1991
Reigning belt holder: Michael Jordan (x3)
NBA Champion: Chicago Bulls
MVP: Michael Jordan
Finals MVP: Michael Jordan
Scoring champ: Michael Jordan (31.5)
PER champ: Michael Jordan (31.6)
The candidates:
Michael Jordan: Jordan and his bulls finally completed their long journey from the basement to the penthouse in 1991. Jordan conducted himself with his typical brilliance, Averaging a league-best 31.6ppg, 6 rebounds, 5.5 assists and landed 2nd in the league with 2.7 steals and was named to the all-NBA first NBA and all-defensive teams for the 4th consecutive season. The biggest number however was Chciago's 61 wins, making them top dogs in the east for the very first time, and Jordan was largely credited for this, easily winning his second league MVP. Jordan would continue to snuff the life from the teams beneath him, averaging 33/8/8 in yet another 5-game rout of Barkley's sixers, and would extract his revenge upon the defending champion Pistons in the conference finals, tallying 30/5/7/2/2 numbers in a 4-game sweep to get the Bulls into the finals for the first time. Jordan completed his transition to champion in the finals, completely dominating the overmatched Lakers guards with series averages of 31ppg, 11 assists and 3 steals. The Bulls won their first title in 5 games and Jordan was the easy choice for series MVP.
Magic Johnson: In his final full season as an NBA Player, Magic once again led an aging, plodding Lakers team farther than anyone believed. Turning showtime into slowtime, Magic transitioned into a dominant low post threat, slicing and dicing defenses from the block with averages of 19.4 points, 12.5 assists (2nd in the NBA) and 7 rebounds. Playing at one of the NBA's slowest paces, LA won 58 games, good for the league's 3rd best record. Magic played like a man possessed in the playoffs, scoring 38 points to eliminate Houston in round 1 and following that up with a career-best 44 points along with 9 assists and 12 rebounds to open things in the next round against the warriors. Magic finished off Golden state with a 28/12/14 triple double in game 5. In the conference finals against favored Portland, Magic continued to dominate the pace against the high flying Blazers, Averaging 21/13/8 in a 6-game upset, Magic led LA back to the finals for the 9th time. Unfortunately, LA's age caught up to them. After dominating the Bulls with a 19/11/10 game 1 triple double, Magic was unable to break Chicago's tempo like he had so many other teams. Unable to keep Chicago out of the open floor, Magic sustained his brilliance but the Lakers lost the series. Magic's final performance before HIV forced him to retire was a 16-point, 20-assist 11-rebound triple double in game 5, setting a finals record for most assists in a 5-game finals series.
David Robinson: The Admiral took the NBA by storm in 1990, leading a remarkable 35-game turnaround for the Spurs. In 1991, Robinson joined the NBA's elite, Leading the league in rebounds with a 13rpg average, and tying Hakeem Olajuwon with 3.9 blocks, becoming the first player since 1977 to achieve both in the same year. The admiral also increased his scoring to 25.6 while upping his FG% to 55.4 at the same time, earning Robinson all-NBA and all-defensive first team honors, and he finished 2nd only to Dennis Rodman for DPOY.. The Spurs finished with 55 wins, and looked poised for a deep playoff run. Unfortunately, Golden State and Run TMC had other ideas. After smashing the warriors with 30, 13 and 8 blocks in game 1, the spurs would not win another game as the warriors swarmed robinson and forced the tempo into the full court, where their perimeter trio of Mitch Richmond, Tim Hardaway and Chris Mullin dominated the Spurs. San Anotnio's season game to an end after just 4 games in a shocking first round upset.
Charles Barkley: With his limited Sixers team crumbling around him, Sir Charles kept plugging away with another superhuman season. Upping his scoring to 27.6ppg on 57% shooting along with 11.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists, Barkley was named to his 4th consecutive all-NBA first team and his efficiency rating of 28.9 was second only to Jordan. Dragging around the likes of Rickey Green and Arman Gilliam in his starting 5, he somehow carried the sixers back to the playoffs with 44 wins. In a minor upset, Barkley even got Philly back to the 2nd round in a 3-game sweep of the higher seeded Bucks, capped off by a 30/12/6/4 performance to bookend a 3-game sweep. In the 2nd round, Barkley's arch nemesis awaited, and the Sixers were only slightly more competitive than they had been in 1990. Barkley again gave Chicago everything they could handle, including 34 point in game 1 and 25/14/6 in game 4, but the end result was the same, as his 30/8/7 was not enough to avoid yet another season-ending loss in game 5.
Reigning belt holder: Michael Jordan (x3)
NBA Champion: Chicago Bulls
MVP: Michael Jordan
Finals MVP: Michael Jordan
Scoring champ: Michael Jordan (31.5)
PER champ: Michael Jordan (31.6)
The candidates:
Michael Jordan: Jordan and his bulls finally completed their long journey from the basement to the penthouse in 1991. Jordan conducted himself with his typical brilliance, Averaging a league-best 31.6ppg, 6 rebounds, 5.5 assists and landed 2nd in the league with 2.7 steals and was named to the all-NBA first NBA and all-defensive teams for the 4th consecutive season. The biggest number however was Chciago's 61 wins, making them top dogs in the east for the very first time, and Jordan was largely credited for this, easily winning his second league MVP. Jordan would continue to snuff the life from the teams beneath him, averaging 33/8/8 in yet another 5-game rout of Barkley's sixers, and would extract his revenge upon the defending champion Pistons in the conference finals, tallying 30/5/7/2/2 numbers in a 4-game sweep to get the Bulls into the finals for the first time. Jordan completed his transition to champion in the finals, completely dominating the overmatched Lakers guards with series averages of 31ppg, 11 assists and 3 steals. The Bulls won their first title in 5 games and Jordan was the easy choice for series MVP.
Magic Johnson: In his final full season as an NBA Player, Magic once again led an aging, plodding Lakers team farther than anyone believed. Turning showtime into slowtime, Magic transitioned into a dominant low post threat, slicing and dicing defenses from the block with averages of 19.4 points, 12.5 assists (2nd in the NBA) and 7 rebounds. Playing at one of the NBA's slowest paces, LA won 58 games, good for the league's 3rd best record. Magic played like a man possessed in the playoffs, scoring 38 points to eliminate Houston in round 1 and following that up with a career-best 44 points along with 9 assists and 12 rebounds to open things in the next round against the warriors. Magic finished off Golden state with a 28/12/14 triple double in game 5. In the conference finals against favored Portland, Magic continued to dominate the pace against the high flying Blazers, Averaging 21/13/8 in a 6-game upset, Magic led LA back to the finals for the 9th time. Unfortunately, LA's age caught up to them. After dominating the Bulls with a 19/11/10 game 1 triple double, Magic was unable to break Chicago's tempo like he had so many other teams. Unable to keep Chicago out of the open floor, Magic sustained his brilliance but the Lakers lost the series. Magic's final performance before HIV forced him to retire was a 16-point, 20-assist 11-rebound triple double in game 5, setting a finals record for most assists in a 5-game finals series.
David Robinson: The Admiral took the NBA by storm in 1990, leading a remarkable 35-game turnaround for the Spurs. In 1991, Robinson joined the NBA's elite, Leading the league in rebounds with a 13rpg average, and tying Hakeem Olajuwon with 3.9 blocks, becoming the first player since 1977 to achieve both in the same year. The admiral also increased his scoring to 25.6 while upping his FG% to 55.4 at the same time, earning Robinson all-NBA and all-defensive first team honors, and he finished 2nd only to Dennis Rodman for DPOY.. The Spurs finished with 55 wins, and looked poised for a deep playoff run. Unfortunately, Golden State and Run TMC had other ideas. After smashing the warriors with 30, 13 and 8 blocks in game 1, the spurs would not win another game as the warriors swarmed robinson and forced the tempo into the full court, where their perimeter trio of Mitch Richmond, Tim Hardaway and Chris Mullin dominated the Spurs. San Anotnio's season game to an end after just 4 games in a shocking first round upset.
Charles Barkley: With his limited Sixers team crumbling around him, Sir Charles kept plugging away with another superhuman season. Upping his scoring to 27.6ppg on 57% shooting along with 11.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists, Barkley was named to his 4th consecutive all-NBA first team and his efficiency rating of 28.9 was second only to Jordan. Dragging around the likes of Rickey Green and Arman Gilliam in his starting 5, he somehow carried the sixers back to the playoffs with 44 wins. In a minor upset, Barkley even got Philly back to the 2nd round in a 3-game sweep of the higher seeded Bucks, capped off by a 30/12/6/4 performance to bookend a 3-game sweep. In the 2nd round, Barkley's arch nemesis awaited, and the Sixers were only slightly more competitive than they had been in 1990. Barkley again gave Chicago everything they could handle, including 34 point in game 1 and 25/14/6 in game 4, but the end result was the same, as his 30/8/7 was not enough to avoid yet another season-ending loss in game 5.
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