When the Detroit Pistons captured their second straight NBA title in 1990, Isiah Thomas immediatedly spoke of going for the three-peat, a natural progression in sports. The Chicago Bulls want no part of that talk - for now, anyway.
The Bulls closed their 104-game 1991-92 season by capturing their second straight championship Sunday night, becoming only the fourth franchise in NBA history to repeat. The team's first title seemed like a tip-toe through the tulips compared with this year's steep playoff climb, barefoot over glass."It's always sweeter to win something like this a second time," said center Bill Cartwright, who will turn 35 this off-season. "It's also definitely a much tougher road."
Only two teams have been able to three-peat as NBA champions. The Minneapolis Lakers and George Mikan captured three straight titles in 1952, '53 and '54, but then the NBA was only a nine- and 10-team league. The Boston Celtics, under the legendary Red Auerbach, ran off an unfathomable eight straight titles, starting in 1959. With the way the league is structured these days, that feat never will be repeated.
But what about three straight titles for Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen & Co.? Jordan is 29 and still going strong, with Pippen and fellow starting forward Horace Grant both 26.
"You guys never give up," said Jordan after Sunday night's 97-93 Game 6 clinching victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. "Yeah, that's something we'll think about now, but we won't focus on it until we enjoy this one. So at the beginning of next season, that's when we'll focus in on it."
"This certainly will be one of the great moments in sports in this city," said reserve guard B.J. Armstrong. "I'm just really going to enjoy this one."
The Bulls discovered this season how emotionally draining a repeat run can be. Next season undoubtedly would be even tougher.
Jordan and Pippen won't get much of an off-season break because both will play for the United States in the Olympic Games this summer. There also has been a lot of speculation on how the Bulls might clean house of their reserves, parting with the likes of Craig Hodges, Cliff Levingston, Stacey King and Bobby Hansen.
The Pistons, after being stopped in their three-peat bid by the Bulls in the 1991 Eastern Conference finals, showed what can happen to an aging champion when no changes are made. They finally were broken up last off-season and struggled this season, eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by New York.
Chicago found out this season how every team comes to play against a champion. Next year will be no different. Next year?
"I feel like my season isn't over," Pippen said. "We've got the Olympics (training) beginning Sunday. But I think we're going to go out and do everything we can to do it again. We can't go through a season without any goals to try and win. When you win two championships, you've got to go for a third. We're going to to try it. When push comes to shove, we're going to give it our best."