Summary
Michael Jordan was being acclaimed by many as the greatest basketball player ever after winning seven consecutive NBA scoring titles, three regular season MVP awards and three straight championship finals MVP awards. At 30, it seemed that he had at least a few more outstanding seasons in him.
But his father was murdered in July of 1993 and shortly before the Chicago Bulls began training camp in October, Jordan announced that he was retiring from professional basketball.
Ten teams won 50 games or more and seven of them won 55 or more, led by the Seattle SuperSonics with 63 wins. With Jordan gone, NBA fans suddenly became aware of a whole galaxy of stars: MVP Akeem Olajuwon in Houston, scoring leader David Robinson in San Antonio, Shaquille O'Neal in Orlando, Karl Malone and John Stockton in Utah, Patrick Ewing with the New York Knicks, Chris Webber with Golden State, and Charles Barkley of Phoenix, to name a few of the most prominent.
It looked as if the NBA championship was up for grabs, especially after the Denver Nuggets came back from a two-game deficit to win three in a row and eliminate Seattle in the first round. It was the first time a No. 8 seed beat a No. 1 seed in the playoffs.
Even without Jordan, the Bulls eliminated Cleveland in three straight games, but they lost to the New York Knicks in a tough seven-game series, and the Knicks went on to win the Eastern Conference championship in seven games over the Indiana Pacers.
In a strange series, the Houston Rockets lost the first two games at home in their semi-final series against the Phoenix Suns. However, they then won three in a row at Phoenix, lost another home game, and finally advanced to the Western Conference finals with a 10-point win in the only game won by the home team. Then they beat the Utah Jazz in five games.
It was New York's first appearance in the finals since 1973 and Houston's first since 1986. The Knicks were known for their defense, although Ewing finished sixth in scoring with a 24.5 average. The Rockets were built around the all-around skills of Olajuwon, who had finished third in scoring, fourth in rebounding and second in blocked shots.
New York won Game 2 at Houston and forged a 3-2 lead by winning two at home. With Houston leading 86-84 and second remaining in Game 6, Olajuwon jumped out to preserve the victory by blocking a three-point attempt by John Starks. The Rockets then took another hard-fought win in Game 7 to take the championship.
It was the only seven-game final series in NBA history in which neither team never went over 100 points. Houston averaged just over 86 points a game, but Olajuwon averaged 26.9, along with 9.1 rebounds, 3.86 blocked shots, and 3.6 assists to win the MVP award.
