Greatest Team of All Time [David Stefanini]

With the NBA Finals roughly 24 hours away from beginning; I felt it was time to take a look back at the greatest basketball team in history. Many people would argue some of the teams from the Boston Celtics dynasty, or the Lakers lead by Magic Johnson, but for me the best team of all time can only be the 1996 Chicago Bulls team.

To strengthen my point, here is John Hollinger from ESPN.com, speaking about the 1996 Chicago Bulls:

" Hands down, the greatest team of all time. How can you choose another when these guys won 72 regular-season games and 14 of their first 15 in the postseason? The Bulls were so good they were first in both offensive and defensive efficiency, and outscored their opponents by 12.2 points per game.

With names like Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, and Toni Kukoc, not to mention a coach like Phil Jackson, this team was pretty much unbeatable -- in fact, seven of its playoff wins were by 17 points or more. The only nit to pick was the Bulls' consecutive losses to the Sonics in the Finals, but they were up 3-0 by then and seemingly bored with how good they were."

To further strengethen this point think about them on offense. They have the greatest player ever, Michael Jordan. They have one of the 50 greatest players of all-time in Scottie Pippen. They have a 7 footer in Luc Longley. A big strong and physical guard in Ron Harper. There only bad position on offense is Dennis Rodman. But how can we neglect there bench? Steve Kerr and Toni Kukoc were some of the best role players in the league. Both of them could stop on a dime and hit three pointers.

Now lets look at there defense. People forget Michael Jordan was arguably the best 1-1 defender in the league, he won the 1988 Defensive Player of the Year award. So they have the best defender in Jordan, and if Jordan was the best, Scottie Pippen was a close second. So they now eliminate your two best scoring threats. So you want to back down Ron Harper, not going to happen. Lets attack Rodman, one of the best defenders in the league as well. Then I guess we are going to have to try there center, good luck getting past all the other defenders to only meet a 7 footer in the middle.

There is nothing left to say about this team. Oh yes there is, Phil Jackson. One of the greatest coaches in NBA history. There now I think I covered it all. Simply the best team ever to play in the NBA.