afford the marked-up ticket prices to see the best team in the league in action.
Chicago Bulls on the road under Phil Jackson
When Phil Jackson took over as the Bulls’ head coach in 1989, it was a turning point for the franchise that turned them into a juggernaut. They had turned the United Center into a fortress but were also excellent on the road.
In Jackson’s nine seasons as the head coach of the Bulls, the team had a losing record on the road just twice. Both times, their record was 19-22, an impressive 46.3% win rate. They won 30 road games in a season thrice under the 11-time NBA title-winning head coach and failed to win at least 25 games only thrice in his nine seasons with the franchise.
The Bulls mustered a record of 233-136 on the road under Jackson’s tutelage, giving them an unbelievable 63.1% win rate. The aforementioned 64-18 record in away games between 1995 and 1997 is the second-best road record over two years. The record belongs to the Golden State Warriors, who went 65-17 on their travels between 2015 and 2017. The Bulls’ single-season away record of 33-8 from 1995-96 was also only bettered by the 2015-16 Warriors, who went 34-7. However, unlike the Warriors, Jordan and the Bulls won the NBA title in both seasons.
Hosting the 1990s Chicago Bulls was a daunting yet welcome challenge for other teams. They had the chance to test themselves against the most iconic team and the greatest player in NBA history. Beating the Bulls in a home game was almost a badge of honor for most franchises because, at the end of the season, they would be confined to watching them hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
