1998 NBA Finals

The 1998 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1998 playoffs of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the conclusion of the 1997–98 NBA season. The defending NBA champion and Eastern Conference champion Chicago Bulls played against the Western Conference champion Utah Jazz, with the Jazz holding home-court advantage for the first 2 games in Salt Lake City. In a repeat of the previous year's Finals, the Bulls won the series 4 games to 2 for their third consecutive NBA title and their sixth in eight seasons.

1998 NBA Finals
TeamCoachWins
Chicago Bulls Phil Jackson 4
Utah Jazz Jerry Sloan 2
DatesJune 3–14
MVPMichael Jordan
(Chicago Bulls)
Hall of FamersBulls:
Michael Jordan (2009)
Scottie Pippen (2010)
Dennis Rodman (2011)
Jazz:
John Stockton (2009)
Karl Malone (2010)
Coaches:
Phil Jackson (2007)
Jerry Sloan (2009)
Officials:
Dick Bavetta (2015)
Eastern FinalsBulls defeat Pacers, 4–3
Western FinalsJazz defeat Lakers, 4–0

Michael Jordan was voted the NBA Finals MVP of the series (he also had won the award the last five times the Bulls won the Finals: 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, and 1997). This would be his sixth NBA championship and sixth Finals MVP award in six full basketball seasons. This would be his final season of winning the NBA championship and Finals MVP.

The 1998 Finals garnered the highest Nielsen TV ratings in NBA history at 18.7, and even surpassed the Nielsen ratings for the 1998 World Series, marking the first time the NBA had a higher rating in its championship round than of Major League Baseball's championship round.

Until 2012, this was the most recent final played entirely outside of either Texas or California. Until 2014, it was the last consecutive Finals rematch between two teams.

Background

The series marked the first time since 1989 that the same two teams met in the Finals in consecutive years. The Jazz earned the league's best record by virtue of sweeping the two-game regular season series with the Bulls despite both teams finishing at 62 wins. In the playoffs, the Jazz were pushed to the brink by the Houston Rockets before winning Game 5 in Utah, and then overcame Rookie of the Year Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs 4–1. They then swept the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. The Bulls swept the New Jersey Nets and then took out the Charlotte Hornets in five, but it took seven games to overcome the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Road to the Finals

Utah Jazz (Western Conference champion)Chicago Bulls (Eastern Conference champion)
# Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Utah Jazz6220.756
2 y-Seattle SuperSonics6121.7441
3 x-Los Angeles Lakers6121.7441
4 x-Phoenix Suns5626.6836
5 x-San Antonio Spurs5626.6836
6 x-Portland Trail Blazers4636.56116
7 x-Minnesota Timberwolves4537.54917
8 x-Houston Rockets4141.50021
9 Sacramento Kings2755.32935
10 Dallas Mavericks2062.24442
11 Vancouver Grizzlies1963.23243
11 Golden State Warriors1963.23243
13 Los Angeles Clippers1765.20745
14 Denver Nuggets1171.13451

First seed in the West, best league record

Regular season
# Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 c-Chicago Bulls6220.756
2 y-Miami Heat5527.6717
3 x-Indiana Pacers5824.7074
4 x-Charlotte Hornets5131.62211
5 x-Atlanta Hawks5032.61012
6 x-Cleveland Cavaliers4735.57315
7 x-New York Knicks4339.52419
8 x-New Jersey Nets4339.52419
9 Washington Wizards4240.51220
10 Orlando Magic4141.50021
11 Detroit Pistons3745.45125
12 Boston Celtics3646.43926
12 Milwaukee Bucks3646.43926
14 Philadelphia 76ers3151.37831
15 Toronto Raptors1666.19546
First seed in the East, second-best league record
Defeated the (8) Houston Rockets, 3–2 First Round Defeated the (8) New Jersey Nets, 3–0
Defeated the (5) San Antonio Spurs, 4–1 Conference Semifinals Defeated the (4) Charlotte Hornets, 4–1
Defeated the (3) Los Angeles Lakers, 4–0 Conference Finals Defeated the (3) Indiana Pacers, 4–3

Regular season series

The Utah Jazz won both games in the regular season series:

February 4, 1998
Chicago Bulls 93, Utah Jazz 101
Delta Center, Salt Lake City

1998 NBA Finals rosters

Chicago Bulls

Roster listing
1997–98 Chicago Bulls roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
SF 22 Booth, Keith 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 226 lb (103 kg) 1974–10–09 Maryland
PG 1 Brown, Randy 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1968–05–22 New Mexico State
SF 30 Buechler, Jud 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1968–06–19 Arizona
SF 24 Burrell, Scott 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 218 lb (99 kg) 1971–01–12 Connecticut
PG 9 Harper, Ron 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1964–01–20 Miami (OH)
SG 23 Jordan, Michael (C) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1963–02–17 North Carolina
PG 25 Kerr, Steve 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1965–09–27 Arizona
C 53 Kleine, Joe 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 255 lb (116 kg) 1962–01–04 Arkansas
SF 7 Kukoč, Toni 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 192 lb (87 kg) 1968–09–18 Croatia
PG 5 LaRue, Rusty 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1973–12–10 Wake Forest
C 13 Longley, Luc 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 265 lb (120 kg) 1969–01–19 New Mexico
SF 33 Pippen, Scottie (C) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1965–09–25 Central Arkansas
PF 91 Rodman, Dennis 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1961–05–13 SE Oklahoma State
C 34 Wennington, Bill 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1963–04–26 St. John's
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

Utah Jazz

Roster listing
1997–98 Utah Jazz roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
SG 40 Anderson, Shandon 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 208 lb (94 kg) 1973–12–31 Georgia
PF 55 Carr, Antoine 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1961–07–23 Wichita State
PG 10 Eisley, Howard 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 177 lb (80 kg) 1972–12–04 Boston College
C 44 Foster, Greg 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1968–10–03 UTEP
SG 14 Hornacek, Jeff 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1963–05–03 Iowa State
PG 25 Hudson, Troy 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1976–03–13 Southern Illinois
SF 31 Keefe, Adam 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1970–02–22 Stanford
PF 32 Malone, Karl (C) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1963–07–24 Louisiana Tech
SF 34 Morris, Chris 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1966–01–20 Auburn
C 00 Ostertag, Greg 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 280 lb (127 kg) 1973–03–06 Kansas
SF 3 Russell, Bryon 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1970–12–31 Long Beach State
PG 12 Stockton, John (C) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1962–03–26 Gonzaga
PG 11 Vaughn, Jacque 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1975–02–11 Kansas
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

Series summary

GameDateAway TeamResultHome Team
Game 1Wednesday, June 3Chicago Bulls85–88 (OT) (0–1)Utah Jazz
Game 2Friday, June 5Chicago Bulls93–88 (1–1)Utah Jazz
Game 3Sunday, June 7Utah Jazz54–96 (1–2)Chicago Bulls
Game 4Wednesday, June 10Utah Jazz82–86 (1–3)Chicago Bulls
Game 5Friday, June 12Utah Jazz83–81 (2–3)Chicago Bulls
Game 6Sunday, June 14Chicago Bulls87–86 (4–2)Utah Jazz

Bulls win the series 4–2.

June 3
Chicago Bulls 85, Utah Jazz 88 (OT)
Scoring by quarter: 17–17, 23–28, 19–22, 20–12, Overtime: 6–9
Pts: Michael Jordan 33
Rebs: Pippen, Longley 8
Asts: Steve Kerr 5
Pts: John Stockton 24
Rebs: Karl Malone 14
Asts: John Stockton 8
Utah led the series, 1–0
Delta Center, Salt Lake City
Attendance: 19,911
Referees:
  • Ron Garretson
  • Steve Javie
  • Bennett Salvatore
June 5
Chicago Bulls 93, Utah Jazz 88
Scoring by quarter: 23–20, 27–26, 20–27, 23–15
Pts: Michael Jordan 37
Rebs: Kukoč, Rodman 9
Asts: Scottie Pippen 4
Pts: Jeff Hornacek 20
Rebs: Karl Malone 12
Asts: John Stockton 7
Series tied, 1–1
Delta Center, Salt Lake City
Attendance: 19,911
Referees:
  • Danny Crawford
  • Joe Crawford
  • Bill Oakes
June 7
Utah Jazz 54, Chicago Bulls 96
Scoring by quarter: 14–17, 17–32, 14–23, 9–24
Pts: Karl Malone 22
Rebs: Greg Ostertag 9
Asts: John Stockton 7
Pts: Michael Jordan 24
Rebs: Ron Harper 10
Asts: Ron Harper 7
Chicago led series, 2–1
United Center, Chicago
Attendance: 23,844
Referees:
  • Dick Bavetta
  • Hue Hollins
  • Ronnie Nunn
June 10
Utah Jazz 82, Chicago Bulls 86
Scoring by quarter: 19–21, 18–18, 20–22, 25–25
Pts: Karl Malone 21
Rebs: Karl Malone 14
Asts: John Stockton 13
Pts: Michael Jordan 34
Rebs: Dennis Rodman 14
Asts: Scottie Pippen 5
Chicago led series, 3–1
United Center, Chicago
Attendance: 23,844
Referees:
  • Hugh Evans
  • Steve Javie
  • Jack Nies
June 12
Utah Jazz 83, Chicago Bulls 81
Scoring by quarter: 16–18, 14–18, 29–19, 24–26
Pts: Karl Malone 39
Rebs: Karl Malone 9
Asts: John Stockton 12
Pts: Toni Kukoč 30
Rebs: Scottie Pippen 11
Asts: Scottie Pippen 11
Chicago led series, 3–2
United Center, Chicago
Attendance: 23,844
Referees:
  • Joe Crawford
  • Bill Oakes
  • Bennett Salvatore
June 14
Chicago Bulls 87, Utah Jazz 86
Scoring by quarter: 22–25, 23–24, 16–17, 26–20
Pts: Michael Jordan 45
Rebs: Dennis Rodman 8
Asts: Kukoč, Pippen 4
Pts: Karl Malone 31
Rebs: Karl Malone 11
Asts: Karl Malone 7
Chicago won NBA Finals, 4–2
Delta Center, Salt Lake City
Attendance: 19,911
Referees:
  • Dick Bavetta
  • Danny Crawford
  • Hue Hollins

Game summaries

Games 1 and 2

Unlike the 1997 Finals, the Jazz and Bulls entered this series as equals. The Jazz had won both regular season meetings with the Bulls, and many analysts predicted a hard-fought seven-game series. The two teams entered the Finals on completely different notes; the Jazz uneventfully swept the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals and had a total of ten days' rest before the Finals began. The Bulls, meanwhile, endured a hard-fought series against a resurgent Indiana Pacers team helmed by Larry Bird (in his first year as head coach). They would need all seven games to get past the Pacers and would have only two days' rest before having to travel to Utah. Predictions of a Jazz championship were strengthened with their 88–85 Game 1 victory in overtime in Utah, with Scottie Pippen just missing a 3-pointer at the buzzer. True to form, the Bulls tied the series in Game 2 while putting together a huge fourth-quarter run to silence the Delta Center and holding on to win 93–88, finally securing their first victory against Utah all season. Karl Malone shot very poorly in the first two games of the series with some misses including one layup in Game 2 that hit the underside of the rim.

Games 3–5

The Finals moved to Chicago with control of the series at stake in Game 3. In a 96–54 loss, the Jazz set the record for the lowest points scored in Finals history, as well as the lowest number of points scored in any NBA game (since eclipsed by a score of 49 from the Bulls on April 10, 1999) since the inception of the shot clock.

Chicago won Game 4 86-82, and Utah took Game 5 83–81 despite nearly blowing a seven-point lead in the last two minutes. Karl Malone had his best game of the series with 39 points, while Antoine Carr made all five of his field goal attempts. The series returned to Utah with the Bulls leading 3-2.

Game 6

As they arrived at the Delta Center for Game 6, things didn't look good for the Bulls. Scottie Pippen, whose back was already injured going into the game, aggravated his injury when he dunked the opening basket of the game. He scored only 8 points the whole game. To keep pace with Utah, the Bulls were forced to rely almost entirely on Jordan, who scored 23 points in the first half. Emotions ran high at the Delta Center when the Jazz suffered a critical shot clock violation in the second quarter. Referee Dick Bavetta ruled that Howard Eisley did not get a successful 3-point shot off in time, although TV replays showed that the ball was out of Eisley's hands just before the shot clock hit zero. Later in the fourth quarter, Michael Jordan tied the game with only a minute left. The Jazz received some relief as John Stockton hit a 3 with 41.9 seconds left to give Utah an 86–83 lead and sent the Delta Center into a frenzy.

After Jordan made a layup to make it 86–85, the Bulls needed to stop the Jazz from scoring again. When John Stockton passed the ball to Karl Malone, Jordan stole the ball away and dribbled down the court. Guarding him was Bryon Russell, one of the Jazz's best defenders. With 10 seconds remaining, Jordan started to dribble right, then crossed over to his left.[1][2][3] Jordan hit the 20-footer after crossing over Bryon Russell while initiating contact (no foul was called on Jordan), to give the Bulls an 87–86 lead with 5.2 seconds left. After a time-out, Stockton missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer, giving the Bulls their sixth NBA title in 8 years. Jordan, who scored 45 points, and whose game-winning shot has been immortalized around the world, was once again named Finals MVP.

Player statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
Chicago Bulls
NBA roster statistics
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Randy Brown203.5.333.000.0001.00.00.50.01.0
Jud Buechler605.2.600.667.0000.30.30.20.21.3
Scott Burrell6014.0.409.250.6672.50.01.20.03.5
Ron Harper6628.7.364.167.5834.52.81.50.75.3
Michael Jordan6641.7.427.308.8144.02.31.80.733.5
Steve Kerr6020.7.350.3851.0000.32.50.30.03.8
Toni Kukoč6637.0.500.304.6154.72.71.20.715.2
Luc Longley6621.7.444.000.7504.81.50.80.85.0
Scottie Pippen6639.5.410.231.8336.84.81.70.815.7
Dennis Rodman6030.5.462.000.6678.31.01.20.33.3
Bill Wennington304.3.400.000.0001.00.30.00.31.3
Utah Jazz
NBA roster statistics
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Shandon Anderson6021.0.500.333.8182.70.30.20.27.3
Antoine Carr6014.3.500.000.7502.00.00.00.24.2
Howard Eisley6017.5.375.1431.0002.03.80.30.24.7
Greg Foster6210.5.267.000.0002.30.00.20.31.3
Jeff Hornacek6634.2.411.333.8332.72.70.80.210.7
Adam Keefe5312.0.429.000.5003.40.20.40.02.8
Karl Malone6640.5.504.000.78910.53.81.01.225.0
Chris Morris6017.5.393.000.6672.50.50.30.24.3
Greg Ostertag5111.0.417.0001.0003.20.00.00.22.2
Bryon Russell6636.0.409.286.6885.01.31.20.28.8
John Stockton6632.3.490.222.7272.58.72.00.09.7
Jacque Vaughn107.0.000.000.0002.00.00.00.00.0

Media coverage

The Finals were televised in the United States by NBC, with Bob Costas on play-by-play and Doug Collins and Isiah Thomas serving as color analysts. Hannah Storm hosted the pre-game show, assisted by Bill Walton, John Salley and Peter Vescey, and Ahmad Rashād and Jim Gray reported from the sidelines. This was the first time since NBC took over the broadcasting rights to the NBA Finals in 1991 that Marv Albert was not the play by play commentator. He was fired from NBC on September 25, 1997 for sodomizing a woman.

The 1998 NBA season documentary "Unforgettabulls" was the first of five narrated by Will Lyman through NBA Entertainment, which recaps the entire Bulls' season. Rick Telander narrates on the opening credits. Marv Albert narrates the timeline of Michael Jordan's career with the Bulls.

Aftermath

As of the 2018–19 season, this series remains the last Finals appearances for both the Bulls and Jazz. After the season, the Bulls dynasty broke up. Without its key personnel, the Bulls missed the playoffs in the lockout-shortened 1999 season, winning just 13 of 50 games. The Bulls would not make the postseason again until 2005, win a playoff series until 2007, and earn the Eastern Conference top seed until 2011.

Phil Jackson declined an offer from the team president to coach another season.[4] He would come back as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers in 1999, winning five NBA titles in two separate stints with the team before retiring in 2011. This would give Jackson 11 NBA Titles, the most for a coach in the history of the four major American sports leagues. Ron Harper followed Jackson to the Lakers and won championships during his final two seasons, in 2000 and 2001.

In January 1999, Michael Jordan announced his retirement for the second time;[5] he would come out of retirement for the second and final time in 2001 with the Washington Wizards and played two seasons with the team. However, neither season ended with a playoff appearance.[6][7] Scottie Pippen was traded to the Houston Rockets during the offseason and played his last season (2003–04) with the Bulls. Dennis Rodman, released by the Bulls in the offseason, signed with the Lakers mid-season, playing only 23 games before being released. In January 1999, the Bulls re-signed Steve Kerr and traded him to the San Antonio Spurs,[8] where he would win two more championships in 1999 and 2003, his last year in the NBA.[9] Kerr would go on to win three championships as head coach of the Golden State Warriors in 2015, 2017, and 2018. Luc Longley also retired in 2001.

The Jazz would continue to make the postseason until 2003, John Stockton's last season, and next made the Western Conference Finals in 2007 but lost in five games to the Spurs.[10][11] The following three seasons, the Jazz made the postseason but each time were eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers. Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan resigned in February 2011.[12]

Antoine Carr and Chris Morris became free agents after the Finals, signed with other teams, and retired by 2000.[13][14] Jeff Hornacek retired in 2000 after two more seasons with Utah.[15] After five more seasons with the Jazz, Karl Malone spent his final season of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Lakers lost the 2004 NBA Finals.

The 2005–06 postseason saw the retirement or departure from the NBA of these former members of the 1998 Finals teams: Howard Eisley, Greg Ostertag, Shandon Anderson, Bryon Russell, and Toni Kukoč. Eisley remained with the Jazz the next two seasons and ended his career with the Denver Nuggets. In July 2006, the Nuggets traded Eisley to the Chicago Bulls, but the Bulls later waived Eisley before the 2006–07 season.[16][17] Ostertag retired in 2006 after having played all but one season since the 1998 Finals with the Jazz; he played for the Sacramento Kings in 2004-05. In his second season with the team and final season of his career, Anderson won an NBA championship with the Miami Heat in 2006. Like Eisley, Russell played his final NBA season with the Denver Nuggets in 2005–06; Russell played three years afterward with teams in the American Basketball Association and International Basketball League.

gollark: Stuff cooling down and radioactive decay, I think.
gollark: Not really. I mean, with a big passcode like that, it would be hard to bruteforce it, but you also probably couldn't remember that and would have to, say, write it down somewhere, and the rest of this "lock" thing could be insecure in some way.
gollark: You could get the same hard-to-brute-force-ness with, apparently, a 37 digit base 10 one.
gollark: It's basically just a convoluted way to express a 60-digit base-4 number.
gollark: The important thing is how much y increases each time x goes up by 1, which is the gradient.

See also

References

  1. Kerber, Fred. Former NBA Ref Blasts Officiating Archived 2012-10-23 at the Wayback Machine, New York Post, August 17, 2007. Retrieved March 24, 2008.
  2. Knott, Tom. "Someone has to win Eastern Conference", The Washington Times, December 8, 2006. Retrieved November 17, 2008.
  3. Deveney, Sean."Crying Foul". Archived from the original on 2007-03-13. Retrieved 2007-04-29.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link), sportingnews.com, March 14, 2005. Retrieved April 29, 2007.
  4. "The head Bull rides off into the sunset". CNN.com. Associated Press. June 22, 1998. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
  5. Wise, Mike (January 13, 1999). "As Jordan Retires, Legend Swells". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  6. "Report: Michael Jordan To Come Back". CBSNews.com. Associated Press. September 10, 2001. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  7. "Jordan finishes with 15 points in final NBA game". ESPN.com. Associated Press. April 16, 2003. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  8. "Deals, deals, deals: Spree and McDyess return, but Gugliotta still looking". CNN/SI. Associated Press. January 22, 1999. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
  9. "Kerr leaves as NBA's most accurate 3-point shooter". ESPN.com. Associated Press. August 7, 2003. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
  10. "Jazz to make first conference finals appearance since 1998". ESPN.com. Associated Press. May 15, 2007. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  11. "Spurs smash Jazz, await Pistons-Cavs winner for Finals". ESPN.com. Associated Press. May 30, 2007. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  12. Zundel, Rob (February 10, 2011). "Jerry Sloan resigns as Jazz head coach". KSL. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
  13. "Antoine Carr transactions". basketball-reference. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
  14. "Chris Morris". basketball-reference. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
  15. Robinson, Doug (May 18, 2000). "Gone, but never forgotten: Jeff Hornacek opens new chapter as full-time husband, dad". Deseret News. Archived from the original on July 24, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
  16. "Nene signs six-year, $60M contract with Nuggets". ESPN.com. Associated Press. July 20, 2006. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  17. Garcia, Marlen (July 21, 2006). "Bulls ship out Smith, clear spot for Griffin". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 20, 2011.

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