WI: Scottie Pippen leads Bulls to Title w/o Jordan?

Scottie Pippen has long been known (mostly deservedly, as great a player as he was) as the Robin to Michael Jordan's Batman. However, when Jordan retired after the Bulls' first threepeat, Pippen took over and had an MVP-caliber season, leading the team to a 50-win season and losing on a controversial foul in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals to the New York Knicks. Let's say that that foul isn't called, Pippen leads the Bulls to the title, winning Finals MVP in the process, all without His Airness. What happens next? Do the Bulls still rebuild the team the year after? Does Jordan still come back to the Bulls in 95? How does this change Pippen's place in basketball history? Curious for everyone's thoughts.
 
That assumes they get past the Rockets in the Finals (who weren't lightweights themselves).

This would also mean Jordan is no longer the consensus greatest of all time - two threepeats going 6/6, and being the difference between the Bulls having zero and six titles.

If Jordan doesn't come back then the second three-peat doesn't happen. IMO that's what propelled him over, say, Magic-Bird.
 
That assumes they get past the Rockets in the Finals (who weren't lightweights themselves).

This would also mean Jordan is no longer the consensus greatest of all time - two threepeats going 6/6, and being the difference between the Bulls having zero and six titles.

If Jordan doesn't come back then the second three-peat doesn't happen. IMO that's what propelled him over, say, Magic-Bird.
I am making a big assumption that they beat the Rockets-but I think even sans Jordan, that Bulls team was good enough to win a title. I would also agree on Jordan's place in history-if the Bulls win without him, he suddenly loses a lot of significance in the public mind, deservedly or not.
 
Yeah that Bulls team was definitely playing elite ball - they only won two fewer games than in 1993 with Jordan leaving and arguably BJ Armstrong being their second best player. I think the best POD would be Phil Jackson not sending a message to Pippen by going to Kukoc in a game.

That said 1994 Olajuwon was at the peak of his powers - he's still the only player ever to win MVP, DPOY, and Finals MVP in the same season, and the Bulls were coming off of three consecutive Finals runs. No team has made the Finals more than four times in a row in the modern era, and we've only had two teams threepeat all in all since 1969. That's how hard it is to sustain long playoff runs over a stretch.
 
It's possible - Horace Grant also had a banner year.

The Bulls were very lucky - they peaked when so many other teams were at low points. The closest competition they had was, what, the Rockets and the Jazz?
 
It's possible - Horace Grant also had a banner year.

The Bulls were very lucky - they peaked when so many other teams were at low points. The closest competition they had was, what, the Rockets and the Jazz?
Also the Knicks of course, who knocked the Jordanless Bulls out, with help from a very controversial foul call, which could easily be a POD.
 
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