Stephen Curry

5 reasons Stephen Curry's Warriors would beat the 1995-96 Bulls in a seven-game series

Published Apr. 10, 2016 9:30 p.m. ET

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Andrew Lynch

Oh, yes. It's that time.

We've been thinking about this for weeks. You have been, too, judging by your comments on Facebook and Twitter and pretty much everywhere. And now that the Golden State Warriors have tied the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls as the only NBA teams to win 72 games with a 92-86 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, we're here to throw down:

If Stephen Curry's crew played Michael Jordan's squad in a time-traveling NBA Finals, who would win?

The answer's simple. Even if they still have work to do to win the title this season, we're rolling with the Warriors, who are on their way to becoming the greatest team ever.

Why? It's academic, really. Here are five reasons Golden State would roll through Chicago -- followed by the one hope Jordan's Bulls might have.

Yeah, we said it. One. Hope.

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1. 3 > 2

Two decades ago, basketball was stuck in a dogmatic rut. The closer you got to the basket, the better your shots were. That's all the thinking we needed in this game. Man up and go to the rim, or get out.

Now, of course, we know better, and the difference between the Bulls and the Warriors is baffling. Just about 20 percent of Chicago's shots came from behind the arc in 1995-96. Golden State, on the other hand, launches more than one in three of its shots from downtown.

And that's today, when the line is 23 feet, 9 inches away above the break. The Bulls' magical season came during the NBA's experiment with a closer three-point line that was 22 feet away all the way around, the same distance it currently is in the corners.

The NBA has just become more complicated. Some of that is changes in the rules, which we'll address, I promise. But it's a bigger trend that you see in, well, everything. In any other industry, claiming that today's very best is better than yesterday's very best wouldn't be considered heresy; it's just the truth. 

We all learn from those who came before us and we improve on what they've done. Basketball today involves less standing around than it did in Jordan's time. That's not an attempt to disparage the game of 20 years ago. Seriously, watch a possession from the 1990s. The ball is entered into the post, a guy puts his back to the basket, and everyone else kind of takes some time off until there's a cut or an attempt at a shot. Box out, defend, rinse, repeat, and let those who are best at drawing fouls win the day.

That's the other thing. Jordan's Bulls thrived at the foul line, and teams today are much smarter at not committing stupid fouls. They've used the collective knowledge we've gained over the years to figure out just how far they can go without drawing an infraction, and they will concede a middling shot that's open rather than foul for the sake of not giving up "easy buckets."

Chicago, on the other hand, is more likely to concede a three-pointer every time down because 20 years ago, that was a "bad shot." And that's a problem, thanks to Golden State's No. 30.

2. The Bulls never had to deal with anyone like Stephen Curry

Michael Jordan is the GOAT. You can't argue with his track record. Yet there was nothing particularly unconventional about his game. Dominant, yes, but not unorthodox.

He was the pinnacle of the scorers and tenacious wings that came before him. We'd seen Dr. J and David Thompson and even Oscar Robertson and so had Jordan. He took what they did and took it to another level. Like any great student, Jordan's path was paved by the successes and failures of others. He made it look effortless, like Erving, but had the steely demeanor of Robertson -- and cranked Big O's intensity up to 11. It was the perfect recipe for what so far has been the perfect basketball player.

Short of perhaps Pete Maravich, however, Curry is a unique phenomenon in NBA history. He's Allen Iverson in stature with an offensive shot selection we've never seen.

Yank the Bulls out of 1995-96 and have them square off against today's Warriors, and they'd undoubtedly do their damnedest to figure out Curry. We'll even give them some time to study tape. But until you face someone bold enough to pull up from 30 feet because he knows he's going to make it 40 percent of the time, not even one of the greatest teams ever could be fully prepared.

Take Phil Jackson's word for it. Earlier this season, he created quite a kerfuffle when he compared Curry to Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. Perhaps the former Bulls coach was merely drawing upon his own bad memories: Abdul-Rauf's Nuggets dealt the Bulls one of their ten losses during the 1995-96 season, as the Denver point guard dropped 32 points and went 4-for-10 on threes. Jordan scored 39, but it wasn't enough, in part because Abdul-Rauf's hot hand opened up the floor for his teammates.

Sound familiar? And sure, Jordan would get his, as he did that night against the Nuggets. But ...

3. Golden State knows what to expect from Michael Jordan

That's a little bit like stepping in front of a charging bull and being cognizant of how much it'll hurt, we'll admit. Luckily for the Warriors, Steve Kerr knows that bull better than anyone.

Thanks to his time with Phil Jackson and Jordan in Chicago, Kerr's familiar with all the best parts of the triangle; more importantly, he knows the parts that don't work. He'd have his squad in perfect position to defend Jordan, as much as any team could tackle that task.

The Warriors would let MJ operate in the post, probably against Thompson. Klay would get beat, time after time. Jordan might score 40. Or 50, even. That's great. It's also the philosophy LeBron James used in last year's Finals, and it didn't work. It's what the Spurs and Clippers have tried against the Warriors defense, and it hasn't worked, either. 

Because Golden State is so good defensively, teams are scared of putting themselves in positions where the Warriors can switch and use their length to wreak havoc and cause turnovers. When the games really count, Kerr's Warriors are some of the most tenacious, hard-nosed, intelligent, arrogant, trash-talking, son-of-a-gun defenders in basketball history. They wouldn't be intimidated by the Bulls, and that's half the battle.

So MJ goes to work on the block. Then what? Pippen is fantastic, but he can't shoot threes. Green or Andre Iguodala would play him to a standstill -- and let him hear all about it the whole time. Kerr (the player) is a great shooter, but the Bulls didn't run enough sets to free him up and use him effectively. It's mind-boggling; Chicago had one of the highest expected-value field goal attempts the league has ever seen at its disposal, and it eschewed that efficiency to feed Jordan. In the NBA Finals against the Sonics -- a series in which the Bulls lost two games, mind you -- Chicago made 36 three-pointers. Total. They shot 26.3 percent from deep, even with the shortened three-point line.

Toni Kukoc was a man before his time, which is too bad. His versatility could be the linchpin against the Warriors, yet he always took a backseat to Jordan's dominance. Dennis Rodman? Great defender, and a player who doesn't get enough credit for being one of the true game-changers of his time. In a game where the other team understands the value of the three-pointer, though, he's basically a rich man's Tony Allen. No one's guarding him, and his nose for offensive rebounds will leave his team vulnerable to transition opportunities.

In 1996, though, you could get away with not maximizing your potential, because it was just a different time. Although the thought of those Bulls winning even more games is kind of scary. And they probably could have, really.

4. The Warriors' season is far more impressive

"What did this person just say?"

The NBA in 2016 is better than it was in 1996, if for no other reason than circumstance. Prior to that 1995-96 season, the league added two teams, diluting the roster of the average squad (and oh by the way, those Bulls lost to the brand-new Raptors that season, too). Today, there's plenty of talent to fill out 29 NBA teams and the Philadelphia 76ers. But it takes time to flesh out the talent pool when you add new teams from scratch, and there weren't enough NBA-caliber players 20 years ago. That's fine. The Bulls didn't pick their opponents, and the Warriors have undoubtedly had their advantages, too.

Let's ignore that league-wide disparity for a second, however, because we're feeling generous. Instead, let's focus on the sheer weight of history. Golden State has had a target on its back each and every night as the defending champion and as a team looking to make history. They've received the very best effort from each of their opponents. Forget that, though. Jordan's team had some of that, too, since he was just coming back from retirement.

And why do we not talk about that retirement more, exactly, when discussing these two teams? Not in the, "Oh, it's so impressive that Jordan was able to shake off the rust and lead his team to one of the greatest seasons ever!" sense. Sure, that's cool ... but he's Michael Jordan. How much rust does the greatest player ever really accumulate at his physical peak?

Meanwhile, Jordan had 18 months to rest and recuperate from the rigors of NBA basketball. He wasn't driving into Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing and David Robinson and a young Shaquille O'Neal on a nightly basis or making prolonged playoff runs. He was on buses with minor league baseball teams. That's not staying exactly a spa weekend, of course, but Jordan was a celebrity. As hard as he might have been trying to make a real go at baseball -- and he was, if for no other reason than to honor his father, who was tragically murdered after the 1992-93 season -- Jordan was treated differently. More importantly, he wasn't playing 100 NBA games a year, which unquestionably would have taken a far greater toll on a 30-year-old man.

As a result, Jordan played a total of 1,088 minutes in the two seasons prior to the Bulls' run. Curry, on the other hand, played 6,581 total minutes from the start of the 2013-14 season through last year's title run.

These Warriors are young. They've also played a lot of basketball recently, which has led to injury and the need to rest players. Still, they managed to tie one of the league's most remarkable records.

5. Golden State wins the battle of the benches (and coaching staffs)

The 1995-96 Bulls were a team of seven players -- Jordan, Pippen, Kukoc, Luc Longley, Rodman, Ron Harper and Kerr. If you're being generous, throw Bill Wennington in there, too.

That's a fine rotation. But in a seven-game series, the Bulls are doomed when they have to go to their bench. Golden State thrives on its versatility. Chicago would have no match for Shaun Livingston as a backup point guard; poor Ron Harper would never get a breather. Marreese Speights would blow his fellow reserves' minds with his rim protection, pick-and-roll finesse and growing three-point range. Festus Ezeli's mobility would give any Chicago big man fits. Andre Iguodala could start or come off the bench and, like Kukoc, and be perfectly at home in either role. The Warriors would run fresh body after fresh body at the Bulls, while Phil Jackson would be staring down the line at a thin bench.

Speaking of Jackson -- he's one of the greatest coaches ever. He has all of the rings in the world to prove it. And we're still riding with Steve Kerr in this battle of head coaching wits, specifically because of that relationship. Chalk it up to the whole "student becoming the teacher" thing; if you do things right, the generation after you is just going to be better and smarter and more effective. That's life.

The '95-'96 Bulls were fantastic at defending their opponents. That's not enough against these Warriors, because Kerr is more than just Jackson's influence. He's Gregg Popovich, too, tempered with a bit of Mike D'Antoni. The Warriors flow and find the slightest seem in your defense while pulling you to the brink with the way they spread the floor and stay in constant motion. You have to defend spots. And the spots you have to defend change in an instant, as Curry considers 30-foot daggers or splitting a double team to find an open teammate. The Bulls, for all of their dominance, never had to play basketball on the cerebral level to which the Warriors have elevated a simple children's game.

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Our prediction, then, is an unpopular one.

The 2015-16 Golden State Warriors would beat the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls 4-1 in a seven-game series.

We wanted to predict a sweep, honestly, but we'll lean into the Jordan mythos and give His Airness credit for winning a game by himself.

If there's hope for Chicago -- and with Jordan in his prime, there is always hope -- it's that we haven't addressed which rules we would use in such a game. Frankly, if it's today's rules, we'll go ahead and predict that sweep. People who say Jordan would destroy today's league with no hand-checking underestimate the extent to which removing illegal defense has also changed things. Teams could send a soft double at Jordan today before he even caught the ball, forcing him into the few places on the floor where he's not comfortable. And though Jordan and his Bulls knocked down a few threes in their day, they'd be doomed by the farther line in today's game and the intricacies of modern defense.

If, however, we're playing with the 1996 rules, the Bulls could impose their physicality on the Warriors and try to force them off the three-point line. There's really no such thing as defending a three-pointer once the shooter has lined up a decent look; you have to stop the shot from ever happening. As numerous NBA legends have said, the best way to do that against Curry & Co. might be getting all up in their jerseys.

Again, though, if we're playing with the old rules, every single rotation player on the Warriors (except maybe Andrew Bogut) suddenly becomes a deadly three-point shooter, and they'd take even more triples. The NBA of yesteryear had good shooters, but the social mores of the time prevented them from unleashing like today's players. Any advantage the Bulls would gain through their defensive effort would be negated by their inability to do anything while Curry and Thompson run around the court and fire up threes.

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