That season Jordan became the first NBA player to reach 3,000 points in a season since Wilt Chamberlain did it in 1962-63.Jordan led the league in scoring at 37.1 points per game, his career high for a season.
When a knee injury sidelined Woolridge for the final 25 contests of the year, the squad hit another seven-game slide. In the decisive contest the Bulls held a 90-83 lead with less than three minutes left, but they were outscored, 12-2, in the final minutes.In 1973-74 the team posted a 54-28 record and battled the Detroit Pistons for second place in the Midwest Division behind Milwaukee (59-23). In addition, Chicago endured the longest road losing streak in franchise history, dropping 25 straight on the road from Dec. 21 through Apr. Another five-game string in January put the Bulls 21 games up in the win column.On February 6 against Cincinnati, Chet Walker hit for 56 points, another club record that would eventually fall to Michael Jordan. Pippen, long regarded as perhaps the best all-around player in the NBA, averaged 19.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg and 5.9 apg, and finished 12th in the NBA in steals.Rodman, who added an element of intrigue with his unique antics and unparalled rebounding ability, led the league in rebounds (14.9 rpg). The Packers debuted in 1961-62, but after two last-place finishes and a name change to the Zephyrs, the franchise moved to Baltimore and eventually became the Washington Bullets.The brand-new Chicago Bulls franchise earned its first victory on October 15, 1966, with a 104-97 win over the St. Louis Hawks. But at the end of the 1992-93 season the question looming over the franchise, and over the league, was whether they (or anyone, for that matter) could fill the vacuum left by the departure of the player who was arguably the greatest in the history of the game.However, the 1993-94 Bulls proved there was life without Michael Jordan. He won his seventh straight scoring title at season's end and joined Pippen on the NBA All-Defensive First Team. It all came down to a Hollywood ending. No basketball fan in America can begin to imagine the World Champion Chicago Bulls without his imprint.”One week later, the Bulls named John Paxson EVP of Basketball Operations. A blockbuster of a deal went down on 12/01/03, when Chicago traded Lonny Baxter, Donyell Marshall and Jalen Rose to Toronto for Antonio Davis, Chris Jefferies and Jerome Williams.“This trade helps us address a couple of different areas, areas that we needed to get stronger in. He is one of a select group of players to surpass the 10,000 mark in both rebounds and points, and he held the league record for consecutive games played with 844 until Randy Smith eclipsed his mark during the 1982-83 season.Chicago's starting lineup on opening night included Len Chappell, Bob Boozer, Don Kojis, Jerry Sloan, and Guy Rodgers.
Back in Chicago, the Bulls posted a 96-54 rout in Game 3 and won a close Game 4 to close within one more win of another championship. Led by the dynamic duo of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, the Bulls were able to overcome injuries to Toni Kukoc and Luc Longley, suspensions and injuries to rebounding specialist Dennis Rodman and constant public and media scrutiny to win the Central Division by 13 games over the Atlanta Hawks.Jordan made more NBA history along the way, becoming the first player in league history to record a triple-double at the All-Star Game (14 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists). For the second straight season Gilmore led the team in scoring (23.7 ppg) and rebounding (12.7 rpg), ranking among the league's top 10 in both categories. The team’s 23-59 record qualified it for a sixth consecutive NBA Lottery appearance.Other Notes: Hired Assistant Coaches Johnny Bach (07/15/03) and Ron Adams (07/16/03) … snapped a 26-game road losing streak versus Western Conference teams with a 95-79 win at Utah (02/04/04) … Hinrich dished out 506 assists and his average of 6.7 apg ranked tied for 7th in the NBA, despite the Bulls ranking last in the league in team field goal percentage (.414) … Hinrich was the only rookie in the NBA to tally a triple-double when he registered 11 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists against the visiting Golden State Warriors (02/28/04) … Jamal Crawford went for a career-high 50 points (18-34 FG, 8-11 FT) at Toronto (04/11).Honors: Kirk Hinrich (freshman team) participated in the Schick Rookie Challenge at All-Star Weekend … Hinrich also was named to the got milk?
