SECTION 8 - The Myth that Jordan Was Not As Valuable to His Teams' Success

"If Michael had the same supporting cast as Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, he would win as often as they do. If you're talking who's most valuable to his team, it's Michael."
- Clyde Drexler

People love to bring up how the Bulls only fell from 57 wins with Jordan in the 92/93 season to 55 without him in 93/94. But they forget a lot of important details. Such as the huge difference between winning 3 straight championships and losing in the second round. Your regular season record means nothing if you don't get it done in the playoffs, just ask the 67-15 Mavs from 2007.

If those two wins weren't a big difference, then the 3-time defending champion Bulls would have at least made the Finals like Jordan did from 1991 to 1993. But they couldn't even get past the second round, even after the Bulls added four new pieces that played significant minutes. The last time before 1994 that the Bulls couldn't get past the second round was in 1988. A 3-time defending championship team loses one player, replaces him with four big contributors, and can't even make it past the second round. Pretty big difference.

The other big fact that is left out is the addition of Kukoc and Kerr to the team after Jordan left, in addition to retaining the rest of the 1993 Bulls starting 5 minus Jordan. Jordan NEVER played with the supporting cast that Pippen had in the 1993/94 season. Jordan never played with Pippen, Grant, Cartwright, Armstrong, Kukoc, and Kerr all at the same time. And yes, role players such has Kukoc and Kerr that spread the floor make a huge difference on the team's W column. For example, when Ray Allen joined the 2013 Heat, they won the most games in franchise history while LeBron, Wade, and Bosh all averaged career highs in FG% while playing with Allen. 

If one shooter can have that impact on a team, just imagine what happens when you add two. Similarly, Grant and Pippen averaged higher FG% with Kukoc and Kerr than they did the previous year. And ironically, Allen would make the clutchest shot in Heat history during Game 6 of the 2013 Finals, similar to how Kukoc saved the Bulls from the threat of going down 0-3 vs the 1994 Knicks. The 2016 Heat without LeBron or Bosh made it to Game 7 of the ECSF, just like the 1994 Bulls, but the Bulls had a fully healthy team whereas the Heat were playing without their 2 best big men, Bosh and Whiteside (he was injured early in Game 3). 

On top of that, the Knicks' starting guard Derek Harper was ejected in Game 3 and suspended for Game 4 and 5 in the 1994 ECSF. The Knicks were 3-1 vs the Bulls in the 4 full games Harper played, and 1-2 in the 3 games Harper was ejected/suspended. The 94 Bulls' supporting was given more help after Jordan left, and their opponents in the playoffs had key losses, including the Cavaliers with no Larry Nance or Brad Daugherty.

The Bulls had every advantage, handicapped playoff opponents, an improved supporting cast outside of Jordan, and even with multiple factors in their favor they failed to get past the 2nd round.

Regular season wins are not that important if those wins don't show up when it matters.

• 2007 Mavs - 67-15, lost 1st Rd
• 1994 Sonics - 64-18, lost 1st Rd
• 2010 Cavs - 61-21, lost 2nd Rd
• 1981 Rockets - 40-42, made the Finals
• 1995 Rockets - 47-35, won the NBA Finals

Here's another example

• 2004 Pistons - 54-28, won the NBA Finals
• 2005 Pistons - 54-28, lost in Game 7 of the Finals 
• 2006 Pistons - 64-18, didn't even make the Finals

Regular season wins on there own are not nearly as important as the playoffs.

The Bulls never lost one playoff series against
the Knicks when they had Jordan. As soon as
he left, the Bulls lost to the Knicks. Coincidence?
I think not

They also forget to mention that the 94 Bulls lost to the Knicks in a playoff series for the only time in their franchise history, while with Jordan they went 5-0 against the Knicks. People are going to bring up the phantom call on Pippen in Game 5, but it's hard to believe that there weren't any bad calls in the series that went against the Knicks as well. If you think one call decides the series, then you can make the same excuse about any other series such as the eventually game-deciding call in OT of Game 2 in the 2012 ECF. Bad calls are part of the game, and the best learn to suck it up.

Also, if it wasn't for Kukoc's game winner, a new addition to the 1994 Bulls team that hadn't played with Jordan in the first 3peat, the Bulls would have been down 0-3 against the Knicks while Pippen sat on the bench from the sidelines. Pippen did not push the Knicks to 7 Games by himself. He needed extra pieces that Jordan did not have pre-1996 such as Kerr and Kukoc.

On top of that, the Bulls could have taken care of business in Game 7 against the Knicks, but they weren't able to do that like Jordan did against the Knicks in Game 7 of 1992. The only time Jordan lost a game 7 was when his absolutely none of his teammates played well against the Pistons in 1990, all of them getting outscored by the Pistons' Dennis Rodman, and with Rodman shooting at a much, much higher percentage than any of them. 

It's also important to note that the number of wins in a regular season don't mean much if that doesnt translate to success in the playoffs. The 2007 Mavs had 67 wins, and the 2006 Mavs had 60, which are both more than the 2011 Mavs 57 wins. Obviously we know that the 2011 Mavs were the most successful team out of that bunch, regardless of what the regular season W-L record was.

Lebron's most successful season with the Cavaliers was their 50-win 2006/07 season when they made the Finals, compared to the 66 and 61-win Cavs of 2008/09 and 2000/10 when they lost in the 2nd and 3rd round.

People also mention that teams scored slightly less against the 94 Bulls than they did against Jordan in 93. They forget to mention that the entire league's scoring as a whole decreased by 4 ppg between 93 and 94. The Bulls weren't doing anything unique without Jordan, and their ppg allowed relative to the rest of the league was ranked lower (3rd) than it was with Jordan in 93 (2nd).

And this doesn't tell us that Jordan had a negative impact on his defense, it tells us that Scottie Pippen stepped up his defense in Jordan's absence. When you have more than 1 all-time great defender on a team, it's not accurate to judge an individual players' defense impact after they left, when another all-time great defender is still on the team. The same thing happened in reverse in the 1997/98 season. Pippen missed 38 games yet the Bulls allowed less ppg and Drtg (89.6 ppg, 99.8 Drtg) than in 1996/97 when Pippen played 82 games (92.3 ppg, 102.4 Drtg), and the Bulls allowed less ppg in the games that Pippen missed. In the 38 games that Pippen missed, the 1998 Bulls allowed 87.76 ppg compared to their overall season's 89.6 ppg.

Does that mean Pippen made the team worse defensively or that the Bulls were better off defensively without him? No, it tells us that Jordan and Rodman stepped up their defense when Pippen was out, and that judging Jordan and Pippen's impact on defense when there was still another great defender(s) left on the team is not accurate. For a true look at how Jordan could impact a mediocre defense without another great defender throwing the numbers off, look at Jordan's Wizard years before his injury.

Here are some more things anti-Jordan fans bring up.

1) "Scottie, Horace, and Armstrong's stats increased the year after Jordan left"
Well, obviously their stats are going to increase. They have to increase their load seeing as Jordan isn't going to be averaging 41 ppg on 51% like he did in the 1993 Finals to bail them out. That doesn't mean that Jordan had a negligible impact on his teams success. Not to mention the impact of adding two floor-spreading shooters like Kukoc and Kerr (and we saw the impact that Ray Allen had on the 2013 Heat)

After Shaq left, Kobe had a huge increase in his
stats. That doesn't mean Shaq wasn't a big part of
his team, just like it didn't mean that Jordan
wasn't a big part of his team when he left.

In his 2nd and 3rd year without Shaq, Kobe averaged 35.4 pts on 45% and 31.6 pts on 46.3%. Does that mean that Shaq's impact on Kobe's success is negligible because Kobe only averaged 24.6 on 43% with Shaq in his last season together? Defenses had to focus on Kobe more, but he still scored much more and eventually more efficiently. Obviously implying that Shaq wasn't a major benefit to Kobe's success is ridiculous, just like with Pippen, Grant, and Armstrong's statistical increases after Jordan.

People forget to mention that Pippen's stats with Jordan in the 91/92 season were actually better than his stats in the 93/94 season. He averaged 7 apg compared to 5.6 in the 93/94 season without Jordan, and he scored only one more ppg in 93/94 compared to 91/92 with Jordan, but at a lower percentage. 

And let's compare how Pippen did with Jordan against the Knicks in the 1993 ECF with how he played against the Knicks in 1994.

• Without Jordan, he had 21.7 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 4.7 apg on 40.5% against NYK in the only series that the Bulls would ever lose to the Knicks.
• With Jordan in 1993, Pippen shot a much more efficient 22.5 ppg on 51% - more than a 10% FG improvement - and with only slightly lower averages of 6.7 rpg and 4.0 apg.

It's also interesting to note that Scottie Pippen never once shot 50% for an entire regular season or playoff series without Jordan by his side.

Pippen had a much worse performance against the Knicks in
1994 without Jordan compared to his 1993 performance against
the Knicks with Jordan.

BJ Armstrong might have had his first all-star appearance without Jordan on the team, but it's to be expected that Armstrong steps up his responsibility with Jordan no longer being there. Between 92/93 and 93/94, Armstrong's minutes increased from 30 to 34 a game. He scored 2.5 more points per game, which you would expect with more minutes and without the greatest scorer of all time carrying the offensive load, but he did it at a lower FG%. There wasn't much of a difference in his production.

With regards to Horace Grant, people never mention that his most efficient shooting season came in the 91/92 season with Jordan when he had 58% shooting compared to 52% without Jordan in the 93/94 season. Now there are already so many other factors that come into play, such as the overall league decline in ppg and the multitude of new players that joined the Bulls, so there is no indication that these stats tell the full story. Regardless, even if one wants to believe the nonsense that the 94 Bulls were almost as good as the 93 Bulls, the same ridiculous manipulation of numbers can be used to backfire against them.

2) "The Bulls made it to the 2nd round of the 1994 playoffs without Jordan"

Considering that the Bulls won three championships in a row with Jordan, this is hardly impressive. Anti-Jordan fans make a huge deal about this, and act like this proves that Jordan wasn't a huge impact on his teams' success after falling 2 rounds short of where Jordan took them for three consecutive years. If a 3x defending champion team suddenly can't get past the second round after replacing one player with four, that's a huge difference. 

Pretty much every time a star player left their team or was injured, there were confounding variables that also had a huge impact on the team's W-column decrease. 

• 1970 Celtics - Russell AND Sam Jones (won 10 rings with Russell) retired, it was not just Russell who was missing

• 1970 Lakers - When Wilt only played 12 games, Baylor also missed 28 games during the season.

• 1974 Lakers - After Wilt retired, Jerry West missed 51 games in the 73/74 season due to injury

• 1992 Lakers - James Worthy was injured and missed 28 games in the season

• 2005 Lakers - along with Shaq leaving, Phil Jackson, Malone, Payton, Fisher, and Fox  were also missing

• 2011 Cavs - after LeBron left, Williams, Jamison, and Varejao were injured and Shaq and Ilaguskus left, along with the Cavs bringing in a new coach. The entire starting lineup was either left or got injured, along with a coaching change.

• 2015 Heat - Bosh missed over half the season, Wade played the least mpg of his career, and Allen, James Jones, and Batter (All 3 of whom spread the floor with 3pt shooting) also left

The 1994 Bulls are the only championship team to have their star player leave them at the height of their dynasty, remain relatively healthy - Cartwright was the only one who missed significant time (played 42 games) - AND add more key pieces (Kukoc and Kerr) to the team. And not only that, but they added 2 shooters, and we saw the impact that one shooter alone can have on a team with Ray Allen on the 2013 Heat.

The reason Jordan's Bulls didn't have as big of a decline in their W-L is because the Bulls kept all of their major pieces and their head coach, and also added more pieces on top of that such as Kukoc and Kerr. Two role players that can spread the floor make a big difference. When Ray Allen joined the 2012/13 Heat, they won the most games in franchise history as LeBron, Wade, and Bosh all averaged their career high in FG% with Ray Allen. Kukoc and Kerr's presence spread the floor for the rest of the Bulls to make it much easier to get high % shots, and this made a huge impact on their W column without Jordan as well.

What people fail to realize when looking at the W-L record of Lebron's teams after he left Cleveland is that he never made Cleveland into a championship team in the first place. In his last season with Cleveland before leaving for Miami, he lost in the second round. He couldn't even take the Cavs farther than Pippen did with the Bulls in 94. Jordan made his Bulls into a 3x defending champion team, so obviously they are still going to be a great team even if he leaves. Lebron never made his Cavs a championship team in the first place, so obviously they will have a big decline after they couldn't even get past the 2nd round with him in 2010.

Secondly, Lebron was not the sole reason that the Cavs had a decrease from 61 to 19 wins. In the first season without LeBron, Mo Williams, Jamison, and Varejao all dealt with injury for large portions of the season. Shaq and Ilgauskus both left the team, and they brought in a new coach. The Cavs had a top 10 defense every year from 06/07 to 09/10 and fell to a top 10 worst defense in 2011 with all of the injuries, players leaving, and coaching change. 

Sorry, but LeBron on his own isn't responsible for all of that. I know for sure that one man didn't push the 2008 Celtics to 7 games all by himself while shooting 35.5% for the field and committing over 5 turnovers a game. Speaking of the 2008 Celtics, the Cavs defense shut them down to 84 ppg for the entire 2008 7-game series, compared to the Celtics 100 ppg regular season average. The Celtics never once reached 100 points against the Cavs in the 2008 7-game series. Yeah, LeBron wasn't the only reason for that. LeBron's Cavs lost most of their major pieces to either trade or injury and didn't add any notable pieces. Sorry, LeBron didn't have multiple 60+ win seasons doing it all himself. 

Again, the regular season wins mean nothing if you can't get it done when it matters in the playoffs as we see with the 1994 Sonics, 1999 Heat, 2007 Mavs, or 2011 Spurs.

The 1989 Celtics still made the playoffs without
Larry Bird, and fell two rounds short of the
previous year, just like the Jordanless
Bulls in 1994.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar never made an NBA Finals without Oscar Robertson or Magic Johnson, the two greatest PGs of all time. In the 5 seasons that he played without them, he missed the playoffs twice. In his 5th season, he had a 38-44 record, which is the same as Jordan's rookie regular season record. So I guess according to this logic, a prime Kareem was not a valuable part of his team, either?

Here's the real difference between the Bulls with Jordan and without him.

Jordan against the Knicks in the playoffs - 5-0.
Bulls without Jordan against the Knicks - 0-1
Pretty big difference

Bulls with Jordan - 6 titles in 6 full seasons of Jordan
Bulls without full season of Jordan - 2 consecutive 2nd round exits
Pretty big difference

No win-loss record is going to hide that the Bulls had nowhere near the amount of success without Jordan than they did with him playing a full season. If you don't get it done in the playoffs when it matters, the regular season W-L means nothing.

Some love to discredit Jordan's championships on the basis of having Pippen, who played very inconsistently during the Bulls' second 3peat, and a 34-36 year old Rodman, who was still very good, but not at the level that he was when on the Pistons when he won 2 Defensive Player of the Year Awards. 

Pippen in the 80s was nowhere near the caliber of
player that he was in the 90s.

In Game 7 of the 1990 ECF, Jordan had a near triple double of 31-9-8 on 48%, and simultaneously held Isiah Thomas to 41% shooting. Jordan's teammates on the other hand did not play so well.

• Pippen had 2 pts, 4 rebs, and 2 ast on 10% shooting
• Grant had 10 pts on 3-17 (18%)
• Hodges had 8 pts on 23%
• Cartwright had 6 pts on 33.3%
• Armstrong had 2 pts on 12.5%
• Every other teammate was a benchwarmer playing in garbage time
• The Pistons' Dennis Rodman, who is an almost exclusively defensive player, outscored every single one of Jordan's teammates with 13 pts on 6-7 shooting.

This was definitely not the Pippen that we would see in the 90s, and the Bulls teammates were nowhere near as developed as they would become during the Bulls' title run. One more thing people should realize; Pippen had his best seasons with Jordan on his team

• The only times that Pippen shot 50% in a season or playoffs were with Jordan as his teammate
• Pippen had his highest apg, spg, bpg, and FG% when MJ was his teammate
• Pippen's highest scoring season with MJ (21 ppg on 50.6%) was only 1 ppg less than his highest season without MJ (22 ppg on 49.1%), 
• With MJ against the Knicks, Pippen went 5-0. Without MJ, Pippen went 0-1
• In the 1994 playoffs, his first year without Jordan, Pippen had his lowest playoffs FG% of his career to that point (43.4%)
• Also in 1994, that was the lowest apg he had in a playoff since his 2nd year in the league
• His best all-around playoff seasons were in 1991, 1992, and 1993 with Jordan as his teammate. 
• With the Bulls, his highest rpg, apg, spg, bpg, and FG% in the playoffs were with Jordan as his teammate
• His highest scoring playoff season without Jordan was 22.8 ppg on 43.4%
• His highest scoring playoff season with Jordan was 21.6 ppg on a much better 50.4%

3) "Jordan never lead his team to titles in the early part of his career"

"Early on, people were saying Michael didn't have a team mentality. That's because he didn't have a team." 
- Larry Bird, When the Game Was Ours

People also point to the lack of Jordan's success in the early portion of his career as "proof" that he was not valuable to his team, while players such as Bird and Magic had much more success in the early portion of their careers. They don't mention that Jordan was more consistent with winning championships in the later portions of his career compared to Bird or Magic, who had horrible performances in the 1983 and 1984 Finals for his standards.
They never mention how players like Magic had Kareem, eventual DPOY Michael Cooper, or Jamaal WiIkes in the early portion of their career. Nor do they mention Bird's stacked lineup of Maxwell, McHale, or Parish when he won the championship in only his second year.

Compare that with Jordan's great lineup of Woolrdige, Corzine, a washed up George Gervin, and a very green Oakley who was a far better player on the Knicks than he was with the Bulls.

I'd love to see Kareem/Worthy or McHale/Parish get replaced by
the likes of Woolridge/Corzine, and see how far Magic and Larry
could have taken them.  Even the inexperienced Pippen of the 80s that always 
disappeared against the Pistons wouldn't  have been enough of a supporting cast 

Jordan's rookie stats - 28 pts 6.5 rebs 6.0 ast 2.4 stl 0.8 blk on 51.5%
Bird's rookie stats - 21 pts 10.4 rebs 4.5 ast 1.7 stl 0.6 blk on 47.4%
Magic's rookie stats - 18 pts 7.7 reb 7.3 ast 2.4 stl 0.5 blk on 53%

Jordan is the only rookie in NBA history to lead his team in 4 out of the 5 major categories. When he rejoined the Bulls in his 3rd season after missing almost all of his 2nd, the Bulls went from a top 10 worst defense to number 2 in points allowed. Clearly it wasnt Jordan's fault that his team wasnt doing good in the early part of his career. 

Now, people love to mention how Jordan needed Pippen and Rodman to win championships, but they disregard how Magic Johnson needed DPOY Cooper to guard the opposing team's best player, as well as Kareem to take care of the post and boards, Jamaal Wilkes, James Worthy, and more. Larry Bird needed a former Finals MVP Dennis Johnson to guard the likes of Isiah Thomas and a stacked frountcourt of Parish and McHale to man the paint and take care of the boards with him. 

No one mentions how they never singlehandedly carried teams to wins like Jordan did with his best teammate Pippen struggling. If one of Bird or Magic's teammates struggled, there was always someone else to pick it up for them. That wasn't the case for Jordan with Pippen.

True, Jordan did need Pippen for to win the Finals. Now tell me the Finals record of 

• Bird without Parish/McHale
• Kareem without Magic or Oscar (2 best PG in history)
• Magic without Kareem
• LeBron without Wade/Bosh
• Bill Russell without 4+ Hall of Fame teammates on any of his teams
• Moses without Dr. J
• Isiah without Dumars/Rodman
• Shaq without Kobe or D-Wade
• Tim Duncan without another (future) Hall of Famer (Robinson, Parker, Ginobili)

Now compare those Finals records against Jordan's record with Pippen. Exactly. The fact that Jordan needed Pippen to win his rings when everybody else needed somebody doesn't take away from his accomplishments. There is no player in history that has won multiple titles without another great second option. Hakeem did win in 1994 with 0 Hall of Famers, and Walton in 1977 (but he did have Hall of Fame coach Jack Ramsey), but neither of them won multiple titles until Hakeem had Drexler in 1995.

Pippen and Rodman were amazing teammates, but people forget that there were several moments where Jordan had to make up for their lack of production.

Pippen did play very well for most of the Bulls first 3peat, but the second 3peat wasn't the same story for Pippen. In the 3 regular seasons of the Bulls last 3 championships, Pippen averaged a combined 20-6-6 on 46%. But then look at how drastically his production fell off in the playoffs when it mattered most.

• 1996 ECSF vs Knicks - 15.6 ppg on a terrible 33%, 8.2 rpg, 5.2 apg
• Every single Bulls starter besides Jordan and Rodman shot 37% or worse, but Jordan still got the job done
• 1996 Finals vs Sonics - 15.7 ppg on a poor 34%, 8.2 rpg 5.3 apg 
• Pippen was outscored by Detlef Schrempf in this series, while Jordan locked down Gary Payton in Game 3 and Game 5.
• Jordan made up for his poor FG% by shutting down the other team's best player (not Pippen) twice.
• 1997 ECF vs Heat - 16.8 ppg on 42%, 5.0 rpg, 2.8 apg to 3 turnovers per game
• 1997 Finals vs Jazz - Pippen did not do well in 3 of the 4 wins, including the series-deciding Games 5 and 6
• In Game 2, Pippen had 10-6-4 on a terrible 31%. Rodman only had 7 rebounds in 25 minutes, and Harper was the only other double digit teammate with 13-2-4 on 50%
• Jordan carried the team with 38-13-9-2 on 55%, leading them in points, rebounds, and assists by a large margin. He had almost triple the points of his next leading scorer (38 to 13), almost double the rebounds of the next rebounder (13 to 7) and more than double the next-leading player in assists (9 to 4)
• In the Flu game, Pippen had 17 pts but on a horrible 29% shooting. Pippen also had 5 assists to 3 turnovers and 4 fouls.
• Kukoc was the only other Jordan teammate in double figures with 12
• Dennis Rodman fouled out in only 23 minutes during the Flu Game.
• Greg Ostertag, of all people, outrebounded all of Jordan's teammates with 15. Greg Ostertag.
• Ostertag and Stockton both outscored all of Jordan's teammates besides Pippen, who needed a shot-jacking and bricking 29% to get his points.
• Despite having so little help on offense, Jordan singlehandedly brought the Bulls back from 16 down and had the go-ahead 3-pointer with 25 seconds left to take a 3-2 lead in the series. Jordan finished with 38-7-5-3 on 48%, leading his team in points, assists, and steals
• In Game 6, Pippen had 23 points, but on a horrible 35% with 2 assists to 5 turnovers and 5 fouls. To his credit, he did force a turnover on the last possession of the game, but that was only possible thanks to Jordan having the game-winning assist one play earlier in spite of Pippen's horrible play.
• In Game 6, no other player besides Pippen and Jordan had 10 points, and as we saw Pippen was shooting horribly to get those points. Every other teammate of Jordan's got outscored by John Stockton, Bryon Russell, Jeff Hornacek, and Karl Malone.
• Despite the lack of help, Jordan ended up with 39-11-4, leading his team in points, rebounds, and assists, and set up Steve Kerr for a wide-open shot with his championship-winning assist.
• In the 1997 Finals, Jordan averaged 32-7-6-1-1 on 46%. If we count assists as 2 points, he scored/assisted 44 of the Bulls 88 ppg in the 1997 Finals - exactly 50% of their points were because of Jordan.
• After being tied 2-2, Pippen struggled in the clinching games 5 and 6, averaging 20 ppg on 32% shooting with 3.5 apg to 4 turnovers and 4.5 fouls. Yet Jordan made a game-winning play in both Games 5 and 6 to win the title.
• After having 27-9-2 on 58% in the Game 1 win, Pippen averaged 16.7 - 8.3 - 3.7 on 32% with 3.0 TOpg and 3.7 fouls per game in their last 3 wins during Games 2-5-6. 
• Including Pippen's good Game 1, he averaged 19.3 - 8.5 - 3.3 on 39% with 3.8 TOpg and 3.3 fouls per game in the 4 wins. Pippen averaged more turnovers than assists and as many fouls as assists in the 4 wins while shooting 35% or worse in 3/4 wins
• 1998 ECF vs Pacers - 16.6 ppg on 39%, 7.7 rpg, 5.3 apg
• Game 4, Pippen misses 2 free throws that would have given the Bulls a 3-point lead. Because of Pippen, Reggie Miller hits the go ahead 3 to tie the series at 2-2 when the Bulls could have been up 3-1
• Game 6, Pippen only had 1 point in the 4th quarter. The Bulls lost by 2, and the series went to Game 7 thanks to Pippen disappearing
• There were two separate occasions where Pippen could have easily ended the series if he played just a little better, but he failed to step up.
• In Game 7, although MJ shot a poor 36%, he still put up a near triple double of 28-9-8 while also holding Reggie Miller to 0 points in the 4th quarter after lighting up the Bulls for 22 points in 7/12 FG through 3 quarters. It was Jordan who shut down the other team's best player in Game 7, not Pippen.
• Ironically, Jordan shut down Miller in Game 7 after Miller was able to hit a game winner in Game 4 due to Pippen's missed free throws.
• 1998 Finals vs Jazz - 15.7 ppg on 41%, 6.8 rpg, 4.8 apg
• In Game 1, Pippen had 21 points on a terrible 37% and 1 assist to 5 turnovers.
  Jordan only had 2 assists in this game, because his teammates shot a combined 40%
  

   - In spite of all that poor play, Jordan sent the Bulls to overtime with his game-tying assist to Luc Longley
  

  - With the Bulls down 3 in overtime, Jordan set up Pippen for a wide-open 3, but Pippen bricked it as the Bulls lost Game 1.
  Even though Jordan lost this game with his team struggling, he at least put his team in a position to win by setting up Longley for the tying-assist, and setting up Pippen for a wide-open 3. Lebron never put his team in any position to win during the 2014 Finals when his teammates struggled, unlike Jordan.
• In Game 6, Pippen injured his back early in the game and only played 26 minutes. He had just 8 points and was ineffective throughout the game.
• Kukoc was the only Jordan teammate in double figures with 15
• Jeff Hornacek with 17 points outscored all of Jordan's teammates. 
• Rodman usually played great defense on Karl Malone in the 1997 and 1998 Finals, but in this particular game Malone had a monster game of 31 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, and 58% shooting.
• Instead of passively letting his team get blown out like Lebron in the 2014 Finals, Jordan took over the game with 45 points, and had the series-winning steal and shot - getting it done on both ends of the floor - to win his last championship.
• In 3 of the Bulls' 8 Finals wins against the Jazz, (1997 Game 5 and 6, and 1998 Game 6) Jordan took over wit his team struggling

Also, in Game 3 of the 1991 Finals, Jordan was forced to take over after Pippen fouled out and put Divac at the line for an And-1. With the Lakers up 2 and only 11 seconds left in the 4th quarter, Jordan led the Bulls to a 14-4 run (scoring 8 points and assisting on 2 baskets to Paxson + Grant) after Pippen fouled out right before OT in Game 3, 1991 Finals. Pippen played very well in that game before fouling out (19-14-5-4), but Jordan still got it done when he had to with Pippen sitting out.

You can definitely say that players like Magic and Bird were better at getting their teammates involved than Jordan. That makes them different than Jordan, but it doesn't mean they are better. Magic and Bird were never forced to carry the type of load that Jordan had to with Pippen's inconsistency during the Bulls' second 3peat. Could Magic or Bird have ever won NBA championships with their best teammate playing as horribly as Pippen? I doubt it. Sure, Magic had a great performance in Game 6 of the 1980 Finals with Kareem sitting out, but he was helped a lot by Jamaal Wilkes 37 point effort.

Jordan won regardless, even if his best teammate played horrible in 1997 and 1998. Thats something Magic, Bird, Kareem, Lebron, Kobe, etc can't say. They never singlehandedly carried their team and consistently took over big games to decide the NBA Finals while their second/third options of Magic/Kareem/Worthy, McHale/Maxwell/Johnson, Wade/Bosh, or Gasol played as horribly as Pippen did in several series of the Bulls' last 3peat.

And let's look at Jordan's value to the Wizards.

MJ 2001/02 season before injury (Age 38) through 46 games
- (pts, rebs, assist, steals, blk) - 25.1 - 6.2 - 5.3 - 1.5 - 0.5 on 42% 
- slightly better than his 1996 Finals MVP averages

• T-Mac was the only player to finish the season averaging at least 25-6-5

Defensively Jordan also had an impact even at this late stage of his career.

2001 Wizards = 2nd worst in ppg allowed the year before.

Up to the injury game

2002 Wizards = allowed 92.2 ppg through 47 games (Jordan missed 1 game)

- would be tied for 6th-best in the league with the Pistons.

2002 Wizards = allowed 92.0 ppg in the 46 games Jordan played
- would be tied for 5th best in the league with the Nets

After Jordan's injury 

2002 Wizards = allowed 96.8 ppg in the remaining 35 games

- would be ranked 19th in the league

- and fell to 11th in ppg allowed for the overall season.

The only negative of Jordan's game was FG%, which is to be expected at the tail end of your career, and his low FG% had much more to do with his back, rib, knee, and wrist injuries along with his old age, rather than the defense he was facing. However, low FG% doesn't necessarily equate to a negative effect on your team's win column. 

• In Jordan's 46 games before knee injury the Wiz had a 26-20 (0.565 win%).
• In games without MJ and post-injury, the Wiz had a 11-25 (0.300 win%)

This is also despite the absence of Rip Hamilton for about a month during Jordan's 26-20 stretch. In the last 16 games that Rip and Jordan played together prior to Jordan's knee collision, the Wizards went 15-1, and they won 13 straight games when both of them played together. Had both Rip and MJ stayed healthy, they very well could have cracked 50 wins overall despite starting the season 2-9 and being a 19-win team the previous year. After Jordan's injury, Rip went 9-24 (0.273 win%) in the remaining games he played, so it was clearly Jordan who had by far the most impact on the W column. 

The 2001 Wizards were a 19-win team the year before, but well on track to make the playoffs with Jordan. There are only two instances that a team got a winning record one year after getting less than 20 wins

2004 Nuggets

- who drafted Carmelo
- and added Andre Miller

2009 Heat 

- with Wade coming back from injury

- along with adding Jermaine O'Neal 

- and drafting Michael Beasley.

Outside of Jordan, the 2002 Wizards' only new additions were 5 bench players, 4 of whom where rookies that played very little minutes  

- Tyronn Lue (20 mpg)

- Rookie Kwame Brown (14 mpg)

- Rookie Brendan Haywood (14 mpg)

- Rookie Etan Thomas (13 mpg)

- Rookie Bobby Simmons (11 mpg)

Jordan was the only new player on the 2002 team that had a significant impact and played significant minutes. So this would have been the only time that a sub-20 win team became a winning team within one season, after only adding 1 new starter.

When Lebron's teammates failed to step up, 
we saw that he wasn't good enough to singlehandedly 
take over the NBA Finals when it mattered. 
When Jordan was in that same position during the flu game, 
and other instances, he found a way to win regardless.

4) Conclusion and Quick Review
Pippen carried MJ?

after adding Kukoc in Kerr in 1994 and 1995

- The Bulls had an 89-58 (0.605 win%) without MJ, pretty good

- But the Bulls had a 32-12 (0.727 win%) without Pippen in their 6 title seasons with Jordan

- Bulls in the 6 title seasons had a better win% without Pippen, then the Bulls without Jordan in 1994 and 1995
- Jordan without Rodman in 95/96 and 96/97 - 36-9 (0.800 win%) record.

1989 ECSF, Game 6 vs Knicks

- Pippen was ejected at the end of the 3rd quarter

- Bulls are a 6 seed team vs 2 seed Knicks

- Without Pippen, MJ drops 12-2-3-1-2 in only the 4th quarter, and the game-winning FTs to get the Bulls in the ECF for the first time in history 

1989 ECF vs Pistons

- Jordan shut down Isiah in the series to 39% FG

- MJ carried them to 2 wins vs Pistons - no other team beat them once in the playoffs

- Pippen had a poor 10-7-3 on 40% for the series, while Jordan had to shut down the best player, Isiah, and with Pippen disappearing they lose

1990 ECF, Bulls go to 7 games against Pistons

- Game 7, MJ drops 31-8-9 on 48%

- Jordan scored + assisted 66% of the Bulls points (assuming assist = only 2 points)

- all of Jordan's teammates got outscored by Dennis Rodman in this game

- Pippen 2 points 4 rebs 2 assists on 10% FG

- Jordan's teammates combined have 24% FG shooting

- Pippen and the Bulls disappear while MJ does all the work

Interesting how LeBron fanboys make the excuse that he doesn't have help and that it's a team game, but when Jordan loses in the 80s they create a double standard and single out Jordan for losing instead of the team as a whole.

1991 Finals Game 3 vs Lakers

- People bring up one game where Pippen did good D on Magic, but forget this

- Pippen fouled out in Game 3 with 10 secs left, Bulls down 2

- without Pippen, Jordan nails the game tying shot, and causes the deflection on the next possession to force OT

- Jordan leads the Bulls on a 14-4 run after Pippen fouls out, and scores or sets up 12 of their 14 pts

- Without Pippen, Jordan shuts down Magic to 0-0-0 on 0/2 FG and steals a turnover from Magic in the OT to take the 2-1 series lead

1992 Finals vs Blazers

- Jordan, not Pippen, again has to guard the other teams best player and shuts down Drexler to 40% FG, after Drexler dropped 31-8-7-2-2 on 51% vs the Suns in the playoffs

1993 ECF vs Knicks

- Jordan was 3 rebounds away from leading the team in all 5 categories during the series

1993 Finals vs Suns

- Jordan dropped 41-9-7-2-1 on 51% for the series

- Kevin Johnson (only player in history with Oscar + Isiah to average 20 ppg and 10 apg for 3 straight seasons) lit up the Bulls for 3 quarters in Game 3

- then Jordan, not Pippen, shut down KJ - the Suns' best perimeter player starting in the 4th quarter and 3 OT, even though they lost

- Unfortunately I don't have the complete footage to show this yet

1994 Bulls got 55 wins, but couldn't get out the 2nd round even with Kukoc and Kerr

They lost to the Knicks, but were undefeated 5-0 against the Knicks with MJ

Regular season wins do not matter without results

• 2007 Mavs - 67-15, lost 1st Rd
• 1994 Sonics - 64-18, lost 1st Rd
• 2010 Cavs - 61-21, lost 2nd Rd
• 1981 Rockets - 40-42, made the Finals
• 1995 Rockets - 47-35, won the title

Regular season wins = irrelevant unless you win when it matters. The Bulls went from a 3peat to losing in the 2nd round (against a team they were 5-0 against with Jordan), even after adding Kukoc and Kerr. And either way, regular season wins only help Jordan's case

The Bulls had an 89-58 (0.605 win%) without MJ in 1994 and 1995, pretty good

- But the Bulls had a 32-12 (0.727 win%) without Pippen in their 6 title seasons with Jordan

- Bulls in the 6 title seasons had a better win% without Pippen, then the Bulls without Jordan in 1994 and 1995

Jordan also went 26-12 (0.684 win%) without Pippen in the 97/98 season, and this was after the Bulls slow 9-7 start. The Bulls went on a 15-4 run without Pippen after that start, so they would have had an even higher win% without Pippen, the same way the Bulls started 4-7 without Jordan (but with Kukoc and Kerr) in 1993/94 but ended with 55 wins.

1995/96 season

MJ = 5-0 without Pippen

MJ = 15-3 without Rodman

1996 ECSF vs Knicks

- Pippen gets shut down to 33% FG by Anthony Mason for the series

- Besides Rodman, all of Jordan's starting teammates shot 37% or worse

- Jordan averages 36-5-4-2 on 44% to carry the Bulls and win 4-1

1996 ECF vs Magic

- One of the rare times that Pippen guards a star player more often than Jordan

- Pippen shuts down Penny in Game 2

- Then Pippen has problems guarding Penny in Game 3, and needs Jordan to switch in order to stop him

- Penny has 0 pts, 0/3 FG, 0 assists, and 1 turnover when Jordan guards him, and the Bulls go up 3-0 and eventually sweep
- Jordan also did a better job on Penny in Game 1 and Game 4.

1996 Finals vs Sonics

- Ron Harper is injured for Games 3-4-5, only plays 1 minute apiece in Game 3 and 5 

- Then Jordan, not Pippen, has to shut down the Sonics best player, Gary Payton, in Game 3

- Payton only scored 2 FG on Jordan (the rest on Randy Brown, or after Jordan sits out the end of the 4th quarter)

- With MJ on Payton, the entire Sonics offense goes stagnant, only 16 pts in the first qtr from which they never come back being down 34-16 after 1 qtr
- In that Game 3, Pippen was outscored by Detlef Schrempf's 20 points on 47% to Pippen's 12 points on 36%

- and the Bulls go up 3-0 thanks to Jordan, not Pippen, shutting down the best player, and go on to win in 6

- Jordan also locked down Payton in Game 5

- but Pippen's poor 5-20 (25%) FG loses the game.

Pippen's defense? Pippen was outscored by Detlef Schrempf in the 1996 Finals, and Pippen shot a very poor 34% FG while Jordan and Rodman did the majority of the work.

1997 NBA Finals

- for the first 4 games, Pippen plays great and the series is tied 2-2

- then Pippen plays poorly in the deciding Games 5 and 6 with the title on the line

- Pippen in Games 5 + 6 has 20 ppg on 32% FG, with 3.5 apg to 4 TO and 4.5 fouls

- Pippen averaged more fouls and turnovers than he did assists 

- Jordan for the series averaged 32-7-6-1-1 on 46%, scoring + assisting 50% of his teams ppg (Jordan scored + assisted 44 ppg of Bulls' 88 ppg) assuming all assists = 2 points

- in Games 5 + 6, Jordan scored + assisted 55% of the team's points (95 points of 180 Bulls points in Games 5 + 6), and made a game-winning play in both Games 5 + 6 to win the title

1997 Finals, Game 5

- Pip 17 pts on 29% FG, 5 ast to 3 TO and 4 fouls

- with Pip shot-jacking, Kukoc was the only other Jordan teammate in double digits (12)

- Rodman fouled out in 23 minutes - so Jordan's 2 best players were disappearing

- Greg Ostertag outrebounded all of the Bulls with 15

- Besides Pippen who shot 29%, Ostertag outscored all of Jordan's teammates

- Jordan dropped 38-7-5-3 on 48% with the Flu, led the Bulls in points, assists, steals

- Jordan scored + assisted over half their points, with the game winning 3 pointer with 25 secs left, even with Rodman and Pip disappearing 

1997 Finals, Game 6

- Pip had 23 pts on a poor 35% FG, 2 assists to 5 TO and 5 fouls

- Pippen got the steal at the end of the game, but that was only because of Jordan carrying them the whole game

- besides Pippen who was shot-jacking, Stockton, Russell, Hornacek, and Malone outscored all of Jordan's teammates

- Jordan dropped 39-11-4, led his team in points, rebs, assists, and set up Steve Kerr for the wide open game winner with his assist. even with Pip struggling

1997/98 season

- Pippen injured, misses half the season

- Jordan still carries them to 62 wins and a top 3 defense and with another MVP and scoring title

1998 ECF vs Pacers

- Game 4 - Pippen misses 2 clutch FT at the end, and Reggie hits the game winning 3

- Pippen could have made it 3-1, but his choking made the series tied at 2-2

- Game 6 - Pippen has only 1 pt in the 4th quarter, Bulls lose by 2

- Game 7 - Jordan shoots poorly, but drops a near triple double 28-9-8

- and once again, Jordan, not Pippen, has to shut down the other team's best player

- Reggie Miller killed the Bulls for 22 pts on 7/12 FG in 3 qtrs

- Jordan guards him in the 4th, 0 pts for Reggie

- Jordan's near triple double and lockdown on Reggie in Game 7 saved the season after Pippen nearly blew it in Games 4 and 6

- Reggie went on to average 28 ppg on 48% in Games 2-6 vs the 2000 Lakers at age 34, after only one bad game in Game 1. Lakers had the number 1 Drtg that year

1998 Finals, Game 6

- Pippen injured again, misses most of the game

- Rodman got destroyed by Malone - 31-11-7 on 58%

- Both of Jordan's best players disappeared

- Kukoc is the only Jordan teammate in double figures with 15

- Jeff Hornacek outscored all of Jordan's teammates
- Bulls are facing a Game 7 in Utah with a severely injured Pippen if they don't win Game 6

- Jordan took over, scored more than half the Bulls points, and it was Jordan, not Pippen, that made arguably the biggest defensive play in Finals history when he stripped Malone and made the game winner

Jordan's value to the Wizards

• At age 38, Jordan averaged 25.1 - 6.3 - 5.5 on 42% with 1.5 spg and 0.5 bpg, while only shooting 17% from 3pt range through 46 games right before the all star break.
• This was before Jordan injured his knee in a collision with Etan Thomas during a game against the Kings, the last Wizards game before the All-star break
• The Wizards were 26-20 with Jordan by that point (Jordan missed one game against the Spurs, which the Wizards lost, bringing their record to 26-21 before the All-star break) and in the playoff hunt.
• After Jordan's injury, they went 1-9 in the next 10 games and eventually fell out of the playoff race
• Jordan started in all 46 of those games, but after his injury he only started in 7 more games for the rest of the season post All-star break, with his injury badly bringing down his numbers and team record
• Among the Wizards games without Jordan or with a post-injury Jordan (post-All Star break), they were 11-25 (0.300 win%).
• The Wizards 26-20 (0.565 win%) record with a healthy Jordan through 46 games would have been good enough for 4th place in the Eastern Conference had they maintained that pace

All this is also despite the absence of Rip Hamilton for about a month during Jordan's 26-20 stretch (Jordan missed 1 game vs the Spurs - bringing their record to 26-21 before the injury). 

In the last 16 games that Rip and Jordan played together prior to Jordan's knee collision, the Wizards went 15-1, and they won 13 straight games when both of them played together. Had both Rip and MJ stayed healthy, they very well could have cracked 50 wins overall despite starting the season 2-9 and being a 19-win team the previous year.

Title teams with sub-70 PPG supporting casts for the overall playoffs
Post-1954 (Shot-Clock Era)
12. 2002 Lakers - 69.4 PPG
11. 2000 Lakers - 69.0 PPG
10. 1994 Rockets - 68.3 PPG
9. 2006 Heat - 67.8 PPG
8. 1993 Bulls - 67.3 PPG
7. 2012 Heat - 67.0 PPG
6. 1996 Bulls - 66.7 PPG

Title teams with sub-66 PPG supporting casts for the overall playoffs
Post-1954 (Shot Clock Era)
5. 1992 Bulls - 65.9 PPG
4. 2004 Pistons - 65.6 PPG
3. 1999 Spurs - 65.2 PPG
2. 1997 Bulls - 61.5 PPG
1. 1998 Bulls - 60.8 PPG

In the shot-clock era, Jordan has
- 5 of the 8 lowest scoring playoff supporting casts for title teams
- 4 of the 6 lowest scoring playoff supporting casts for title teams
- 3 of the 5 lowest scoring playoff supporting casts for title teams
- The 2 lowest scoring playoff supporting casts for title teams

- Jordan is the only player to lead multiple top 10 lowest-scoring playoff supporting casts among title teams

The only player to lead a lesser scoring supporting cast to the NBA Finals than the 1997 or 1998 Bulls is Allen Iverson on the 2001 Sixers. The 2001 Sixers' teammates outside of Iverson scored 60.3 PPG in the 22 playoff games Iverson played. Game 3 against the Bucks in which Iverson did not play is excluded from this calculation.

The 1997 and 1998 Bulls also have the two lowest scoring supporting casts of any post-1954 NBA Finals team to win the championship.

All Sub-60 ppg supporting casts in the NBA Finals for Championship Teams Post-1954

1994 Rockets - 59.3 ppg
2006 Heat - 58.2 ppg
1999 Spurs - 57.4 ppg
1997 Bulls - 55.5 ppg
1998 Bulls - 54.5 ppg

The only sub-56 ppg supporting casts to win an NBA Finals since 1954 were led by Jordan at 34 and 35 years old. Jordan is the only player to win multiple NBA Finals in the shot-clock era with sub-60 PPG supporting casts.

More

SECTION 1 - Players From Jordan's Day Against 2000s Defenses

- Looking at how the Jordan Era players had an easier time in the modern era

SECTION 2 - How Washed-up Jordan Did Against the Top Defenders of the "Advanced, More Athletic, Superior" 2000s Era

- Looking at how a 38-40 year old Jordan himself schooled the 2000s defenders

SECTION 3 - Jordan's "Weak" Defensive Competition Compared to Lebron/Kobe's "Advanced" Competition
- Proving the vast superiority of individual defenders of Jordan's era compared to the 2000s

SECTION 4 - The "Jordan Never Faced Zone" Myth

- Destroying the myth that Jordan never played zone defense

SECTION 5 - The Myth That 80s/90s Defenses Can't Contain Modern Players Without the 80s/90s Rules

- Proof that 80s/90s players would still have success guarding 2000s players without the 80s/90s rules

SECTION 6 - The Myth of Jordan's Inability to Deal with 80s Teams, and the Truth About Expansion

- Looking at how Jordan did against the 80s teams and why expansion did not make it easier to win championships

SECTION 7 - "Jordan Played Weak Competition in the 80s/90s"

- Proof that Jordan's Competition was 80s-quality and far better than the 2000s era

SECTION 8 - The Myth that Jordan Was Not As Valuable to His Teams' Success

- Looking at the truth of how the Bulls did without Jordan, and how other great teams did without their stars.

SECTION 9 - "Jordan Got All the Calls"

- Did Jordan really get any more special treatment than other superstars? Nope.

SECTION 10 - Wilt Chamberlain: Great, but Far From the Greatest

- Exposing the myths behind the great, but misunderstood, Wilt Chamberlain

SECTION 11 - The "Lebron is a 6-8 250 Freight Train and too Big/Strong/Fast to be Guarded in the 80s/90s era" Myth

- Looking at how Lebron got locked down by defenders of the 2000s era and comparing them to the vastly superior 80s/90s

SECTION 12 - Lebron: The Most Overrated Defender of All-Time

- Destroying one of the media's biggest misconceptions regarding Lebron's solid but vastly overrated defense

SECTION 13 - "Lebron Doesn't Have Enough Help, and No One Can Carry a Team Like Him"

- Lebron fans think no player in history could succeed if their teammates don't step up, and that Lebron is the only one who has carried a team on his back. Is that really the case?

SECTION 14 - Jordan vs Lebron: The Truth

- The real Jordan vs Lebron comparison

SECTION 15 - Jordan vs Kobe: The Truth

- The real Jordan vs Kobe comparison

SECTION 16 - Jordan (and Hakeem) vs Kareem

- Kareem is great, but he is not even the greatest center of all-time, let alone the greatest of all-time.

SECTION 17 - The Truth about Michael Jordan Without Scottie Pippen

- The full context behind Jordan's struggles without Pippen

SECTION 18 - Michael Jordan's Wizards Years

- A look at how Jordan turned the Wizards around before his knee injury caught up to him

SECTION 19 - The Case for Jordan as the Best Perimeter Defender of All-Time

- Looking at Jordan's defensive impact in detail, both as a team player and 1 on 1 defender

SECTION 20 - Why Jordan Would Accomplish More In Cleveland and Miami than LeBron

- Looking at the strong evidence supporting that Jordan would have achieved more than what LeBron has in Cleveland and Miami 

SECTION 21 - Hakeem Olajuwon: The Greatest Center of All-Time
- Hakeem Olajuwon is the best center of all-time, and there is strong evidence to prove it

SECTION 22 - Chris Paul: The Most Overrated Point Guard Of All-Time
- Chris Paul is an extremely overrated playoff performer and defender, and isn't even a top 5 PG of his own era, let alone all-time

SECTION 23 - Kevin Johnson: The Most Underrated Point Guard Of All-Time
- Kevin Johnson is an extremely underrated and under-appreciated point guard, who should have been a first-ballot Hall of Famer and considered a top-10 point guard of all-time

SECTION 24 - The Three Greatest Playoff Runs of All-Time
- Analyzing the three greatest individual playoff runs in NBA history

SECTION 25 - The Worst Finals Performances of All-Time
- Analyzing the worst performances in NBA Finals history

SECTION 26 - Jordan vs Russell
- Comparing the two players who won the most championships as the best player on their team

SECTION 27 - The Five Greatest Coaches of All-Time
- Taking a look at the greatest coaches in NBA history

SECTION 28 - The Least Deserving Finals MVPs of All-Time
- Taking a look at the players who least deserved to win their Finals MVPs

SECTION 29 - Refuting 10 Myths About Michael Jordan
- Refuting certain myths about Jordan, as well as abridging of some of the main points in earlier sections for easier reference.

SECTION 30 - The 20 Greatest Conference Finals Runs of All-Time
- Ranking the 20 greatest playoff runs in which a player played 3 rounds before losing prior to the NBA Finals

SECTION 31 - The 1970s: The Weakest Decade of the NBA's Post-Infancy
- Why the 1970s was the weakest decade of any era from 1960-present

SECTION 32 - The 10 Worst Supporting Casts on NBA Finals Teams (1960-Present)
- Examining the worst supporting casts on teams that reached the NBA Finals

SECTION 33 - The 10 Greatest Rookie Playoff Runs of All-Time
- The most impressive playoff runs in which rookies led their team to at least one series win