The 1990s were littered with memorable Bulls moments. Six titles in eight years — led by Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Phil Jackson — are bound to produce fond memories in droves.
During NBC Sports Chicago’s “Be Chicago: Together We Can” fundraiser Wednesday night, organized to benefit the community COVID-19 response fund, a number of notable Bulls from that era took a stroll down memory lane and recalled the moment that most defined their time in Chicago.
For most in the city, the team’s 1996 title, which came on the heels of a 72-10 regular season, might have felt inevitable. But Bill Wennington will never forget the feeling of watching that banner raised at the start of the 1996-97 campaign.
“That was my first championship, and watching that banner going up, and knowing that I was a part of it and how hard we worked to get there,” Wennington said. “Really, when I look back, my whole time in Chicago is encapsulated in that.”
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Horace Grant and Will Perdue were with the team during its first three-peat of the decade. Both of their favorite moments were derived from the franchise’s first title in 1991, a feat they both played a large part in achieving.
“Going through the trials and tribulations of an entire year after getting beat by Detroit the previous two or three years,” Grant said of what made that chip special. “I would say just the joyfulness when we won, and what we brought to the organization and to all the fans of the city of Chicago.”
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For Perdue, watching “The Last Dance” roll out on ESPN over the past two weeks has made the poingnance of that memory fresh.
“When they went back to showing Michael hugging the trophy and crying and releasing all that emotion (in the documentary), and you see that one part where I’m actually quoted as saying that’s not the Michael Jordan we knew. All we knew was the Michael Jordan that expressed anger and frustration because of the intensity of which he played,” Perdue said.
“But, literally, as I was watching that with my son, that brought a little tear to my eye because that also reminded me of just how hard that really was.”
To donate to NBC Sports Chicago’s Be Chicago: Together We Can” fundraiser benefiting the “Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund,” text Help4ChiCovid to 41444 or visit NBCSportsChicago.com/BeChicago.