A player's ultimate worth in their career is judged by myriad factors, but NBA titles won is one of the most crucial. Many of the all-time greats like Elgin Baylor, Charles Barkley, and George Gervin have had their legacies marred, fairly or unfairly, by their lack of championships. On the other hand, many players have had their legacies boosted by being a secondary (or tertiary) player on one or more title teams. Michael Jordan had more teammates propped up by his legacy than any player in history besides Bill Russell. Some of those players were stars in their own right, but many were simply minnows caught up in His Airness’ wake.
Editor's note: The list below considers every player that was on the playoff roster for one or more of Jordan’s six Bulls championship teams (players that appeared in the regular season but not the postseason were ineligible). The players are ranked based on their careers as a whole, not just their time with Chicago.
30) Dickey Simpkins (1998)
Drafted by the Bulls in 1994, during Jordan’s baseball vacation, Simpkins was expected to provide near term front court depth and possibly a long term replacement for the departed Horace Grant. Instead he soon found himself buried on the depth chart behind the tireless Dennis Rodman and despite appearing in 108 games between the ’95-’96 and ’96-’97 seasons, including 12 starts, Simpkins didn’t make a single playoff appearance in either of those title seasons. After getting traded to and waived by the Warriors, Simpkins returned to Chicago as a free agent in March of 1998, and finally logged some postseason minutes that spring, including some garbage time during the NBA Finals against Utah. After Jordan, Pippen and Rodman departed, Simpkins did actually start to make good on some of his promising talent during the ’98-’99 season, leading Chicago in rebounding, but he was relegated back to the bench the next season as the team started to rebuild around Elton Brand. He spent six more years playing professionally in eight different countries before finally retiring. A graduate of Providence, Simpkins recently took a position as an Fox Sports color commentator for Big East basketball.
29) Dennis Hopson (1991)
Arguably the most lost/wasted potential on this list, Hopson was an All-American and NCAA scoring leader at Ohio State, but found no sustained success at the next level. An athletic swingman with preternatural passing abilities and rebounding skills, Hopson was a hot commodity in the 1987 Draft, where he went third overall to New Jersey (two spots ahead of Pippen). After struggling through his first two seasons, Hopson seemed to be emerging to the brink of stardom in his third, leading the lowly Nets in scoring with 15.8 points per game. But the team was stuck at the bottom of the standings, and decided to jettison Hopson as part of a rebuilding project around Derrick Coleman. Added to a loaded Bulls roster via trade, Hopson had to suddenly adjust to not being an offensive focal point for the first time in his basketball career, and it didn’t play out particularly well. He spent most of his time at the end of Chicago’s bench, averaging just 11.9 minutes per game during the regular season, and a paltry 18 total minutes in five playoff games. That did include a brief turn in game two of the NBA Finals, a blowout win for Chicago over the Lakers. Though Hopson didn’t contribute much for the Bulls during games, he has been widely credited for using his athleticism to push Jordan during practices and scrimmages that season. After a contract dispute with the Bulls and a trade to Sacramento, Hopson opted to spend the rest of his pro career internationally, playing for teams across Europe and Asia until retiring in 2000.
28) Scott Burrell (1998)
Maybe the only teammate of Jordan's that could give him a run for the money in pure athleticism, Burrell was a three-sport star at his high school in Connecticut. In fact, he's the only athlete ever to be selected in the first round of two major pro sports drafts, when he was taken by the Mariners in the 1989 MLB Draft (as a pitcher) and the Hornets in the 1993 NBA Draft. (He was supposedly an NFL-caliber talent in football as well). The ’94-’95 season was shaping up to be a breakout one for Burrell until he tore his ACL that March, kicking off a long rehab from which he never fully recovered in terms of explosiveness or shooting legs. After a year with Golden State, Burrell was traded to the Bulls for Dickey Simpkins in 1997, as they needed some offense from the small forward position with Pippen sidelined by foot surgery. Burrell averaged just 13 minutes per game that season, but did appear in 80 regular season games and all 21 postseason games en route to a championship ring. This included a surprise 23-point performance off the bench in a first round series game against the Nets, and a near double-double in garbage time of a blowout win over Utah in game three of the NBA Finals. Like so much of the Bulls roster, Burrell was let go in the summer of 1998, and would eventually finish his NBA career back with Charlotte. After spending some time playing pro ball in Asia, Burrell returned to his native Connecticut to coach, and in 2015 took over the head position at Division II Southern Connecticut State.
27) Jason Caffey (1997)
Drafted by Chicago in 1995 out of Alabama, one season after the Bulls had selected the similarly sized and skilled Dicky Simpkins, Caffey was a staunch and versatile combo forward that still struggled to find minutes. He spent most of his rookie season stuck on the bench below Simpkins and Dennis Rodman on the depth chart, and was left off the playoff roster that year. He did see increased minutes in ’96-’97 due to Rodman missing extended time with injuries and suspensions. After averaging 7.3 points per game in the regular season, Caffey saw his playing time and output fluctuate wildly during the subsequent playoffs to match Rodman’s ongoing status in or out of Phil Jackson’s doghouse. Caffey actually started five games at power forward in that postseason, two in the first round against Washington and three in the second round against Atlanta, and even contributed a double-double, 10 points and 11 rebounds, in a win over the Hawks. Once the Bulls finished off Atlanta, Caffey quickly became a non-entity, playing less than 10 minutes in each of their Conference Finals and NBA Finals games. With Scott Burrell on the roster in ’97-’98 and Rodman seeming to get his act together enough to stay on the court consistently, Caffey became quickly obsolete for Chicago and was traded at the deadline to Golden State. Though he showed some flashes of impressive play from there (especially in his first season-and-a-half with the Warriors), Caffey started to struggle with anxiety attacks, which eventually forced him into an early retirement in 2003. Things haven’t exactly stabilized for Caffey since then, as he’s spent time in jail for assault and for missed child support payments.
26) Bill Wennington (1996, 1998)
Born in Quebec, and a member of the 1984 Canadian Olympic basketball team, Wennington is one of three foreign-born players to win titles with Jordan, along with Toni Kukoc and Luc Longley. Wennington was still playing internationally for Canada in the summer of 1992, when his team faced off against Jordan and Pippen and the U.S. Dream Team at the Tournament of the Americas Olympic qualifying event. At the time, Wennington was playing professionally in Italy, after a decent career at St. John’s (where he was teammates with Chris Mullin) led way to a forgettable five-year stint with the Mavericks. He was never a stat sheet filler or heavy contributor for the Bulls team that signed him in 1993, but he was still beloved by fans for his toughness and energy. In fact, Wennington became so popular locally that McDonald’s in the Chicago area released a new burger named the Beef Wennington (featuring, of course, a slice of Canadian bacon). He played on all three teams in the second run of Jordan titles, but missed the 1997 playoffs (and the first few weeks of the ’97-’98 season) with a foot injury. Perhaps Wennington’s most memorable performance of the era came in game five of the roughneck 1998 Eastern Conference Finals against Indiana, in which he managed to foul out in just 15 minutes of playing time. He was honored with a Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame induction in 2015.
25) Jud Buechler (1996, 1997, 1998)
Yes, he is the only player in NBA history ever named Jud. Born as Judson in San Diego, and nicknamed "The Judge" while starring in both basketball and volleyball at Arizona, Buechler may have hung around as a utility swingman for all three titles simply because Phil Jackson liked having a zen surfer type on the squad. Because, while certainly athletic and talented, Buechler was not a particularly useful player at the pro level, and he is notable for being the all-time leader in “trillions,” which is when a player logs time in a game without tallying any stats (the term comes from your box score line being your number of minutes followed by 15 zeroes to represent your empty stats). A late round pick of the Sonics in 1990, Buchler was traded on draft day to New Jersey not for a player, pick, or cash, but simply for a promise that the Nets wouldn’t draft Dennis Scott #1 overall (the Nets selected Derrick Coleman, and the Sonics used the second pick on Gary Payton instead, allowing Scott to fall to Orlando at #4. How this was all legal is beyond us). Buchler reached Chicago as a free agent in 1994, and got his most playing time with the team in that first Jordan-less season, coming off the bench at small forward behind Scottie Pippen. Though his playing time was sparing over the three title seasons, Buechler did appear in 51 playoff games, including one (appropriately stat-less) minute in the deciding game six against his drafters Seattle in the 1996 Finals. Released by Chicago in the 1998 summer roster purge, Buechler did hang around for a few more seasons with Detroit and Orlando before retiring in 2002 to return to Southern California to catch up on his surfing.
24) Randy Brown (1996, 1997, 1998)
Though many of his fellow former Jordan teammates have had their fair share of financial issues in retirement, Brown is the only verifiable case of a Bulls player selling his championship ring. After being fired as an assistant coach for Sacramento in 2009 and subsequently filing for bankruptcy, Brown auctioned off his three rings for a total of $58,000. That jewelry had been earned over the course of three straight season as Chicago’s backup point guard behind Ron Harper. Though Brown averaged just 6.1 minutes per game in the playoffs during that stretch, he did appear in all six NBA Finals games against Utah in 1997, and scored four points in a game one win. A second round pick of the Kings in 1991 out of New Mexico State, Brown spent four unmemorable seasons in Sacramento before signing with the Bulls in 1995. His playing time did increase in each of his first three seasons with the Bulls, and then exploded exponentially in ’98-’99, when Brown took over for Harper as the starter and averaged a career-high 8.8 points per game. Chicago born and bred, he would eventually return to the Bulls organization, who welcomed him back as a director of player management in 2009, even after he had sold his rings.
23) Stacey King (1991, 1992, 1993)
After a standout career at Oklahoma (including a trip to the 1988 Final Four), King was the sixth overall pick for the Bulls in the 1989 Draft, on the same day they later selected B.J. Armstrong. That the Bulls had such a high pick despite reaching the Conference Finals the year before was a result of compensation for Orlando Woolridge signing as a restricted free agent with the Nets in 1986, a move that also allowed Scottie Pippen to shift into the starting lineup. Standing 6'11" and weighing 230 pounds, King could play both power forward and center effectively, and saw solid minutes early in his career. Though he was typically the first big man off the bench during the regular season for his scoring, King was consistently buried in the rotation in the playoffs in favor of Cliff Levingston’s experience and Will Perdue’s rebounding and shot blocking. He did net some slowly increased playing time in three consecutive NBA Finals, eventually appearing in all six games in 1993 against Phoenix. Though King actually started some games at center in ’93-’94, filling in for a rapidly aging Bill Cartwright, he was traded at the deadline that season for Luc Longley, as the Bulls were looking for more size at the position. After retiring in 1997, King has since become a popular TV announcer for the Bulls, peppering his calls with memorable phrases and nicknames.
22) Bob Hansen (1992)
The only player on the '91-'92 Bulls team that hadn't been part of the '90-'91 title run, Hansen didn’t crack the rotation much for Chicago, but he did make one NBA Finals appearance that lives in basketball lore as a classic Phil Jackson motivation tool. Early in the fourth quarter of game six of the 1992 Finals, with the Bulls leading the series 3-2 but trailing Portland in the game by 15 points, Jackson chose to pull all his starters except for Scottie Pippen, including replacing Jordan with Hansen. It was a move that shocked everyone, but maybe most of all Hansen, who had barely seen the floor during those playoffs, and usually only in garbage time. But Hansen immediately fired up the Chicago crowd by hitting a three-pointer, followed by a steal and then assist on a Pippen basket that triggered a Portland timeout. Hansen returned to the sidelines and asked Jordan if he wanted to return. Jordan declined, possibly out of deference (but likely out of spite), and Hansen stayed on the court for several more minutes. Though he didn’t tally a single further point, steal, assist, or rebound, he had already triggered a 14-2 run by the Bulls to cut the lead to three points. Jordan then re-entered the game, reportedly telling Hansen “nice job, I’ll take it home,” which, of course, he did, as the Bulls finished off the series. During the celebration after the game, Jordan told reporters “I’m glad for Bobby Hansen,” an underhanded dig at the player and his coach, but also a possible indication that Jordan, ever searching for any motivation possible, had stored it somewhere in the recesses of his mind that the Bulls had to win a championship for the one guy that wasn’t on the roster the year before. It turned out to be the final game of Hansen’s career, most of which was spent as a defensive specialist on the Karl Malone/John Stockton Jazz teams of the late ‘80s.
21) Bison Dele (1997)
On a list jam packed with eccentric characters and intriguing post-career apologues, perhaps none is more aberrant than the curious case of Bison Dele. He came into the world as Brian Williams in Fresno, CA, son of Geno Williams, a long-time touring member of The Platters. 33 years and one name change later, Dele was missing somewhere in the South Pacific and presumed dead, possibly murdered by his own brother, Miles Dabord (nee Kevin Williams). In between, Dele was a basketball prodigy, first in high school in Santa Monica and later playing college ball and Maryland and Arizona. Orlando drafted him 10th overall in 1991, but scarcely deployed the talented and undersized center, and a later stop in Denver didn’t produce much more usage. After a breakout role with the Clippers in ’95-’96 yielded 15.8 points per game, Dele thought he could parlay that performance into his first big contract, but wound up sitting out most of the ’96-’97 season after being rebuked by several teams. Desperate for some front court depth after injuries to Dennis Rodman and Bill Wennington, the Bulls signed Dele in April of that season. Though he barely saw the court in the home stretch of the regular season, Dele became a rotation fixture during the playoffs, including netting a double-double (12 points and 10 rebounds) in a second round game against Atlanta and 16 points in an NBA Finals game versus Utah. After winning the championship with Chicago, Dele finally did get his big contract with Detroit, a seven year deal worth almost $50 million that was a head-scratcher even at the time. After two up-and-down seasons with the Pistons, during which he changed his name to honor his Cherokee heritage, Dele walked away from the last five years of his contract to retire at age 30. While reportedly in talks to return as a Laker in 2002 to reunite with Phil Jackson, Dele embarked on a boat trip with his brother, his girlfriend, and a captain, from Tahiti to Honolulu. The brother, Dabord, is the only passenger who made it to the final destination alive, aboard the ship titled Hakuna Matata. After Dabord committed suicide in police custody, it was determined that he had likely killed his brother and the other passengers and left their bodies somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, probably never to be found. Though Dele was not remembered as a great NBA player, he was memorialized as a thoughtful and kind free spirit, for whom basketball was just one of many interests and diversion.
20) Luc Longley (1996, 1997, 1998)
His legend in Australia started at the 1988 Olympics when a 19-year-old Longley was a member of the country’s first great Olympic basketball team (making good on the potential of his father, Richard, who unsuccessfully tried out twice for the national team), which lost in the Bronze Medal Game to David Robinson and the U.S.A. That legend grew in 1991, when Longley became the first Australian player ever drafted in the NBA, taken seventh overall by Minnesota. Longley starred for the national team again in 1992, leading them to the quarterfinals but never matching up against the U.S. Dream Team featuring his future pro teammates Jordan and Scottie Pippen (he did, however, play against Toni Kukoc and Croatia). The first few seasons of Longley’s NBA career were much less eventful than his time with the national squad, as he plodded in the paint for a Timberwolves team that was struggling to find an identity in the pre-Kevin Garnett era. At the trade deadline in 1994, Longley was dealt to a Chicago team looking for some brute interior force. By the start of the ’95-’96 season he had seized the starting center job, allowing the team to trade away Will Perdue for Dennis Rodman. His time with the Bulls was marked by a lot of missed games due to injury, but Longley started the majority of their playoff games during the title runs in 1996, 1997, and 1998. The peak of his Bulls tenure came in the 1996 playoffs, when Longley averaged 8.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game, including a career-high 19 points in game three of the NBA Finals against Seattle. Like so many Bulls players that joined the team during Jordan’s baseball sojourn, Longley had a difficult time adjusting to the superstar’s return. With a stereotypical laid back Australian personality, Longley would often draw Jordan’s steely ire for lapses of concentration, including one incident where Jordan threatened to bean him in the head with a basketball during practice. After retiring in 2001, Longley returned to his native country and faded from the spotlight into a quiet, private life until 2016, when he was coaxed into taking a coaching position with Australia’s men’s basketball team, whom he helped lead to a fourth place finish in the Rio Olympics.
19) Trent Tucker (1993)
A superlative three-point shooter who spent the majority of his career (and most of the '80s) on the Knicks, Tucker hit one of the most infamous shots in Bulls history three years before he actually played for the team. That shot came on MLK Day in 1990, when Tucker did something literally physically impossible: He made a game-winning three-point shot in the span of 0.1 seconds. The NBA had just begun using tenths of a second in its game clock that season, but had not yet considered how many tenths should be allowed for a player to legally catch and shoot the ball. The impossibility of doing it in one-tenth of a second was acknowledged later that season, when the NBA implemented the “Trent Tucker Rule” declaring that at least 0.3 seconds needed to be on the clock for a catch-and-shoot. Tucker’s shot, which sealed a Knicks win over Chicago, will therefore forever stand as the first and only time a player hit a three-pointer with 0.1 seconds remaining. After being traded away by the Knicks, then waived by the Suns and Spurs, Tucker made his way to Chicago right before the start of the ’92-’93 season. He wasn’t quite the same player as in his prime, but Tucker served ably as Jordan’s primary backup and a three-point specialist off the bench, roles that had been freed up by the 1992 retirements of Craig Hodges and Bob Hansen. His long range shooting in the playoffs was critical to Chicago’s title run, as Tucker hit 12-of-26 three-pointers from the field, good for 46.2%.
18) Will Perdue (1991, 1992, 1993)
In the minds of many Bulls fans, he helped contribute to all six titles, even though he was only on the roster for the first three. That’s because Perdue, coming off a decent season for the Bulls as a first-time starter in ’94-’95, was the man traded to San Antonio in exchange for Dennis Rodman. Perdue saw limited playing time as Bill Cartwright’s backup during the 1991, 1992, and 1993 title seasons, despite having joined the Bulls as a lottery pick in 1988 after a legendary career at Vanderbilt. (That pick had actually been acquired in the same trade that brought Cartwright over from New York in exchange for Charles Oakley). This lack of playing time became a point of contention between owner Jerry Krause, who wanted to see his lottery pick on the floor, and coach Phil Jackson, who felt that Perdue was too soft, especially on defense. Jordan evidently agreed with his coach, as one time during practice he was on the receiving end of an especially rough Perdue pick, and responded by punching his backup center in the face, not in retaliation, but in anger that Perdue didn’t set screens like that during games. (Jordan would supposedly also derisively refer to Perdue as “Will Vanderbilt”). Though his playing time was miniscule, Perdue’s rebounding efficiency was impressive, and he made the best of his time as a starter in ’94-’95 after Cartwright left as a free agent, with 8.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. (Side note: Between Perdue, Luc Longley, Bill Wennington, Greg Foster, and Larry Krystowiak, the ’94-’95 Bulls were arguably the biggest collection of tall, white stiffs in post-merger NBA history, a fact punctuated by this by this terrible shirt). After his trade to the Spurs, Perdue put in solid minutes backing up David Robinson, and won one more NBA title ring in 1999. He actually returned to the Bulls as a free agent for more season in ’99-’00, before retiring as a Trail Blazer in 2001.
17) Cliff Levingston (1991, 1992)
Like Trent Tucker and several other players on the list, Levingston put in his best years playing against Jordan and the Bulls for one of their biggest rivals. For Levingston, it was with Atlanta, where he was a starting forward alongside Dominique Wilkins in the mid-to-late ‘80s before losing his job to the emergent Kevin Willis. Needing some interior defensive toughness and veteran leadership, Chicago signed Levingston as a free agent in 1990. Though he played only sparingly during his first regular season with the Bulls, he put in some crucial minutes during the playoffs, where his battle-scarred mental toughness was an asset. Levingston added 10 points and eight rebounds to Chicago’s series-clinching game four win over Detroit in the 1991 Conference Finals, and contributed some crucial defensive pressure on James Worthy in the ensuing NBA Finals win over Los Angeles. Aging quickly thanks to his hard-nosed style, and with Scott Williams emerging as a younger, reliable front court option, Levingston saw his playing time dip sharply in his second season with the Bulls, but still made an appearance in all 22 playoff games that spring as he and the franchise won their second title. After some time playing in Europe, and a brief NBA comeback with the Nuggets in 1994, Levingston moved almost immediately moved into coaching upon retiring as a player. He has coached at the high school, pro, semi-pro, and national team level, including a stint with the Harlem Globetrotters.
16) Scott Williams (1991, 1992, 1993)
Aptly nicknamed “The Tank” for not just his physique but his toughness, Williams grew up in Southern California as a huge Lakers fan, and when his favorite team passed on him in the 1990 NBA Draft, he used that slight as a Jordan-esque motivator throughout his career. Despite having starred for Dean Smith at North Carolina, Williams actually went completely undrafted in 1990, with teams scared off by a shoulder injury he had nursed during his college career. He signed with the Bulls as a free agent later that summer, and slowly worked his way up the depth chart, eventually beating out more highly touted prospects like Will Perdue and Stacey King for playing time in the front court. Though Williams didn’t get to play much in the 1991 NBA Finals against his hometown team, he was a regular in the rotation by the time of the 1992 NBA Finals, with Phil Jackson relying on his shot blocking and mental fortitude. After winning a third title with the Bulls in 1993 but still stuck behind Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant in the depth chart, Williams was a hot trade commodity before he injured his knee during the 1993 preseason. He left Chicago the next summer to sign with the 76ers, but due to injuries and misuse never developed into more than a role player despite hanging around the league for 15 seasons.
15) Steve Kerr (1996, 1997, 1998)
Taking the metaphorical mantle from John Paxson, Kerr was Chicago’s second iteration of a reliable, sharp shooting guard who was especially dangerous in clutch situations and remembered mainly for an NBA Finals winning shot. A far cry from even the loosest translation of the word athletic, Kerr’s leadership and long-range accuracy made him an asset, and despite always starting the game on the bench he was typically on the floor for the Bulls in crunch time. His father, Malcolm, was a well-known political scientist and academic specializing in the Middle East, and Steve spent much of his childhood in Lebanon and Egypt before playing college ball at Arizona. Though he put together a stellar college career, Kerr was lightly regarded by pro scouts as a "tweener," and fell to the Suns with the final pick of the second round in 1988. After several mildly successful seasons in Phoenix, Cleveland (with whom he matched up against Jordan and the Bulls in the 1992 Conference Finals) and Orlando, Kerr signed in 1993 with a Bulls team that had a sudden huge gap at shooting guard, not just due to Jordan's retirement, but also the departure of Trent Tucker. His first two seasons were spent mainly as an understudy to Pete Myers, for some reason, though Kerr managed to lead the NBA in three-point field goal percentage in ’94-’95. His big NBA Finals moment came in game six in 1997 against Utah. With the score tied 86-86 and just seconds left on the clock, Kerr took a pass from a triple-teamed Jordan and hit a series clinching baseline jumper (Scottie Pippen would put it away on the ensuing possession by stealing the inbounds pass from Bryon Russell). It was an especially impressive shot by Kerr when considering that it was only his 25th field goal attempt of the series, and he had finished two of the previous Finals games scoreless. After winning three titles with Chicago, Kerr was traded to the Spurs in the aftermath of Jordan’s retirement, and in 1999 became just the second non-Bill Russell Celtics player in NBA history to win four consecutive titles (joining Frank Saul, who won the 1951 title with the Rochester Royals, and the next three as a member of the Minneapolis Lakers). Having won a fifth title with the Spurs in 2003 before retiring, Kerr now has eight rings total thanks to his three additional championships as coach of the Warriors.
14) Darrell Walker (1993)
Such a well-rounded player that he came relatively close to averaging a triple-double for the Bullets in ’89-’90 with 9.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 8.0 assists per game, Walker was at the end of his long career when he signed with Chicago late in the ’92-’93 season. His best years mostly came early on with the Knicks, who drafted Walker #12 overall in 1983 out of Arkansas, and started him at point guard almost immediately. He was more of a pure scorer early in his career, with 13.5 PPG in ’84-’85, but developed his all-around game over subsequent stops with Denver, Washington, and Detroit. A terrific defender, artful passer, sneaky rebounder, and savvy playmaker, Walker always seemed to make his teams better without ever stealing much of the spotlight. After a couple years on the opposite side of the Bulls’ rivalry with the Pistons, playing as Isiah Thomas’ backup in the waning days of the “Bad Boys,” Walker was waived early in the ’92-’93 season and looking for a job. After John Paxson hit the injured list right before the All-Star break, the Bulls signed Walker twice, first to a 10-day contract and later for the rest of the season. Filling in some minutes here and there to provide back court depth, he occasionally flashed signs of his old self, including a strong late February performance sticking it to his old Detroit teammates. Though Paxson was back on time for the playoffs, Walker did make the postseason roster, albeit in a limited role, logging just 22 minutes over nine games, most of it in garbage time. He retired as a champion after the season, and three years later took over as head coach of the Raptors, leading his team to an upset of Chicago in his first game coaching against Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
13) Craig Hodges (1991, 1992)
Though his contributions to the 1991 and 1992 titles were minimal, Hodges is one of the most memorable of Jordan’s teammates, both for his precise long range shooting and his outspoken political views. Undersized at 6'2" for his natural shooting guard position, Hodges was lightly recruited out of high school and ended up matriculating at Long Beach State, where he played under triangle offense inventor and future Bulls assistant coach Tex Winter. In early pro career stops with the Clippers and Bucks, he developed a reputation as one of the league’s deadliest three-point shooters but also one of its worst perimeter defenders. He led the league in three-point shooting percentage twice, and appeared in the first eight All-Star Three-Point Shootout competitions, ultimately winning the grand prize three straight times between 1990 and 1992. But Hodges couldn’t hang on to his starting job in Milwaukee due to his mediocre defensive skills, and after a brief, lackluster stint with Phoenix, he signed as a free agent with Chicago in 1988. Coming off the bench at both guard positions in ’88-’89, Hodges led the team in every relevant three-point shooting category that season, but started to slowly lose playing time in subsequent years after the Bulls drafted a player with a similar size and skill set in B.J. Armstrong. Hodges did appear in all 17 playoff games in the 1991 title run, including a 16-point performance in a first round win over New York. After barely seeing the floor during the 1992 postseason that ended in another title, Hodges was cut by the Bulls and, finding no other NBA team willing to sign him, wound up playing for several years in Europe. Always forthright in his opinions, he closely associated with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, called out Jordan for not better using his fame for sociopolitical clout, and wore a Dashiki to the White House as a protest against George Bush when the Bulls were invited in 1991. He would eventually sue the NBA, alleging that the Bulls cut him due to his public political beliefs, and the rest of the league blackballed him in ownership solidarity. Hodges lost the lawsuit, but eventually found further employment in the NBA with the Lakers, earning two more championship rings as a special assistant to coach Phil Jackson.
12) John Salley (1996)
Nicknamed "The Spider" for his spindly appearance and sneaky blocked shots, Salley was a career role player that holds two intriguing distinctions when it comes to winning NBA championships: 1) He's one of only two players in NBA history, along with Robert Horry, to win titles with three separate franchises, and 2) he is also one of only two players in NBA history, along with Tim Duncan, to win titles in three separate decades. Before coming to the Bulls in 1996, Salley was a bit of a public enemy in Chicago, having served as one of their biggest nuisances while he was a member of the rival Pistons. He was a key reserve on the Detroit teams that defeated Chicago in three straight postseasons, and won back-to-back NBA titles in 1989 and 1990. He was also still there in 1991, when the Bulls finally toppled the Pistons in the Conference Finals, when most of Detroit’s players refused to stay on the court to shake hands in the aftermath (to his credit, Salley was apparently not one of them, and stayed out there to congratulate and encourage the Bulls). After short stops in Miami and Toronto, he made his way to the Bulls late in the ’95-’96 season, after Bill Wennington had been placed on injured reserve. Joining a roster that included his former Detroit teammates Dennis Rodman and James Edwards, Salley provided more in veteran leadership than he did in actual court contributions, especially after Wennington came back. But he did take the floor some during the postseason, including in five of the six NBA Finals games as Chicago defeated Seattle. After playing one season in Greece and then officially retiring, Salley was coaxed back by Phil Jackson to play sparing minutes for the Lakers in ’99-’00 to earn his fourth championship ring. Thanks to a bombastic personality, he has since become a staple on sports radio and television, and recently defending the honor of the ’95-’96 Bulls, claiming that they would win in a series against the ’16-’17 Warriors title team.
11) John Paxson (1991, 1992, 1993)
One of the most indelible moments of Jordan’s career technically came on a play that had almost nothing to do with him. When we think now of Jordan's retirements, we first think of his series-winning shot against the Jazz in 1998, a lasting moment of triumph seared into the retinas of Jordan fans and detractors alike, and still living on in highlights packages and Gatorade commercials. But the first time Jordan went out on a high note was in 1993, and the final shot that would seal his third straight title came not from M.J. himself, but from an aging role player, John Paxson. In a basketball life that started out in little Kettering, Ohio, Paxson wasn’t even the best player on his driveway court. That honor belonged to his older brother Jim, who would eventually become an All-Star with the Blazers. But John was a solid player in his own right, a two-time All-American at Notre Dame who was drafted by San Antonio in the first round in 1983. He joined Chicago in 1985 as a free agent, quickly taking over the starting point guard job from Kyle Macy to become a mainstay in the back court with Jordan. Always more of a shooter than a distributer, Paxson adjusted to life with Jordan and Scottie Pippen by saving his best moments for the clutch, when his two superstar teammates were double or triple teamed. He once sank an impressive 41 consecutive free throws in postseason games, and poured in 20 points against the Lakers in the clinching game five of the 1991 NBA Finals. But the biggest moment came in game six of the 1993 NB Finals versus the Suns. With 14 seconds left on the clock and Phoenix leading by two, Jordan, who had up until then scored every Bulls fourth quarter point, brought the ball up the court and handed it off to Pippen. A quick drive to the basket from Pippen necessitated a double-team from Phoenix’s Danny Ainge, which left Paxson wide open in the corner. Paxson took the pass from Pippen and hit the biggest shot of his life, putting Chicago ahead 99-98 and finishing off the series. After retiring, Paxson eventually became general manager of the Bulls from 2003 to 2009, and it’s been rumored that during that time he lobbied Jordan to come back and coach the team.
10) B.J. Armstrong (1991, 1992, 1993)
The first player drafted by the Bulls after Phil Jackson took over as coach for Doug Collins, Armstrong was considered an immediate rotation replacement for the disappointing Craig Hodges, with potential to be the team’s future floor general and third scoring option. He was Chicago’s leading scorer off the bench for the teams that won titles in 1991 and 1992, including a breakout 18 point, 10 assist performance against the Knicks in a first round game in 1991. In fact, Armstrong seemed to always save his best playoff exploits for the Knicks, for whatever reason, also dropping 18 points on them in a 1992 second round series, and 16 points in game one of the 1993 Conference Finals. ’92-’93 was his true breakout year with Chicago, as he took over for John Paxson in the starting lineup and led the team in three-point field goal percentage as they won a third straight title. Though Paxson is widely remembered as the non-Jordan, non-Scottie Pippen hero of the 1993 NBA Finals due to his series winning shot, Armstrong also endeared himself forever to Bulls fans by setting the tone for the series by shoving Kevin Johnson to the ground during a scuffle, and then scoring 18 points in that clinching game six. After Jordan’s retirement opened up scoring opportunities, Armstrong had a career year in ’93-’94, including his first and only All-Star appearance. Just months after Jordan returned from baseball and the Bulls became title favorites again, Armstrong was selected by the Raptors in their expansion draft and subsequently traded to Golden State. He eventually returned to Chicago for the ’99-’00 season and retired as a member of the Bulls. One final piece of trivia: He was the last Bulls player to wear jersey #10, as it was retired by the team in 1994, in honor of Bob Love. When Rodman joined the roster soon after, he had to switch from his traditional #10 jersey and went with 91, because 9 + 1 = 10.
9) James Edwards (1996)
One of the longest tenured players in NBA history, Edwards had already logged more than 28,000 minutes in 1,140 games over the course of a 18-year career when he joined the Bulls for his final season in '95-'96. He won two titles with the Pistons in 1989 and 1990, coming off the bench at the power forward and center positions, and had already spent a decade in the league before that. That included a statistical peak in ’81-’82, when he averaged 16.7 points and 7.5 rebounds per game for an infamously terrible Cavs team that employed four coaches during the course of the season. Like his fellow Pistons and Bulls teammate John Salley, Edwards had a reputation as one of the few good guys on the “Bad Boy” Pistons, which helped him win over Jordan and Scottie Pippen, who were still scarred from their early ‘90s battles against Detroit. In fact, Edwards continued his reputation on the Bulls as a consummate locker room guy, with his jovial demeanor that led to his “Buddha” nickname. This seemed to bely his aggressive court style, as he retired in the top ten all time in personal fouls committed. Edwards’ time with the Bulls came after he was cut by Portland during the ’95-’96 preseason. Having sent away Will Perdue in exchange for Dennis Rodman, the Bulls needed some front court depth, and maybe more importantly could use a “Dennis Rodman whisperer,” so to speak. After playing in just 28 regular season games and six playoff contests to earn his third championship ring, Edwards retired to move back to his hometown of Seattle.
8) Rodney McCray (1993)
Part of the famed 1980 "Doctors of Dunk" Louisville NCAA Championship team (along with his brother, Scooter), McCray was considered a can’t-miss prospect when the Rockets drafted him third overall in 1983 (a compensation pick from the Sixers for signing Moses Malone). McCray never quite developed into a star player, but made a solid career as a glue guy who can do all the little things, especially defensively and on the boards. He was one of the more soft-spoken members of the outlandish "Twin Towers" Rockets who made a shocking run to the 1986 NBA Finals, then fell apart in a flurry of injuries and suspensions. From the small forward position, McCray was the Rockets' second-leading scorer and rebounder behind Hakeem Olajuwon in the '86-'87 and '87-'88 seasons, while also being named to two All-Defensive teams. He was traded by the Rockets in 1988 as part of a rebuilding program and never found the same success in stints with some awful Sacramento and Dallas teams. Traded in 1992 to the Bulls, McCray struggled to fit in with Jordan and Scottie Pippen, who were somehow rubbed the wrong way by their unassuming new teammate. Further adding to his difficulties was an abdominal injury that would eventually force McCray to retire at the end of the season. He played in spurts in the regular season, but was buried on the bench in the playoffs, scoring just two total points in garbage time across seven games of action.
7) Bill Cartwright (1991, 1992, 1993)
After a first round loss to the Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish Celtics in 1987, and a second round loss to Bill Laimbeer and Rick Mahorn’s Pistons in 1988, the Bulls were in need of a front court revamp to contend with the Eastern Conference powers. Comprised at the time of the ancient Artis Gilmore, the stiff Dave Corzine, the talented-but-raw Charles Oakley, and the Jordan-detested Brad Sellers (he supposedly harbored resentment towards Sellers because the Bulls had drafted him over Jordan’s friend, Johnny Dawkins), Chicago decided to shake things up in the summer of 1988. They traded Oakley and some draft picks to the Knicks for a first round pick that they used on star Vanderbilt center Will Perdue, and for the tough, veteran center Bill Cartwright (the move also freed up rotation space for a young Horace Grant). When the Knicks had drafted Cartwright nine years earlier with the third overall pick, they had dreams of the next Willis Reed taking the floor. Instead they got a solid but unspectacular performer who was quickly brushed aside after the addition of Patrick Ewing. Though Cartwright was no All-Star level talent, he was a perfect fit for the Bulls triangle offense. But that wasn’t enough to win over Jordan, who was seething over the franchise sending away his best friend, Oakley. In a surprise to no one, Jordan took that anger out on Cartwright, referring to him openly as “Medical Bill” in reference to his injury history, and making attempts to belittle and degrade him regularly in practice. This lasted for a while until the 7'1", 245 pound Cartwright threatened to break Jordan’s legs during practice, and that was the end of that. With a begrudging respect from Jordan earned, and a surgically repaired knee fully recovered, Cartwright finally reached his potential with the Bulls in ’90-’91, a key reason that they won their first title that season. He averaged just 7.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in his three playoff title runs with the team, but Cartwright’s impact in the paint was mostly measured in intangibles, especially his defense against Brad Daugherty, Bill Laimbeer, and his Knicks usurper, Ewing. Jordan would even eventually acknowledge that Cartwright was the ultimate difference maker for the ’90-’91 Bulls championship, and that he was wrong to castigate his center at the time. After winning three championships with Chicago as a player, Cartwright earned two more as an assistant coach in 1997 and 1998. He then eventually became head coach for the Bulls in 2001, and later spent some time coaching the Mexican national team.
6) Ron Harper (1996, 1997, 1998)
An offensive focal point for the first half of his career, Harper was reborn in the second half as the epitome of the Phil Jackson-Tex Winter triangle offense point guard. Oversized, defensively solid, and able to create his own offense when called upon, Harper was actually meant to take over Chicago’s shooting guard spot in the starting lineup when he signed with the team in 1994, but quickly lost his job when Jordan came back. After B.J. Armstrong was selected in Toronto’s expansion draft, Harper shifted over to point guard and displayed a preternatural knack for the position. It was a bit of a surprising revelation for anyone who had tracked his career up to that point. A scoring machine at Miami (OH), he was considered a potential franchise savior when his hometown Cavs drafted him in 1986. Joining a young roster that included Brad Daugherty and Mark Price, Harper seemed poised to become the latest team fixture, but was shockingly traded away in 1989 (right after Cleveland had been eliminated by Jordan’s “The Shot” in the playoffs) by general manager Wayne Embry, who claimed that Harper’s partying and drug use were a distraction (accusations he has always denied). After several years scoring loads of points in the NBA version of purgatory, playing for the ‘90s Clippers, Harper wasn’t exactly a hot property by the time he signed with Chicago. The change in expectations after Jordan came back ended up being a blessing in disguise, as he remade himself as the team’s third or fourth scoring option for three championship runs. Jackson became so enamored with Harper that he would recruit him back a couple years later to steadily lead the Lakers to championships in 2000 and 2001.
5) Toni Kukoc (1996, 1997, 1998)
The story is eminent legend nowadays, but was simply clinical vengeance at the time. In one locker room sat Jordan and Scottie Pippen, longtime Bulls teammates and now cohorts on the U.S. Olympic Dream Team. In the other locker room was "him." Kukoc. The man who was already a hero at age 23 in his newly formed native Croatia. The man nicknamed "White Magic" and "The Croatian Sensation." The man that had already won several European pro titles and was named one of FIBA's 50 all-time greatest European players. The man that Bulls general manager Jerry Krause had been openly recruiting and talking up for years now, drawing the ire of his current superstars (while Jordan was notably remarking that he would not assist in wooing Kukoc because he didn't "speak any Yugoslavian"). When Team U.S.A. and Croatia met in their pool play match, the seemingly oblivious Kukoc was relentlessly hounded by Jordan and Pippen in an easy American victory. When Kukoc finally joined the Bulls in 1993, three years after they had drafted him, Jordan was gone but Pippen was still there. And Pippen was given plenty of further ammo to resent Kukoc, after Phil Jackson drew up a playoff game-winning shot for the Croatian rookie, while the petulant Pippen sulked on the bench in protest. When Jordan returned a year later, Kukoc was still fighting an uphill battle winning over both of his star teammates, but luckily he shared one key thing in common with them: A sociopathic desire to succeed at any cost. Kukoc also sported a willingness to play whatever role was necessary to make it happen, and accepted his move to the bench in ’95-’96 to accommodate the newly acquired Dennis Rodman, eventually winning Sixth Man of the Year. Kukoc was third on the Bulls in scoring during each of the 1996, 1997, and 1998 title seasons. His best playoff performance in that stretch came near the end, when he poured in 30 points in a losing effort in game five of the 1998 NBA Finals. Often called the team’s “X-Factor” by Phil Jackson, Kukoc hung around one more season with the Bulls, taking over the role as leading scorer in ’98-’99. Still living in Chicago today, Kukoc has become an avid golfer, and in a twist no one could have predicted in 1992, a frequent links partner of Jordan.
4) Horace Grant (1991, 1992, 1993)
After winning ACC Player of the Year at Clemson, Grant was the other forward selected by the Bulls in the 1987 NBA Draft, taken five spots after Scottie Pippen. It’s not particularly fair to compare the bespectacled giant’s contributions to that of Pippen’s, but there’s no doubt Grant had an indelible impact on the first three Chicago titles. Noted mainly for his defense, which earned him four All-Defensive team selections, and rebounding, Grant was also an underrated efficient paint scorer, and consistently the third option behind Jordan and Pippen. His first season was spent stuck on the bench behind the established and similarly skilled Charles Oakley, but Grant got his chance in the starting lineup after Oakley was dealt away for Bill Cartwright. Considering his hard-nosed style of play, and the fact that his teams not just in Chicago, but also in later stops in Orlando and Los Angeles, often played deep into the postseason, it’s impressive that he was a consistent starting power forward for 13 consecutive seasons. Though we know now that he was reticent about playing third banana in Chicago, it didn’t really come into focus until Jordan’s 1993 retirement. Taking on a larger role in the offense, Grant was the second leading scorer behind Pippen in ’93-’94 and an All-Star, but was still unhappy about his contract. He inked a huge deal with the Magic in 1994, and teamed up on the frontline with Shaquille O’Neal on the Orlando team that defeated Chicago in the 1995 playoffs en route to a Finals appearance. Grant was terrific in that series, especially in game five, when he led Orlando with 24 points and added 13 rebounds in a crucial win. He would eventually reunite with Phil Jackson in 2000, playing his final season as a deep bench role player for the championship Lakers.
3) Dennis Rodman (1996, 1997, 1998)
It's easy to forget how controversial the Bulls' trade for Rodman was at the time. His contributions on the floor during his time with Detroit and San Antonio were undeniable. Rodman was the league’s pre-emanate rebounder, and able to defend almost anyone in the post, including guys much bigger than him. But his activities off the court were irrefutable as well, garnering him a reputation as an aloof, alcoholic party animal with mounting legal troubles and a growing tabloid headline collection. Rodman was also one of the poster boys of the “Bad Boy” Pistons that had vexed and antagonized Jordan and the Bulls in the late ‘80s. Despite all the baggage, he mostly fit in seamlessly with Chicago, and was an indispensable piece of all three of their championship teams on which he played. Proving himself to be astute, and a quick adapter to the triangle offense, Rodman quickly endeared himself to coach Phil Jackson, who in turn allowed him plenty of leeway in his behavior and attitude. Averaging an almost inconceivable 15.2 rebounds per game in his three seasons in Chicago, he continued his run of seven straight seasons leading the NBA in that statistic. Even more than his rebounding though, it was his defense, especially on Karl Malone, that may have been the true x-factor in Chicago’s titles. Mixing in mind game tricks with his alien physicality, Rodman seemed to especially revel in torturing Malone during the 1997 and 1998 NBA Finals. Though the ends seemed to justify the means, it certainly wasn’t all flowers and roses for Rodman and the Bulls. Fans and local sportswriters seemed to be calling for his head on a stick every time he missed time due to a mysterious injury or illness (often attributed to drinking and/or drug use), or became a supposed off-court “distraction” with his comments and behaviors (including during the 1997 NBA Finals when he made several disparaging remarks about the Mormon population in Salt Lake City, ultimately drawing a $50,000 fine). In the end, you could make a convincing argument that the Bulls wouldn’t have won those three titles without Rodman’s play, and a counterargument that they were so good they won them in spite of his attitude and antics. Either way, his talent was undeniable, and in 2011, thanks in large part to the lobbying of Scottie Pippen, Rodman was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame.
2) Robert Parish (1997)
1) Scottie Pippen (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998)
Well, no real surprise here. Drafted by Seattle with the fifth overall pick in '87, despite playing at obscure Central Arkansas (where he was originally a walk-on), Pippen was immediately dealt to the Bulls for Olden Polynice. For all but one of the next 11 years he served as Jordan's second banana, in a sometimes contentious, sometimes ebullient, often symbiotic relationship that really has no other parallel in the world of major sports. The two would often play one-on-one games well after official practice had ended, honing their respective skills and smoothing their competitive edges. Pippen’s one full season on the Bulls away from Jordan, in '93-'94, was probably the greatest and worst of his career. Posting career highs in points, assists, and steals per game (he led the entire league in the latter), Pippen was named All-Star Game MVP and led what was expected to be an overwhelmed and shell-shocked Chicago team to the East’s third best record. But that season also contained Pippen’s most infamous moment, his sullen refusal to leave the bench in a playoff game against New York after Phil Jackson selected Toni Kukoc to take the game deciding shot. Chicago won that game but lost the series, and Pippen took most of the blame, to the point when he was the subject of serious trade rumors until Jordan declared that Pippen being on the roster was a condition of his return from retirement. A fourth, fifth, and sixth championship later, Pippen was a legend forever in Chicago, and his Hall of Fame plaque was already etched. Now living in Los Angeles, where his son, Scottie, Jr., is a high school basketball phenom, Pippen occasionally makes headlines for his comments on his relationship with Jordan, or his opinions on Jordan vs. LeBron, or the ‘90s Bulls vs. the current Warriors.
30) Dickey Simpkins (1998)
Drafted by the Bulls in 1994, during Jordan’s baseball vacation, Simpkins was expected to provide near term front court depth and possibly a long term replacement for the departed Horace Grant. Instead he soon found himself buried on the depth chart behind the tireless Dennis Rodman and despite appearing in 108 games between the ’95-’96 and ’96-’97 seasons, including 12 starts, Simpkins didn’t make a single playoff appearance in either of those title seasons. After getting traded to and waived by the Warriors, Simpkins returned to Chicago as a free agent in March of 1998, and finally logged some postseason minutes that spring, including some garbage time during the NBA Finals against Utah. After Jordan, Pippen and Rodman departed, Simpkins did actually start to make good on some of his promising talent during the ’98-’99 season, leading Chicago in rebounding, but he was relegated back to the bench the next season as the team started to rebuild around Elton Brand. He spent six more years playing professionally in eight different countries before finally retiring. A graduate of Providence, Simpkins recently took a position as an Fox Sports color commentator for Big East basketball.
29) Dennis Hopson (1991)
Arguably the most lost/wasted potential on this list, Hopson was an All-American and NCAA scoring leader at Ohio State, but found no sustained success at the next level. An athletic swingman with preternatural passing abilities and rebounding skills, Hopson was a hot commodity in the 1987 Draft, where he went third overall to New Jersey (two spots ahead of Pippen). After struggling through his first two seasons, Hopson seemed to be emerging to the brink of stardom in his third, leading the lowly Nets in scoring with 15.8 points per game. But the team was stuck at the bottom of the standings, and decided to jettison Hopson as part of a rebuilding project around Derrick Coleman. Added to a loaded Bulls roster via trade, Hopson had to suddenly adjust to not being an offensive focal point for the first time in his basketball career, and it didn’t play out particularly well. He spent most of his time at the end of Chicago’s bench, averaging just 11.9 minutes per game during the regular season, and a paltry 18 total minutes in five playoff games. That did include a brief turn in game two of the NBA Finals, a blowout win for Chicago over the Lakers. Though Hopson didn’t contribute much for the Bulls during games, he has been widely credited for using his athleticism to push Jordan during practices and scrimmages that season. After a contract dispute with the Bulls and a trade to Sacramento, Hopson opted to spend the rest of his pro career internationally, playing for teams across Europe and Asia until retiring in 2000.
28) Scott Burrell (1998)
Maybe the only teammate of Jordan's that could give him a run for the money in pure athleticism, Burrell was a three-sport star at his high school in Connecticut. In fact, he's the only athlete ever to be selected in the first round of two major pro sports drafts, when he was taken by the Mariners in the 1989 MLB Draft (as a pitcher) and the Hornets in the 1993 NBA Draft. (He was supposedly an NFL-caliber talent in football as well). The ’94-’95 season was shaping up to be a breakout one for Burrell until he tore his ACL that March, kicking off a long rehab from which he never fully recovered in terms of explosiveness or shooting legs. After a year with Golden State, Burrell was traded to the Bulls for Dickey Simpkins in 1997, as they needed some offense from the small forward position with Pippen sidelined by foot surgery. Burrell averaged just 13 minutes per game that season, but did appear in 80 regular season games and all 21 postseason games en route to a championship ring. This included a surprise 23-point performance off the bench in a first round series game against the Nets, and a near double-double in garbage time of a blowout win over Utah in game three of the NBA Finals. Like so much of the Bulls roster, Burrell was let go in the summer of 1998, and would eventually finish his NBA career back with Charlotte. After spending some time playing pro ball in Asia, Burrell returned to his native Connecticut to coach, and in 2015 took over the head position at Division II Southern Connecticut State.
27) Jason Caffey (1997)
Drafted by Chicago in 1995 out of Alabama, one season after the Bulls had selected the similarly sized and skilled Dicky Simpkins, Caffey was a staunch and versatile combo forward that still struggled to find minutes. He spent most of his rookie season stuck on the bench below Simpkins and Dennis Rodman on the depth chart, and was left off the playoff roster that year. He did see increased minutes in ’96-’97 due to Rodman missing extended time with injuries and suspensions. After averaging 7.3 points per game in the regular season, Caffey saw his playing time and output fluctuate wildly during the subsequent playoffs to match Rodman’s ongoing status in or out of Phil Jackson’s doghouse. Caffey actually started five games at power forward in that postseason, two in the first round against Washington and three in the second round against Atlanta, and even contributed a double-double, 10 points and 11 rebounds, in a win over the Hawks. Once the Bulls finished off Atlanta, Caffey quickly became a non-entity, playing less than 10 minutes in each of their Conference Finals and NBA Finals games. With Scott Burrell on the roster in ’97-’98 and Rodman seeming to get his act together enough to stay on the court consistently, Caffey became quickly obsolete for Chicago and was traded at the deadline to Golden State. Though he showed some flashes of impressive play from there (especially in his first season-and-a-half with the Warriors), Caffey started to struggle with anxiety attacks, which eventually forced him into an early retirement in 2003. Things haven’t exactly stabilized for Caffey since then, as he’s spent time in jail for assault and for missed child support payments.
26) Bill Wennington (1996, 1998)
Born in Quebec, and a member of the 1984 Canadian Olympic basketball team, Wennington is one of three foreign-born players to win titles with Jordan, along with Toni Kukoc and Luc Longley. Wennington was still playing internationally for Canada in the summer of 1992, when his team faced off against Jordan and Pippen and the U.S. Dream Team at the Tournament of the Americas Olympic qualifying event. At the time, Wennington was playing professionally in Italy, after a decent career at St. John’s (where he was teammates with Chris Mullin) led way to a forgettable five-year stint with the Mavericks. He was never a stat sheet filler or heavy contributor for the Bulls team that signed him in 1993, but he was still beloved by fans for his toughness and energy. In fact, Wennington became so popular locally that McDonald’s in the Chicago area released a new burger named the Beef Wennington (featuring, of course, a slice of Canadian bacon). He played on all three teams in the second run of Jordan titles, but missed the 1997 playoffs (and the first few weeks of the ’97-’98 season) with a foot injury. Perhaps Wennington’s most memorable performance of the era came in game five of the roughneck 1998 Eastern Conference Finals against Indiana, in which he managed to foul out in just 15 minutes of playing time. He was honored with a Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame induction in 2015.
25) Jud Buechler (1996, 1997, 1998)
Yes, he is the only player in NBA history ever named Jud. Born as Judson in San Diego, and nicknamed "The Judge" while starring in both basketball and volleyball at Arizona, Buechler may have hung around as a utility swingman for all three titles simply because Phil Jackson liked having a zen surfer type on the squad. Because, while certainly athletic and talented, Buechler was not a particularly useful player at the pro level, and he is notable for being the all-time leader in “trillions,” which is when a player logs time in a game without tallying any stats (the term comes from your box score line being your number of minutes followed by 15 zeroes to represent your empty stats). A late round pick of the Sonics in 1990, Buchler was traded on draft day to New Jersey not for a player, pick, or cash, but simply for a promise that the Nets wouldn’t draft Dennis Scott #1 overall (the Nets selected Derrick Coleman, and the Sonics used the second pick on Gary Payton instead, allowing Scott to fall to Orlando at #4. How this was all legal is beyond us). Buchler reached Chicago as a free agent in 1994, and got his most playing time with the team in that first Jordan-less season, coming off the bench at small forward behind Scottie Pippen. Though his playing time was sparing over the three title seasons, Buechler did appear in 51 playoff games, including one (appropriately stat-less) minute in the deciding game six against his drafters Seattle in the 1996 Finals. Released by Chicago in the 1998 summer roster purge, Buechler did hang around for a few more seasons with Detroit and Orlando before retiring in 2002 to return to Southern California to catch up on his surfing.
24) Randy Brown (1996, 1997, 1998)
Though many of his fellow former Jordan teammates have had their fair share of financial issues in retirement, Brown is the only verifiable case of a Bulls player selling his championship ring. After being fired as an assistant coach for Sacramento in 2009 and subsequently filing for bankruptcy, Brown auctioned off his three rings for a total of $58,000. That jewelry had been earned over the course of three straight season as Chicago’s backup point guard behind Ron Harper. Though Brown averaged just 6.1 minutes per game in the playoffs during that stretch, he did appear in all six NBA Finals games against Utah in 1997, and scored four points in a game one win. A second round pick of the Kings in 1991 out of New Mexico State, Brown spent four unmemorable seasons in Sacramento before signing with the Bulls in 1995. His playing time did increase in each of his first three seasons with the Bulls, and then exploded exponentially in ’98-’99, when Brown took over for Harper as the starter and averaged a career-high 8.8 points per game. Chicago born and bred, he would eventually return to the Bulls organization, who welcomed him back as a director of player management in 2009, even after he had sold his rings.
23) Stacey King (1991, 1992, 1993)
After a standout career at Oklahoma (including a trip to the 1988 Final Four), King was the sixth overall pick for the Bulls in the 1989 Draft, on the same day they later selected B.J. Armstrong. That the Bulls had such a high pick despite reaching the Conference Finals the year before was a result of compensation for Orlando Woolridge signing as a restricted free agent with the Nets in 1986, a move that also allowed Scottie Pippen to shift into the starting lineup. Standing 6'11" and weighing 230 pounds, King could play both power forward and center effectively, and saw solid minutes early in his career. Though he was typically the first big man off the bench during the regular season for his scoring, King was consistently buried in the rotation in the playoffs in favor of Cliff Levingston’s experience and Will Perdue’s rebounding and shot blocking. He did net some slowly increased playing time in three consecutive NBA Finals, eventually appearing in all six games in 1993 against Phoenix. Though King actually started some games at center in ’93-’94, filling in for a rapidly aging Bill Cartwright, he was traded at the deadline that season for Luc Longley, as the Bulls were looking for more size at the position. After retiring in 1997, King has since become a popular TV announcer for the Bulls, peppering his calls with memorable phrases and nicknames.
22) Bob Hansen (1992)
The only player on the '91-'92 Bulls team that hadn't been part of the '90-'91 title run, Hansen didn’t crack the rotation much for Chicago, but he did make one NBA Finals appearance that lives in basketball lore as a classic Phil Jackson motivation tool. Early in the fourth quarter of game six of the 1992 Finals, with the Bulls leading the series 3-2 but trailing Portland in the game by 15 points, Jackson chose to pull all his starters except for Scottie Pippen, including replacing Jordan with Hansen. It was a move that shocked everyone, but maybe most of all Hansen, who had barely seen the floor during those playoffs, and usually only in garbage time. But Hansen immediately fired up the Chicago crowd by hitting a three-pointer, followed by a steal and then assist on a Pippen basket that triggered a Portland timeout. Hansen returned to the sidelines and asked Jordan if he wanted to return. Jordan declined, possibly out of deference (but likely out of spite), and Hansen stayed on the court for several more minutes. Though he didn’t tally a single further point, steal, assist, or rebound, he had already triggered a 14-2 run by the Bulls to cut the lead to three points. Jordan then re-entered the game, reportedly telling Hansen “nice job, I’ll take it home,” which, of course, he did, as the Bulls finished off the series. During the celebration after the game, Jordan told reporters “I’m glad for Bobby Hansen,” an underhanded dig at the player and his coach, but also a possible indication that Jordan, ever searching for any motivation possible, had stored it somewhere in the recesses of his mind that the Bulls had to win a championship for the one guy that wasn’t on the roster the year before. It turned out to be the final game of Hansen’s career, most of which was spent as a defensive specialist on the Karl Malone/John Stockton Jazz teams of the late ‘80s.
21) Bison Dele (1997)
On a list jam packed with eccentric characters and intriguing post-career apologues, perhaps none is more aberrant than the curious case of Bison Dele. He came into the world as Brian Williams in Fresno, CA, son of Geno Williams, a long-time touring member of The Platters. 33 years and one name change later, Dele was missing somewhere in the South Pacific and presumed dead, possibly murdered by his own brother, Miles Dabord (nee Kevin Williams). In between, Dele was a basketball prodigy, first in high school in Santa Monica and later playing college ball and Maryland and Arizona. Orlando drafted him 10th overall in 1991, but scarcely deployed the talented and undersized center, and a later stop in Denver didn’t produce much more usage. After a breakout role with the Clippers in ’95-’96 yielded 15.8 points per game, Dele thought he could parlay that performance into his first big contract, but wound up sitting out most of the ’96-’97 season after being rebuked by several teams. Desperate for some front court depth after injuries to Dennis Rodman and Bill Wennington, the Bulls signed Dele in April of that season. Though he barely saw the court in the home stretch of the regular season, Dele became a rotation fixture during the playoffs, including netting a double-double (12 points and 10 rebounds) in a second round game against Atlanta and 16 points in an NBA Finals game versus Utah. After winning the championship with Chicago, Dele finally did get his big contract with Detroit, a seven year deal worth almost $50 million that was a head-scratcher even at the time. After two up-and-down seasons with the Pistons, during which he changed his name to honor his Cherokee heritage, Dele walked away from the last five years of his contract to retire at age 30. While reportedly in talks to return as a Laker in 2002 to reunite with Phil Jackson, Dele embarked on a boat trip with his brother, his girlfriend, and a captain, from Tahiti to Honolulu. The brother, Dabord, is the only passenger who made it to the final destination alive, aboard the ship titled Hakuna Matata. After Dabord committed suicide in police custody, it was determined that he had likely killed his brother and the other passengers and left their bodies somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, probably never to be found. Though Dele was not remembered as a great NBA player, he was memorialized as a thoughtful and kind free spirit, for whom basketball was just one of many interests and diversion.
20) Luc Longley (1996, 1997, 1998)
His legend in Australia started at the 1988 Olympics when a 19-year-old Longley was a member of the country’s first great Olympic basketball team (making good on the potential of his father, Richard, who unsuccessfully tried out twice for the national team), which lost in the Bronze Medal Game to David Robinson and the U.S.A. That legend grew in 1991, when Longley became the first Australian player ever drafted in the NBA, taken seventh overall by Minnesota. Longley starred for the national team again in 1992, leading them to the quarterfinals but never matching up against the U.S. Dream Team featuring his future pro teammates Jordan and Scottie Pippen (he did, however, play against Toni Kukoc and Croatia). The first few seasons of Longley’s NBA career were much less eventful than his time with the national squad, as he plodded in the paint for a Timberwolves team that was struggling to find an identity in the pre-Kevin Garnett era. At the trade deadline in 1994, Longley was dealt to a Chicago team looking for some brute interior force. By the start of the ’95-’96 season he had seized the starting center job, allowing the team to trade away Will Perdue for Dennis Rodman. His time with the Bulls was marked by a lot of missed games due to injury, but Longley started the majority of their playoff games during the title runs in 1996, 1997, and 1998. The peak of his Bulls tenure came in the 1996 playoffs, when Longley averaged 8.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game, including a career-high 19 points in game three of the NBA Finals against Seattle. Like so many Bulls players that joined the team during Jordan’s baseball sojourn, Longley had a difficult time adjusting to the superstar’s return. With a stereotypical laid back Australian personality, Longley would often draw Jordan’s steely ire for lapses of concentration, including one incident where Jordan threatened to bean him in the head with a basketball during practice. After retiring in 2001, Longley returned to his native country and faded from the spotlight into a quiet, private life until 2016, when he was coaxed into taking a coaching position with Australia’s men’s basketball team, whom he helped lead to a fourth place finish in the Rio Olympics.
19) Trent Tucker (1993)
A superlative three-point shooter who spent the majority of his career (and most of the '80s) on the Knicks, Tucker hit one of the most infamous shots in Bulls history three years before he actually played for the team. That shot came on MLK Day in 1990, when Tucker did something literally physically impossible: He made a game-winning three-point shot in the span of 0.1 seconds. The NBA had just begun using tenths of a second in its game clock that season, but had not yet considered how many tenths should be allowed for a player to legally catch and shoot the ball. The impossibility of doing it in one-tenth of a second was acknowledged later that season, when the NBA implemented the “Trent Tucker Rule” declaring that at least 0.3 seconds needed to be on the clock for a catch-and-shoot. Tucker’s shot, which sealed a Knicks win over Chicago, will therefore forever stand as the first and only time a player hit a three-pointer with 0.1 seconds remaining. After being traded away by the Knicks, then waived by the Suns and Spurs, Tucker made his way to Chicago right before the start of the ’92-’93 season. He wasn’t quite the same player as in his prime, but Tucker served ably as Jordan’s primary backup and a three-point specialist off the bench, roles that had been freed up by the 1992 retirements of Craig Hodges and Bob Hansen. His long range shooting in the playoffs was critical to Chicago’s title run, as Tucker hit 12-of-26 three-pointers from the field, good for 46.2%.
18) Will Perdue (1991, 1992, 1993)
In the minds of many Bulls fans, he helped contribute to all six titles, even though he was only on the roster for the first three. That’s because Perdue, coming off a decent season for the Bulls as a first-time starter in ’94-’95, was the man traded to San Antonio in exchange for Dennis Rodman. Perdue saw limited playing time as Bill Cartwright’s backup during the 1991, 1992, and 1993 title seasons, despite having joined the Bulls as a lottery pick in 1988 after a legendary career at Vanderbilt. (That pick had actually been acquired in the same trade that brought Cartwright over from New York in exchange for Charles Oakley). This lack of playing time became a point of contention between owner Jerry Krause, who wanted to see his lottery pick on the floor, and coach Phil Jackson, who felt that Perdue was too soft, especially on defense. Jordan evidently agreed with his coach, as one time during practice he was on the receiving end of an especially rough Perdue pick, and responded by punching his backup center in the face, not in retaliation, but in anger that Perdue didn’t set screens like that during games. (Jordan would supposedly also derisively refer to Perdue as “Will Vanderbilt”). Though his playing time was miniscule, Perdue’s rebounding efficiency was impressive, and he made the best of his time as a starter in ’94-’95 after Cartwright left as a free agent, with 8.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. (Side note: Between Perdue, Luc Longley, Bill Wennington, Greg Foster, and Larry Krystowiak, the ’94-’95 Bulls were arguably the biggest collection of tall, white stiffs in post-merger NBA history, a fact punctuated by this by this terrible shirt). After his trade to the Spurs, Perdue put in solid minutes backing up David Robinson, and won one more NBA title ring in 1999. He actually returned to the Bulls as a free agent for more season in ’99-’00, before retiring as a Trail Blazer in 2001.
17) Cliff Levingston (1991, 1992)
Like Trent Tucker and several other players on the list, Levingston put in his best years playing against Jordan and the Bulls for one of their biggest rivals. For Levingston, it was with Atlanta, where he was a starting forward alongside Dominique Wilkins in the mid-to-late ‘80s before losing his job to the emergent Kevin Willis. Needing some interior defensive toughness and veteran leadership, Chicago signed Levingston as a free agent in 1990. Though he played only sparingly during his first regular season with the Bulls, he put in some crucial minutes during the playoffs, where his battle-scarred mental toughness was an asset. Levingston added 10 points and eight rebounds to Chicago’s series-clinching game four win over Detroit in the 1991 Conference Finals, and contributed some crucial defensive pressure on James Worthy in the ensuing NBA Finals win over Los Angeles. Aging quickly thanks to his hard-nosed style, and with Scott Williams emerging as a younger, reliable front court option, Levingston saw his playing time dip sharply in his second season with the Bulls, but still made an appearance in all 22 playoff games that spring as he and the franchise won their second title. After some time playing in Europe, and a brief NBA comeback with the Nuggets in 1994, Levingston moved almost immediately moved into coaching upon retiring as a player. He has coached at the high school, pro, semi-pro, and national team level, including a stint with the Harlem Globetrotters.
16) Scott Williams (1991, 1992, 1993)
Aptly nicknamed “The Tank” for not just his physique but his toughness, Williams grew up in Southern California as a huge Lakers fan, and when his favorite team passed on him in the 1990 NBA Draft, he used that slight as a Jordan-esque motivator throughout his career. Despite having starred for Dean Smith at North Carolina, Williams actually went completely undrafted in 1990, with teams scared off by a shoulder injury he had nursed during his college career. He signed with the Bulls as a free agent later that summer, and slowly worked his way up the depth chart, eventually beating out more highly touted prospects like Will Perdue and Stacey King for playing time in the front court. Though Williams didn’t get to play much in the 1991 NBA Finals against his hometown team, he was a regular in the rotation by the time of the 1992 NBA Finals, with Phil Jackson relying on his shot blocking and mental fortitude. After winning a third title with the Bulls in 1993 but still stuck behind Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant in the depth chart, Williams was a hot trade commodity before he injured his knee during the 1993 preseason. He left Chicago the next summer to sign with the 76ers, but due to injuries and misuse never developed into more than a role player despite hanging around the league for 15 seasons.
15) Steve Kerr (1996, 1997, 1998)
Taking the metaphorical mantle from John Paxson, Kerr was Chicago’s second iteration of a reliable, sharp shooting guard who was especially dangerous in clutch situations and remembered mainly for an NBA Finals winning shot. A far cry from even the loosest translation of the word athletic, Kerr’s leadership and long-range accuracy made him an asset, and despite always starting the game on the bench he was typically on the floor for the Bulls in crunch time. His father, Malcolm, was a well-known political scientist and academic specializing in the Middle East, and Steve spent much of his childhood in Lebanon and Egypt before playing college ball at Arizona. Though he put together a stellar college career, Kerr was lightly regarded by pro scouts as a "tweener," and fell to the Suns with the final pick of the second round in 1988. After several mildly successful seasons in Phoenix, Cleveland (with whom he matched up against Jordan and the Bulls in the 1992 Conference Finals) and Orlando, Kerr signed in 1993 with a Bulls team that had a sudden huge gap at shooting guard, not just due to Jordan's retirement, but also the departure of Trent Tucker. His first two seasons were spent mainly as an understudy to Pete Myers, for some reason, though Kerr managed to lead the NBA in three-point field goal percentage in ’94-’95. His big NBA Finals moment came in game six in 1997 against Utah. With the score tied 86-86 and just seconds left on the clock, Kerr took a pass from a triple-teamed Jordan and hit a series clinching baseline jumper (Scottie Pippen would put it away on the ensuing possession by stealing the inbounds pass from Bryon Russell). It was an especially impressive shot by Kerr when considering that it was only his 25th field goal attempt of the series, and he had finished two of the previous Finals games scoreless. After winning three titles with Chicago, Kerr was traded to the Spurs in the aftermath of Jordan’s retirement, and in 1999 became just the second non-Bill Russell Celtics player in NBA history to win four consecutive titles (joining Frank Saul, who won the 1951 title with the Rochester Royals, and the next three as a member of the Minneapolis Lakers). Having won a fifth title with the Spurs in 2003 before retiring, Kerr now has eight rings total thanks to his three additional championships as coach of the Warriors.
14) Darrell Walker (1993)
Such a well-rounded player that he came relatively close to averaging a triple-double for the Bullets in ’89-’90 with 9.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 8.0 assists per game, Walker was at the end of his long career when he signed with Chicago late in the ’92-’93 season. His best years mostly came early on with the Knicks, who drafted Walker #12 overall in 1983 out of Arkansas, and started him at point guard almost immediately. He was more of a pure scorer early in his career, with 13.5 PPG in ’84-’85, but developed his all-around game over subsequent stops with Denver, Washington, and Detroit. A terrific defender, artful passer, sneaky rebounder, and savvy playmaker, Walker always seemed to make his teams better without ever stealing much of the spotlight. After a couple years on the opposite side of the Bulls’ rivalry with the Pistons, playing as Isiah Thomas’ backup in the waning days of the “Bad Boys,” Walker was waived early in the ’92-’93 season and looking for a job. After John Paxson hit the injured list right before the All-Star break, the Bulls signed Walker twice, first to a 10-day contract and later for the rest of the season. Filling in some minutes here and there to provide back court depth, he occasionally flashed signs of his old self, including a strong late February performance sticking it to his old Detroit teammates. Though Paxson was back on time for the playoffs, Walker did make the postseason roster, albeit in a limited role, logging just 22 minutes over nine games, most of it in garbage time. He retired as a champion after the season, and three years later took over as head coach of the Raptors, leading his team to an upset of Chicago in his first game coaching against Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
13) Craig Hodges (1991, 1992)
Though his contributions to the 1991 and 1992 titles were minimal, Hodges is one of the most memorable of Jordan’s teammates, both for his precise long range shooting and his outspoken political views. Undersized at 6'2" for his natural shooting guard position, Hodges was lightly recruited out of high school and ended up matriculating at Long Beach State, where he played under triangle offense inventor and future Bulls assistant coach Tex Winter. In early pro career stops with the Clippers and Bucks, he developed a reputation as one of the league’s deadliest three-point shooters but also one of its worst perimeter defenders. He led the league in three-point shooting percentage twice, and appeared in the first eight All-Star Three-Point Shootout competitions, ultimately winning the grand prize three straight times between 1990 and 1992. But Hodges couldn’t hang on to his starting job in Milwaukee due to his mediocre defensive skills, and after a brief, lackluster stint with Phoenix, he signed as a free agent with Chicago in 1988. Coming off the bench at both guard positions in ’88-’89, Hodges led the team in every relevant three-point shooting category that season, but started to slowly lose playing time in subsequent years after the Bulls drafted a player with a similar size and skill set in B.J. Armstrong. Hodges did appear in all 17 playoff games in the 1991 title run, including a 16-point performance in a first round win over New York. After barely seeing the floor during the 1992 postseason that ended in another title, Hodges was cut by the Bulls and, finding no other NBA team willing to sign him, wound up playing for several years in Europe. Always forthright in his opinions, he closely associated with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, called out Jordan for not better using his fame for sociopolitical clout, and wore a Dashiki to the White House as a protest against George Bush when the Bulls were invited in 1991. He would eventually sue the NBA, alleging that the Bulls cut him due to his public political beliefs, and the rest of the league blackballed him in ownership solidarity. Hodges lost the lawsuit, but eventually found further employment in the NBA with the Lakers, earning two more championship rings as a special assistant to coach Phil Jackson.
12) John Salley (1996)
Nicknamed "The Spider" for his spindly appearance and sneaky blocked shots, Salley was a career role player that holds two intriguing distinctions when it comes to winning NBA championships: 1) He's one of only two players in NBA history, along with Robert Horry, to win titles with three separate franchises, and 2) he is also one of only two players in NBA history, along with Tim Duncan, to win titles in three separate decades. Before coming to the Bulls in 1996, Salley was a bit of a public enemy in Chicago, having served as one of their biggest nuisances while he was a member of the rival Pistons. He was a key reserve on the Detroit teams that defeated Chicago in three straight postseasons, and won back-to-back NBA titles in 1989 and 1990. He was also still there in 1991, when the Bulls finally toppled the Pistons in the Conference Finals, when most of Detroit’s players refused to stay on the court to shake hands in the aftermath (to his credit, Salley was apparently not one of them, and stayed out there to congratulate and encourage the Bulls). After short stops in Miami and Toronto, he made his way to the Bulls late in the ’95-’96 season, after Bill Wennington had been placed on injured reserve. Joining a roster that included his former Detroit teammates Dennis Rodman and James Edwards, Salley provided more in veteran leadership than he did in actual court contributions, especially after Wennington came back. But he did take the floor some during the postseason, including in five of the six NBA Finals games as Chicago defeated Seattle. After playing one season in Greece and then officially retiring, Salley was coaxed back by Phil Jackson to play sparing minutes for the Lakers in ’99-’00 to earn his fourth championship ring. Thanks to a bombastic personality, he has since become a staple on sports radio and television, and recently defending the honor of the ’95-’96 Bulls, claiming that they would win in a series against the ’16-’17 Warriors title team.
11) John Paxson (1991, 1992, 1993)
One of the most indelible moments of Jordan’s career technically came on a play that had almost nothing to do with him. When we think now of Jordan's retirements, we first think of his series-winning shot against the Jazz in 1998, a lasting moment of triumph seared into the retinas of Jordan fans and detractors alike, and still living on in highlights packages and Gatorade commercials. But the first time Jordan went out on a high note was in 1993, and the final shot that would seal his third straight title came not from M.J. himself, but from an aging role player, John Paxson. In a basketball life that started out in little Kettering, Ohio, Paxson wasn’t even the best player on his driveway court. That honor belonged to his older brother Jim, who would eventually become an All-Star with the Blazers. But John was a solid player in his own right, a two-time All-American at Notre Dame who was drafted by San Antonio in the first round in 1983. He joined Chicago in 1985 as a free agent, quickly taking over the starting point guard job from Kyle Macy to become a mainstay in the back court with Jordan. Always more of a shooter than a distributer, Paxson adjusted to life with Jordan and Scottie Pippen by saving his best moments for the clutch, when his two superstar teammates were double or triple teamed. He once sank an impressive 41 consecutive free throws in postseason games, and poured in 20 points against the Lakers in the clinching game five of the 1991 NBA Finals. But the biggest moment came in game six of the 1993 NB Finals versus the Suns. With 14 seconds left on the clock and Phoenix leading by two, Jordan, who had up until then scored every Bulls fourth quarter point, brought the ball up the court and handed it off to Pippen. A quick drive to the basket from Pippen necessitated a double-team from Phoenix’s Danny Ainge, which left Paxson wide open in the corner. Paxson took the pass from Pippen and hit the biggest shot of his life, putting Chicago ahead 99-98 and finishing off the series. After retiring, Paxson eventually became general manager of the Bulls from 2003 to 2009, and it’s been rumored that during that time he lobbied Jordan to come back and coach the team.
10) B.J. Armstrong (1991, 1992, 1993)
The first player drafted by the Bulls after Phil Jackson took over as coach for Doug Collins, Armstrong was considered an immediate rotation replacement for the disappointing Craig Hodges, with potential to be the team’s future floor general and third scoring option. He was Chicago’s leading scorer off the bench for the teams that won titles in 1991 and 1992, including a breakout 18 point, 10 assist performance against the Knicks in a first round game in 1991. In fact, Armstrong seemed to always save his best playoff exploits for the Knicks, for whatever reason, also dropping 18 points on them in a 1992 second round series, and 16 points in game one of the 1993 Conference Finals. ’92-’93 was his true breakout year with Chicago, as he took over for John Paxson in the starting lineup and led the team in three-point field goal percentage as they won a third straight title. Though Paxson is widely remembered as the non-Jordan, non-Scottie Pippen hero of the 1993 NBA Finals due to his series winning shot, Armstrong also endeared himself forever to Bulls fans by setting the tone for the series by shoving Kevin Johnson to the ground during a scuffle, and then scoring 18 points in that clinching game six. After Jordan’s retirement opened up scoring opportunities, Armstrong had a career year in ’93-’94, including his first and only All-Star appearance. Just months after Jordan returned from baseball and the Bulls became title favorites again, Armstrong was selected by the Raptors in their expansion draft and subsequently traded to Golden State. He eventually returned to Chicago for the ’99-’00 season and retired as a member of the Bulls. One final piece of trivia: He was the last Bulls player to wear jersey #10, as it was retired by the team in 1994, in honor of Bob Love. When Rodman joined the roster soon after, he had to switch from his traditional #10 jersey and went with 91, because 9 + 1 = 10.
9) James Edwards (1996)
One of the longest tenured players in NBA history, Edwards had already logged more than 28,000 minutes in 1,140 games over the course of a 18-year career when he joined the Bulls for his final season in '95-'96. He won two titles with the Pistons in 1989 and 1990, coming off the bench at the power forward and center positions, and had already spent a decade in the league before that. That included a statistical peak in ’81-’82, when he averaged 16.7 points and 7.5 rebounds per game for an infamously terrible Cavs team that employed four coaches during the course of the season. Like his fellow Pistons and Bulls teammate John Salley, Edwards had a reputation as one of the few good guys on the “Bad Boy” Pistons, which helped him win over Jordan and Scottie Pippen, who were still scarred from their early ‘90s battles against Detroit. In fact, Edwards continued his reputation on the Bulls as a consummate locker room guy, with his jovial demeanor that led to his “Buddha” nickname. This seemed to bely his aggressive court style, as he retired in the top ten all time in personal fouls committed. Edwards’ time with the Bulls came after he was cut by Portland during the ’95-’96 preseason. Having sent away Will Perdue in exchange for Dennis Rodman, the Bulls needed some front court depth, and maybe more importantly could use a “Dennis Rodman whisperer,” so to speak. After playing in just 28 regular season games and six playoff contests to earn his third championship ring, Edwards retired to move back to his hometown of Seattle.
8) Rodney McCray (1993)
Part of the famed 1980 "Doctors of Dunk" Louisville NCAA Championship team (along with his brother, Scooter), McCray was considered a can’t-miss prospect when the Rockets drafted him third overall in 1983 (a compensation pick from the Sixers for signing Moses Malone). McCray never quite developed into a star player, but made a solid career as a glue guy who can do all the little things, especially defensively and on the boards. He was one of the more soft-spoken members of the outlandish "Twin Towers" Rockets who made a shocking run to the 1986 NBA Finals, then fell apart in a flurry of injuries and suspensions. From the small forward position, McCray was the Rockets' second-leading scorer and rebounder behind Hakeem Olajuwon in the '86-'87 and '87-'88 seasons, while also being named to two All-Defensive teams. He was traded by the Rockets in 1988 as part of a rebuilding program and never found the same success in stints with some awful Sacramento and Dallas teams. Traded in 1992 to the Bulls, McCray struggled to fit in with Jordan and Scottie Pippen, who were somehow rubbed the wrong way by their unassuming new teammate. Further adding to his difficulties was an abdominal injury that would eventually force McCray to retire at the end of the season. He played in spurts in the regular season, but was buried on the bench in the playoffs, scoring just two total points in garbage time across seven games of action.
7) Bill Cartwright (1991, 1992, 1993)
After a first round loss to the Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish Celtics in 1987, and a second round loss to Bill Laimbeer and Rick Mahorn’s Pistons in 1988, the Bulls were in need of a front court revamp to contend with the Eastern Conference powers. Comprised at the time of the ancient Artis Gilmore, the stiff Dave Corzine, the talented-but-raw Charles Oakley, and the Jordan-detested Brad Sellers (he supposedly harbored resentment towards Sellers because the Bulls had drafted him over Jordan’s friend, Johnny Dawkins), Chicago decided to shake things up in the summer of 1988. They traded Oakley and some draft picks to the Knicks for a first round pick that they used on star Vanderbilt center Will Perdue, and for the tough, veteran center Bill Cartwright (the move also freed up rotation space for a young Horace Grant). When the Knicks had drafted Cartwright nine years earlier with the third overall pick, they had dreams of the next Willis Reed taking the floor. Instead they got a solid but unspectacular performer who was quickly brushed aside after the addition of Patrick Ewing. Though Cartwright was no All-Star level talent, he was a perfect fit for the Bulls triangle offense. But that wasn’t enough to win over Jordan, who was seething over the franchise sending away his best friend, Oakley. In a surprise to no one, Jordan took that anger out on Cartwright, referring to him openly as “Medical Bill” in reference to his injury history, and making attempts to belittle and degrade him regularly in practice. This lasted for a while until the 7'1", 245 pound Cartwright threatened to break Jordan’s legs during practice, and that was the end of that. With a begrudging respect from Jordan earned, and a surgically repaired knee fully recovered, Cartwright finally reached his potential with the Bulls in ’90-’91, a key reason that they won their first title that season. He averaged just 7.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in his three playoff title runs with the team, but Cartwright’s impact in the paint was mostly measured in intangibles, especially his defense against Brad Daugherty, Bill Laimbeer, and his Knicks usurper, Ewing. Jordan would even eventually acknowledge that Cartwright was the ultimate difference maker for the ’90-’91 Bulls championship, and that he was wrong to castigate his center at the time. After winning three championships with Chicago as a player, Cartwright earned two more as an assistant coach in 1997 and 1998. He then eventually became head coach for the Bulls in 2001, and later spent some time coaching the Mexican national team.
6) Ron Harper (1996, 1997, 1998)
An offensive focal point for the first half of his career, Harper was reborn in the second half as the epitome of the Phil Jackson-Tex Winter triangle offense point guard. Oversized, defensively solid, and able to create his own offense when called upon, Harper was actually meant to take over Chicago’s shooting guard spot in the starting lineup when he signed with the team in 1994, but quickly lost his job when Jordan came back. After B.J. Armstrong was selected in Toronto’s expansion draft, Harper shifted over to point guard and displayed a preternatural knack for the position. It was a bit of a surprising revelation for anyone who had tracked his career up to that point. A scoring machine at Miami (OH), he was considered a potential franchise savior when his hometown Cavs drafted him in 1986. Joining a young roster that included Brad Daugherty and Mark Price, Harper seemed poised to become the latest team fixture, but was shockingly traded away in 1989 (right after Cleveland had been eliminated by Jordan’s “The Shot” in the playoffs) by general manager Wayne Embry, who claimed that Harper’s partying and drug use were a distraction (accusations he has always denied). After several years scoring loads of points in the NBA version of purgatory, playing for the ‘90s Clippers, Harper wasn’t exactly a hot property by the time he signed with Chicago. The change in expectations after Jordan came back ended up being a blessing in disguise, as he remade himself as the team’s third or fourth scoring option for three championship runs. Jackson became so enamored with Harper that he would recruit him back a couple years later to steadily lead the Lakers to championships in 2000 and 2001.
5) Toni Kukoc (1996, 1997, 1998)
The story is eminent legend nowadays, but was simply clinical vengeance at the time. In one locker room sat Jordan and Scottie Pippen, longtime Bulls teammates and now cohorts on the U.S. Olympic Dream Team. In the other locker room was "him." Kukoc. The man who was already a hero at age 23 in his newly formed native Croatia. The man nicknamed "White Magic" and "The Croatian Sensation." The man that had already won several European pro titles and was named one of FIBA's 50 all-time greatest European players. The man that Bulls general manager Jerry Krause had been openly recruiting and talking up for years now, drawing the ire of his current superstars (while Jordan was notably remarking that he would not assist in wooing Kukoc because he didn't "speak any Yugoslavian"). When Team U.S.A. and Croatia met in their pool play match, the seemingly oblivious Kukoc was relentlessly hounded by Jordan and Pippen in an easy American victory. When Kukoc finally joined the Bulls in 1993, three years after they had drafted him, Jordan was gone but Pippen was still there. And Pippen was given plenty of further ammo to resent Kukoc, after Phil Jackson drew up a playoff game-winning shot for the Croatian rookie, while the petulant Pippen sulked on the bench in protest. When Jordan returned a year later, Kukoc was still fighting an uphill battle winning over both of his star teammates, but luckily he shared one key thing in common with them: A sociopathic desire to succeed at any cost. Kukoc also sported a willingness to play whatever role was necessary to make it happen, and accepted his move to the bench in ’95-’96 to accommodate the newly acquired Dennis Rodman, eventually winning Sixth Man of the Year. Kukoc was third on the Bulls in scoring during each of the 1996, 1997, and 1998 title seasons. His best playoff performance in that stretch came near the end, when he poured in 30 points in a losing effort in game five of the 1998 NBA Finals. Often called the team’s “X-Factor” by Phil Jackson, Kukoc hung around one more season with the Bulls, taking over the role as leading scorer in ’98-’99. Still living in Chicago today, Kukoc has become an avid golfer, and in a twist no one could have predicted in 1992, a frequent links partner of Jordan.
4) Horace Grant (1991, 1992, 1993)
After winning ACC Player of the Year at Clemson, Grant was the other forward selected by the Bulls in the 1987 NBA Draft, taken five spots after Scottie Pippen. It’s not particularly fair to compare the bespectacled giant’s contributions to that of Pippen’s, but there’s no doubt Grant had an indelible impact on the first three Chicago titles. Noted mainly for his defense, which earned him four All-Defensive team selections, and rebounding, Grant was also an underrated efficient paint scorer, and consistently the third option behind Jordan and Pippen. His first season was spent stuck on the bench behind the established and similarly skilled Charles Oakley, but Grant got his chance in the starting lineup after Oakley was dealt away for Bill Cartwright. Considering his hard-nosed style of play, and the fact that his teams not just in Chicago, but also in later stops in Orlando and Los Angeles, often played deep into the postseason, it’s impressive that he was a consistent starting power forward for 13 consecutive seasons. Though we know now that he was reticent about playing third banana in Chicago, it didn’t really come into focus until Jordan’s 1993 retirement. Taking on a larger role in the offense, Grant was the second leading scorer behind Pippen in ’93-’94 and an All-Star, but was still unhappy about his contract. He inked a huge deal with the Magic in 1994, and teamed up on the frontline with Shaquille O’Neal on the Orlando team that defeated Chicago in the 1995 playoffs en route to a Finals appearance. Grant was terrific in that series, especially in game five, when he led Orlando with 24 points and added 13 rebounds in a crucial win. He would eventually reunite with Phil Jackson in 2000, playing his final season as a deep bench role player for the championship Lakers.
3) Dennis Rodman (1996, 1997, 1998)
It's easy to forget how controversial the Bulls' trade for Rodman was at the time. His contributions on the floor during his time with Detroit and San Antonio were undeniable. Rodman was the league’s pre-emanate rebounder, and able to defend almost anyone in the post, including guys much bigger than him. But his activities off the court were irrefutable as well, garnering him a reputation as an aloof, alcoholic party animal with mounting legal troubles and a growing tabloid headline collection. Rodman was also one of the poster boys of the “Bad Boy” Pistons that had vexed and antagonized Jordan and the Bulls in the late ‘80s. Despite all the baggage, he mostly fit in seamlessly with Chicago, and was an indispensable piece of all three of their championship teams on which he played. Proving himself to be astute, and a quick adapter to the triangle offense, Rodman quickly endeared himself to coach Phil Jackson, who in turn allowed him plenty of leeway in his behavior and attitude. Averaging an almost inconceivable 15.2 rebounds per game in his three seasons in Chicago, he continued his run of seven straight seasons leading the NBA in that statistic. Even more than his rebounding though, it was his defense, especially on Karl Malone, that may have been the true x-factor in Chicago’s titles. Mixing in mind game tricks with his alien physicality, Rodman seemed to especially revel in torturing Malone during the 1997 and 1998 NBA Finals. Though the ends seemed to justify the means, it certainly wasn’t all flowers and roses for Rodman and the Bulls. Fans and local sportswriters seemed to be calling for his head on a stick every time he missed time due to a mysterious injury or illness (often attributed to drinking and/or drug use), or became a supposed off-court “distraction” with his comments and behaviors (including during the 1997 NBA Finals when he made several disparaging remarks about the Mormon population in Salt Lake City, ultimately drawing a $50,000 fine). In the end, you could make a convincing argument that the Bulls wouldn’t have won those three titles without Rodman’s play, and a counterargument that they were so good they won them in spite of his attitude and antics. Either way, his talent was undeniable, and in 2011, thanks in large part to the lobbying of Scottie Pippen, Rodman was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame.
2) Robert Parish (1997)
Of the 1,795 games spread out over the 21 years that encompassed Parish’s career, just 45 of them came with Chicago. Those 45 games were during the ’96-’97 season, when an injury to Bill Wennington and a contract holdout by Bison Dele left a hole in the depth chart at center. Having just turned 43, making him a decade older than Jordan, and recently released unceremoniously by the Hornets, Parish was a puzzling player for the Bulls to sign. It was supposedly one of the many arguments between general manager Jerry Krause, who wanted Parish as a veteran presence to help steady and tutor some of the team’s younger players (in contrast to Jordan, who mostly berated), and coach Phil Jackson, who would have preferred to use the money on a younger player that could contribute more minutes. Regardless, Parish did appear in 43 regular season games, contributing 3.7 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. Once Dele was back under contract and Wennington was healthy, Parish’s services were less needed in the playoffs, when he made just two appearances, both in a first round series victory over Atlanta. Having earned a fourth championship ring, The Chief finally retired that summer. Despite his Hall of Fame induction, and his inclusion on the 50 All-Time Greatest NBA Players list, Parish has kept a low profile for the most part in retirement. He will occassionally pop up with TV and radio appearances, including several years ago when he recounted an anecdote about a confrontration with Jordan. As Parish told it, one day during practice he botched a play and Jordan got up in his face to jaw at him about it. When Parish refused to engage with him, Jordan threatened to fight the much larger and still physically fit center. Supposedly it just took one step forward from Parish to take him up on his offer for Jordan to immediately back down.
1) Scottie Pippen (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998)
Well, no real surprise here. Drafted by Seattle with the fifth overall pick in '87, despite playing at obscure Central Arkansas (where he was originally a walk-on), Pippen was immediately dealt to the Bulls for Olden Polynice. For all but one of the next 11 years he served as Jordan's second banana, in a sometimes contentious, sometimes ebullient, often symbiotic relationship that really has no other parallel in the world of major sports. The two would often play one-on-one games well after official practice had ended, honing their respective skills and smoothing their competitive edges. Pippen’s one full season on the Bulls away from Jordan, in '93-'94, was probably the greatest and worst of his career. Posting career highs in points, assists, and steals per game (he led the entire league in the latter), Pippen was named All-Star Game MVP and led what was expected to be an overwhelmed and shell-shocked Chicago team to the East’s third best record. But that season also contained Pippen’s most infamous moment, his sullen refusal to leave the bench in a playoff game against New York after Phil Jackson selected Toni Kukoc to take the game deciding shot. Chicago won that game but lost the series, and Pippen took most of the blame, to the point when he was the subject of serious trade rumors until Jordan declared that Pippen being on the roster was a condition of his return from retirement. A fourth, fifth, and sixth championship later, Pippen was a legend forever in Chicago, and his Hall of Fame plaque was already etched. Now living in Los Angeles, where his son, Scottie, Jr., is a high school basketball phenom, Pippen occasionally makes headlines for his comments on his relationship with Jordan, or his opinions on Jordan vs. LeBron, or the ‘90s Bulls vs. the current Warriors.