The Sporting News magazine is spending the year solving debates in the sports world, in commemoration of their 125th anniversary. This month’s debate focused on the NBA, with the magazine tackling the debate of who the greatest single-season team in NBA history was.

In what is sure to be one of a few representatives from Chicago amid the “Greatest of All Time” debates they will solve, the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls squad was named the greatest team in NBA history.

It’s not that difficult to see why the Bulls were able to beat out great Los Angeles Lakers or Boston Celtics teams from years and decades before.

Of course, it was a team that featured Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, as well as Dennis Rodman in his first year as a Bull after being traded by the San Antonio Spurs.

It was a team that featured several records and accolades, from up and down the roster. Jordan averaged over 30 points per game, as well as just over two steals per. Rodman was good for 15 boards a game, while Pippen and Tony Kukoc were the only two other Bulls to average in double figures in terms of scoring, with 19 and 13 PPG, respectively.

For the team that won 72 games, and NBA record, they certainly weren’t generous in sharing awards. Jordan won three different MVPs, taking it home for the NBA’s regular season, the NBA Finals, and the All Star Game. He was also named to the All-NBA defensive team, as well as the All-NBA team, as he led the entire league in every scoring category.

But Jordan wasn’t the only one to take home some accolades from that season. Phil Jackson was named Coach of the Year. Pippen joined Jordan on the All-NBA first team, and both he and Rodman were featured on the NBA’s All-Defensive team as well. And Kukoc was named Sixth Man of the Year.

The ’95-’96 Bulls team was the only non-Lakers or Celtics team in the top five, but they weren’t the only Chicago team in the Top 10. The ’91-’92 team, which was the season in which the Bulls won their first NBA title, was ranked No. 9.

That 72-win team continues to be the benchmark for these powerhouse teams like the Celtics’ Big Three in ’07, and this year’s Big Three for the Miami heat. Neither team was able to eclipse the mark, and it remains to be seen if anyone will ever be able to even touch it, let alone beat it.

Flickr Photo via Keith Allison

There are certain words that can describe certain players. While words like ‘quitter’ and ‘complacent’ are words better left off being associated with LeBron James or Lamar Odom, it’s unlikely you’ll ever hear Derrick Rose‘s name every carry such a negative connotation.

Instead, you’ll hear words thrown around like ‘intense’ and ‘unsatisfied’ when discussing the MVP candidate of the Chicago Bulls.

Rose has built up quite the reputation around the league, and it’s not quite the kind you’d expect from a 22-year-old former student of John Calipari. He’s humble, he’s hard-working, and he refuses to bask in the limelight of the Bulls’ surprisingly great 2010-2011 season.

Much of that goes back to the Bulls choice of head coach last summer. After parting ways with Vinny Del Negro, John Paxson and co elected to hire coveted Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau, much to the chagrin of the other top dogs of the NBA’s Eastern Conference.

Even if Rose was big headed enough to do something as outlandish as LeBron’s “Decision”, Thibs keeps his star point guard, and the rest of his squad, grounded. And it’s pretty easy to notice.

Even now, as the Bulls approach the best record in the Eastern Conference, and quite possibly the league, Derrick Rose still isn’t satisfied. And he’ll be the first person to tell you that.

Judging by sound bites and quotes from Rose on Tuesday, you might not actually know that the Bulls did defeated the Phoenix Suns. But they nearly blew a 22-point lead in doing so, leaving Rose to question why and getting him right back to work on Wednesday to avoid a similar letdown in the future.

It was a similar situation back on March 27th, against the Milwaukee Bucks. Though Chicago clearly outmatched their rivals from Brew City, the Bucks outplayed the Bulls for the better part of 48 minutes.

Then Derrick Rose happened.

The best closer in sports since Mariano Rivera, Rose went all ‘Mo’ on Milwaukee, dropping every shot he took when it was all on the line. He scored six of Chicago’s last eight points, and set up the other two on a beauty of a feed to Ronnie Brewer. When all was said and done, Rose finished with 30 points and 17 assists in the win.

But after the game, some of the first words out of his mouth went back to what he could’ve done better to help stop a shaky outing from the Bulls.

As outlandish as the comparisons to Michael Jordan are, and always will be, the two share one common trait: their work ethic. As much as Jordan loved to dazzle and bask in his success, you would not have found a harder working player during Jordan’s tenure in the Windy City.

When Rose is ready to call it a career, his number may very well be hanging from the rafters at the United Center. He’s well on  his way to becoming one of the greatest players in Bulls history, and the mentality he brings to the table could allow him to become one of the best point guards to ever play the game.

But if you ask Rose about is already impressive rise to the “elite” level, he’ll probably tell you what he’s told others who have commented on his play recently.

“I haven’t done s**t yet.”

I would call it an odd reason a rivalry from 15 years ago becomes interesting news in the media, but let’s face it, this rivalry provided some of the best basketball games in history. The 1995 Bulls-Knicks playoff series was on ESPN Classic two days ago to help solidify the rappers bringing Michael Jordan and the Bulls back.

The Bulls have went through bad trades, bad drafts and a list of coaches longer than the brattiest little kid’s Christmas wish novels…they have developed from lists.

Finally, one last time, they have made some moves and decisions to prove Chicago has a winning mindset instead of simply only being an organization in the NBA.

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It starts with Derrick Rose, who is a top MVP candidate and is leading the Bulls to the top of the Eastern Conference with a 21-10 record as he is eighth in the NBA in scoring and assists with 24 points and eight assists per game.

The Bulls  have won 12 of their last 14 games and have done so in every aspect of the game from shooting, defense, managing turnovers and rebounding.

The above is a statement of gratitude to the Chicago Bulls front office for its will and completion of getting players and coaches the team needs to win.

Tyrus Thomas, John Salmons and Kirk Hinrich were all traded because they didn’t fit in the puzzle. Thomas had problems with authority and couldn’t put productive games back to back. Salmons played great at the end of the 2008-09 season when the Bulls traded for him at the deadline, but as last season went on he too became inconsistent and wasn’t reliable for anything except 12-to-15 shot attempts a game. Hinrich, one of my favorite Bulls, will be missed but he was overpaid and with Rose playing at the level he does, there was no longer a need for him on the team.

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The three of them were traded for expiring contracts which gave Chicago enough money to get the type of players they needed: an inside presence in Carlos Boozer, a shooter in Kyle Korver and perimeter defense in Ronnie Brewer and Keith Bogans.

Sure, the Bulls wanted to get one of the bigger names in the summer’s free agency circus but they didn’t land a LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Amare Stoudemire or Chris Bosh. Instead of giving up, they got an all-star caliber player in Boozer and continued to shop for role players to help the team to get out of the bottom of the playoff bracket.

The Chicago roster can not be spoken about without the mention of the two big men who put fear in opposing offenses.

Joakim Noah, who I was upset with the Bulls for drafting, has proved to the world he is a top center in the league. Noah is averaging a double-double for the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds a game and bothers every teams inside scorer with his great defense. I forgot to mention he is averaging two blocks a game.

During last year’s rookie season, Taj Gibson showed he could be a force on the court as he was a steal with the 26th pick in the 2009 draft. This season he is coming off the bench to score eight points and grab five rebounds  game. But when Boozer missed 15 games because of a broken hand and Noah first had surgery on his thumb, he put up starter numbers in starter minutes including four double-doubles and has season highs of 18 points and 18 rebounds. He also averages a block and a half a game.

Last season’s coach Vinny Del Negro didn’t do anything for the Bulls except upset fans and players on the team. He led the squad to another 41-41 record and an early departure from the playoffs. He might not have had a championship roster but he didn’t play his cards right to win games when he had the chance to.

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With that said, the Bulls hired Boston Celtics assistant coach and defensive mastermind Tom Thibodeau to teach the Bulls how to play the game. Thankfully, it seems to be working out as Joakim Noah said he is learning more about the game than he ever has on the Bulls-Nets broadcast. Thibs has brought a defensive emphasis and cohesiveness to a team based around young players.

For the first time since the championship run with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Phil Jackson, the Bulls are towards the top of the conference and are being looked at as a contender. Chicago may not make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, but they will make it past the first round and will give whichever team its playing a run for its money.

2010 has been successful for the Chicago Bulls and should be the gateway for a great 2011.

I understand this is a brash statement early in the season and the NBA is full of players who are contending for the award, but by the time the trophy has been molded to shape and the name plate inscripted, Rose will clarify himself as the best player in the league.

Rose led the Bulls to a 9-6 record in the first 15 games of the season and was on top of each box score in everything but rebounds and blocks, although he has those on his season stat board as well. Since then, Chicago is the third best team in the Eastern Conference with a 16-9 record, including a seven game win streak.

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Unlike Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics, Rose is ranked in the top 10 of the league’s assist men without having a team full of future hall of famers or pinpoint shooters. Rose isn’t working with historical 3-point shooter Ray Allen or Paul Pierce, who is one of the most physical offensive threats in the NBA, but with a roster full of defensive-minded players. Kyle Korver is the only true shooter the Bulls have and he doesn’t get more than 23 minutes per game because he doesn’t play defense coach Tom Thibodeau’s way.

Though Carlos Boozer is now back from injury and playing well, when the Bulls are running the court Rose has to either hope someone is under the basket or take it himself, because a spot shooter is not an option.

Rose is averaging 25 points a game which was fourth-highest in the league, but the efforts of the Dallas Maverick’s Dirk Nowitzki and the Golden State Warrior’s Manta Ellis have slid him to sixth. Ellis is doing nothing but scoring while his team is the third worst in the Western Conference with a 8-19 record. On the other hand, Nowitzki has been playing around the similar level of play he was when he won the MVP for the 2006-07 season.

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Chicago defeated the Mavericks 88-83 Nov. 19 even with Dirk scoring 36 points and beat the Warriors handily12-90 Nov. 11.

The other three ahead of him–Kobe Bryant, Amare Stoudemire and Kevin Durant–are all realistic MVP candidates and most likely on the watch list ahead of Rose. But Kobe will slow down as the season goes on similar to last year, Stoudemire’s defensive weakness will haunt him and Durant doesn’t do much more than shoot the ball and grab a few rebounds.

Against the Lakers Dec. 10, Rose out shined everyone under the LA sun including the king of all NBA stars, Kobe Bryant as Rose went for 29 points and nine assists while Bryant had 23 and seven. There isn’t much of a difference, but the extra six points Rose scored compared to Kobe gave the Bulls a 88-84 victory.

Every layup Rose attempted, whether it went through the twine or bounced off the rim could have made any highlight reel because of the show of talent and beauty each one of them possessed.

Rose is scoring high, assisting high and leading a team everyone wrote off or gave a small chance to be successful this season. If a game is tied in the late stages or a buzzer beater needs to be hit to win in overtime–see the Houston Rockets game Dec. 4–Rose steps up and gets the W.

The New York Knicks are in sixth place but would be out of the playoffs without Stoudemire, while the Oklahoma City Thunder are coasting only because of Durant.

Without Rose, the Bulls would be in the basement of the NBA and no one would be talking about them doing anything except firing one coach and hiring another.

Although the Thunder are in fifth place in the Western Conference with a 19-9 record, they fell to the Bulls December 6.

Rose and the Bulls are almost unbeatable at the United Center (10-3), which isn’t even the arena Rose has shined in the most. During the seven-games-in-11-days west coast road trip in mid-November, he played in six games and had 30 or more points in five of them.

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Since then he has continued to attack opposing defenses with the same tenacity, which has given him consistent numbers the entire season. The Los Angeles Clippers may have defeated the Bulls 100-99 Saturday, but it wasn’t due to lack of effort from Rose, who understands everyone has to step up their game since Joakim Noah is out of the lineup for 8-to-10 weeks to recover from a surgery he had to repair torn ligaments in his right thumb.

Without the big man in the middle, Rose realized he had to take the hoop to the basket more to get open looks for others or to simply bring the defense inside to give the outside some breathing room. He had game highs with 34 points and eight assists while also grabbing six rebounds.

I could write all-day about Rose’s great play and how he deserves more recognition then he receives around the league but I think it can all be summed up by stating…The All-Star who is soon to be labeled a superstar is putting up top NBA numbers and making his team, full of marginal role players, put up better numbers while earning victories against other MVP candidates.

This makes him a top MVP vote getter in my book.

Saturday, Chicago answered the hype once again early in the season, by leaving their “circus trip” on the west coast with a 4-3 record. The first winning record on the annual road trip since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were the kings of the court in 1998.

The pieces of talent and solid coaching are coming together to have the Bulls answer the hype, even though Boozer hasn’t played a game and won’t until Wednesday or Friday.

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At 9-6, the Bulls are on top of the central division and are the fourth best team in the Eastern Conference, but only a half game behind the Atlanta Hawks, who have played three more games than the Bulls. The Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic are only two and a half games ahead of the Bulls as they are tied with 12-4 records.

I’ve said this before, but the Bulls are doing all of this without Boozer.

On the road trip, Chicago played great basketball and gave each of its west coast opponents competition, which is the first time in 12 years.

The Bulls started the 7 games in 11 days road trip by defeat the Houston Rockets (5-11), which wasn’t a surprise because the Rockets are not playing well because they can’t find a way to include Kevin Martin in the offense or find someone on the bench to add any scoring.

Tony Parker, who had just been served divorce papers from Eva Longoria a few hours before the game, made sure his San Antonio Spurs (14-2) would get the win on the second game of Chicago’s road trip. The Spurs won 103-94, but the Bulls outscored the Spurs in three quarters of the game.

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San Antonio unleashed a 37-point scoring onslaught while only allowing the Bulls 12 points in the third quarter, which won the game for the Spurs. Parker scored 21 points and led the game with seven assists while Tim Duncan dropped 16 points and grabbed a season high 18 rebounds.

In the third game, Dirk Nowitzki scored 36 points for the Dallas Mavericks (12-4), but the Bulls got the win 88-83 because their defense over powered the high scoring Maverick offense.

The Los Angeles Lakers (13-4) bench beat the Bulls on the fourth game of the road trip as Shannon Brown scored 18 points in the first half off 4-of-5 shooting from the three-point line, then Steve Blake and Matt Barnes hit clutch threes in the fourth quarter to open the game up for the victory. The Lakers bench scored 39 points compared to the Bulls 10 points from the bench to win the game 98-91.

In the most thrilling game of the road trip, the Bulls beat the 8-9 Phoenix Suns 123-115 in double overtime. I can’t even lie about this one, the game was on my computer and the Bulls were down by 15 points in the third quarter. Instead of watching the rest of the game, I turned on a different game and played NBA2K11, thinking the game was over. My friend text me and asked if I was watching it because the Bulls forced overtime. I’ll never lose faith again.

Chicago defeated the 10-6 Denver Nuggets Nov. 8, 94-92, giving Carmelo Anthony fuel to lead his team to a 98-97 victory the second time around when the Bulls came to their place. Melo scored 22 points for the Nuggets including the game winning jumper.

Saturday, the Bulls finished the road trip by defeating the 4-11 Sacramento Kings, 96-85. Not much to speak about here, the Bulls dominated the game, including Rose breaking Tyreke Evans ankles more than once.

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As you can tell, there was a trend, win one-lose one, which might make you think, okay, that’s not impressive. But, it is, when you’re talking about games against three of the six best teams in the league in the Spurs, Lakers and Mavericks, plus the Nuggets, who are in the top eight in the Western Conference.

The Western Conference has seven teams with 10 or more wins, while the Eastern Conference has three: Magic, Celtics and Hawks.

Chicago has made a gigantic stride towards the top of the conference and with similar play as this road trip against the Western Conference, they will be approaching the top of the entire league.

Jackson won six NBA championships in Chicago and five, still counting, in Los Angeles, but there are reasons to believe in his heart he would side with the red and black over the purple and gold.

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Jackson said in his interview he had trust in Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen to continually come back to the team and put up hall of fame numbers. Besides the two superstars, players such as John Paxson, Horace Grant and Toni Kukoc came to Chicago and stayed there for most of their careers.

In Los Angeles, everyone remembers the Shaquille O’Neal debacle and the struggles the Lakers went through from the time he left until they won another championship two seasons ago. O’Neal isn’t the only one to come and go in Los Angeles, even Derek Fisher left for a season and then came back. Kobe Bryant and Fisher are the only two people on this team who helped the Lakers win the three-peat from 2000-03.

Yes, 2003 to 2009 is six years compared to the three years in-between Chicago’s first three-peat and fourth title and the NBA seems to age knees and feet quickly, but the entire team was changed, not just a few members.

A few players were different in Chicago from season to season, but Jackson still had his solid core, his Chicago Bull family. The only players he could say that about in Laker land is Bryant and Fisher.

In Chicago, Jackson was healthy for the most part, while he has had to take leave of absences with the Lakers, including an entire season in 2005-06. Everyone remembers their youthful days while trying to push the elderly ones out of memory.

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The Bulls made Jackson what he is today and what he was in 1999 when the Lakers signed him. If he would have been a bust with the Bulls and wouldn’t have won six championships with the likes of Michael Jordan, do you think Laker owner Jerry Buss would bring him to Los Angeles to work with Bryant and  O’Neal?

No way. Jackson had proved he could work with star talent and mold the right role players around them to win.

He went to Los Angeles and did the same thing he did in Chicago, a little different, but rather similar. Without the experience in Chicago on his resume, he wouldn’t have received the job to help him win five championships to add to the six in Chicago making him the all-time NBA ring barer with 11.

Jackson has done great things for the Lakers, but he did it for a city which already knew what winning championships was about. The Bulls hadn’t won a championship in it’s 25-year existence until Jackson, Jordan and Pippen made it happen.

It just seems to me as taking a team from nothing to one of the best teams in history is a more valuable honor than taking a team considered as one of the two best franchises in history to more championship parades.

Although every Oct. makes me giddy as a little school girl, 2001 even made my cheeks blush and palms sweat because my favorite athlete to ever play in any sport was on the cover and the main feature, of course, it’s Michael Jordan.

If you haven’t got the chance to play NBA2k11 yet, stop what you’re doing, even if it means not reading the rest of this post, and go buy it. But if you already have it, are broke, or just think I’m coco for coconuts, read this post and the next nine of the series known as the Jordan Challenge Breakdown. If all works out, my posts will excite you about the game.

In each post of the series, I’ll break down each challenge and tell you why it was one of the best video game modes ever played, or why it should have been substituted for another one of Jordan’s great moments because let’s face it, there is more than 10.

The first Thechallenge in NBA2k11 is called “the Arrival” and is based on the 1986 playoff game against the Boston Celtics, in which Jordan set a league playoff record by scoring 63 points.

History lesson:

1985-1986 was Jordan’s second season in which he only played 18 games because he broke his foot in the regular season. This game was the first time MJ scored more than 50 points. Although, he had a dominant performance, the Bulls lost the game in double overtime and were swept by Larry Bird and company.

2K11:

In any Jordan Challenge, there are goals a player needs to defeat to be able to consider it completed.

“The Arrival” challenges Jordan to score 63 points, shoot 50% from the field and record six assists.

Although, it wasn’t easy to score 63 points in five minute quarters, I did it in one try. Shooting three-point baskets isn’t the key with a young Jordan who hasn’t developed the long ball yet. As mentioned above, he is young which means he is “His Airness”, so take it to the hoop. Jordan dunks on everybody from Robert Parish to Kevin McHale to Bird.

If a defender happens to force Jordan to change his shot, he makes a circus layup, just like in the actual game. He is also unstoppable from mid-range unless someone blocks his shot.

Besides playing with Jordan, this challenge gives gamers the opportunity to use John Paxson, Bulls current Vice-President of Basketball Operations, Charles Oakley and NBA legend George Gervin, who only played one year with the Bulls. Although, he had already been in the NBA for 12 years at this point, it was still fun trying to take it to the hoop with the “Iceman”.

Each player in the game is at the accurate time of his career. In the box score, move the cursor to Michael Jordan and hit R3 and it will only give his stats for two years in the league and will have a picture of Jordan from 1985, not 2010. This is a nice touch, and makes it seem as if this game came out in 1985.

The one thing the game could have done better, is to get the entire rosters. The Bulls have seven players while the Celtics have only the starting lineup. Although Bill Walton was at the end of his career, it would have been nice to be able to dunk on him with Jordan as well.

Visual Concepts, the creator of the game, was able to create every person from the actual game whether they were a Bull, a Celtic, a coach or a fan.

The player’s shorts are low cut, shoes are one color (except for Air Jordans), black or white, and the fans look as if they were in the Bill Cosby Show with brown pants and simple colored polo shirts. Besides the people, the score board and the Boston Garden looks vintage with hardly any advertising, which today’s venues have them everywhere, big block lettering and numbering.

As mentioned above, Visual Concepts made it seem like I was part of the game in 1986, not playing a video game in 2010.

With everything said, this was a nice start to the Jordan Challenge and gave a feel for how real Visual Concepts attempted and succeeded to make NBA2K11.

On a scale from 1-to-10 with 10 being the highest, I give it a 8.

Griffin is putting up great numbers in his first NBA season and wowing fans with his athleticism. In Saturday’s game against the Knicks he scored 44 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to put his name along side some of the leagues greatest players ever such as Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal to drop 40 points and collect 15 rebounds in a game during their rookie year.

This is the Griffin we’ve been impatiently waiting to see.

Dailey died Nov. 8 from cardiovascular disease at the age of 49.

Quintin Dailey, a 6’3 guard from University of San Fransicso, was the seventh pick in the 1982 NBA draft by the Bulls.Before the Bulls selected him, Dailey plead guilty of sexual assault and while in questioning he told people he received $1,000 dollars monthly for a job he really didn’t work.

As a result of  Dailey receiving the money and previous altercations, San Francisco shut down the basketball program. The length of the shut down was originally permanent but was shortened to three years.

Although he had off the court issues, he was a star player averaging 20.5 ppg during his USF career which helped him break scoring records including the most points scored in a season with 755.

The Bulls front office tried to look past his downfalls and drafted him for the scoring talent he had, but unfortunately, it didn’t work out even though he did make the 1982-83 all-rookie team.

In 1984, the Bulls drafted a player named Michael Jordan who was viewed as the basketball savior in Chicago. Dailey was reported to say he was unhappy because the team favored Jordan over him.

I think we all know the story from there on, Jordan helped Chicago hoist six NBA Championship banners in the United Center while Dailey left the Bulls in 1986 and played for three more teams during his 10 year career such as Los Angeles Clippers, Seattle SuperSonics and the Los Angeles Lakers. He averaged 14 ppg for his NBA career.

Dailey’s troubles followed him his entire NBA career as he missed practices and had two run-ins with the NBA drug policy.

Even though things didn’t work out with him and the Bulls, Bullshome is sad to hear he has past…Rest In Peace Quintin Dailey.