Rewriting ✍️ 1996: A New Path to the NBA 🏀 Championship🔥👑

Heading into the real 1995–96 season, Scottie Pippen was already a 3-time champion, and after a year and a half away he finally got Michael Jordan back. Together, the duo would dominate the league for the next three years.

But in our universe, where Jordan doesn’t arrive until the mid-2000s, the Bulls look very different. Pippen, via a draft day trade, still goes to Chicago — but instead of teaming up with Jordan, he joins a young Chris Mullin, who becomes the leader of the team. 

Without Jordan, the Bulls fall into rebuilding mode and land Mullin in the draft. With Mullin and Pippen, Chicago finds some early playoff success, but by the 1991 season they miss the postseason entirely.

That failure earns them the #1 pick, which they use on Larry Johnson. From there, everything changes. The trio of Mullin, Pippen, and Johnson make three NBA Finals appearances together and capture two championships, including last year’s victory over Karl Malone’s Spurs.

So in this alternate reality, Pippen without Jordan is still doing quite well — instead of being a 3-time champion heading into 1995–96, he’s a 2-time champion. The question now is: can history repeat itself? With Jordan, Pippen went on to win three more rings. Without him, can he and the Bulls continue their reign?

As always, the story of a new season begins with the NBA Draft. The #1 pick, Joe Smith, lands in Minnesota and immediately helps the Timberwolves return to the playoffs. Jerry Stackhouse joins the Hornets, while Kevin Garnett goes to the 76ers. Both rookies start right away, but neither can push their team into the postseason.

This year also marks the debut of two expansion franchises: the Vancouver Grizzlies and the Toronto Raptors, holding the 6th and 7th picks. Vancouver selects Bryant “Big Country” Reeves, who starts from day one but can’t prevent the Grizzlies from finishing last in the West. Toronto selects Damon Stoudamire, who not only starts but manages to lead the Raptors to a playoff berth in their very first season.

These are the most impactful players from the 1995 first round, though with 29 players drafted, many others are sure to leave their mark in the years ahead.

As for the season, we start in the Eastern Conference, where it’s not the Bulls on top but the Miami Heat (68–14). The Heat now feature three All-Stars, with Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway joining forces with Shaq Diesel. 

Together they form one of the most dominant trios this universe has ever seen, and for them it’s clearly championship or bust. The only question is whether they have what it takes to knock off Scottie Pippen and the Bulls.

The defending champion Chicago Bulls (49–33) claim the second seed, not because they had the second-best record, but because they won the Central Division. 

In reality, they posted only the fifth-best record in the East. Chris Mullin had an off year and missed the All-Star team, but the Bulls still managed to finish just three games worse than last year’s title run.

The New Jersey Nets (58–24) slide into the third seed, powered by the league’s most imposing frontcourt. All-Stars Vin Baker and Shawn Bradley anchor the lineup, and while he wasn’t selected as an All-Star this year, Vlade Divac played at that level all season.

At fourth are the Orlando Magic (57–25), a team whose record could have easily earned them a top seed in other years. Instead, the rise of Miami and New Jersey, along with the Bulls’ division title, pushes them down to the fourth spot again.

 

Still, the Magic are no strangers to this position — they have reached the Conference Semifinals in each of the past two seasons. With Penny Hardaway leading the way, Orlando is hungry for even more this time around.

Rounding out the playoff field are the Washington Bullets, New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks, and Toronto Raptors. The Bullets stunned the league last year by knocking out the then-defending champion Hawks and will look to deliver another upset as a lower seed. 

The Knicks remain a tough playoff out, having pulled off their own shocker a few years ago against Shaq’s Heat when he was just a rookie in Miami. The Hawks, meanwhile, continue to slide — just two years removed from winning it all, they lost Finals MVP Brad Daugherty to retirement last season and are now without former All-Star Derrick Coleman, who departed for Philadelphia. 

Finally, the Raptors grab the eighth seed in their inaugural season, replacing the Celtics, who are the only team from last year’s playoff field to miss out. Boston’s collapse is tied directly to Tim Hardaway’s departure to Miami, which sent the Celtics crashing into the lottery.

Out West, we once again have a new team rising to the top. The Houston Rockets (59–23) claim the #1 seed, making it the fourth straight year that a different franchise has finished first in the Western Conference.

 

Before this stretch of parity, it was the Dallas Mavericks who dominated the West year after year. For Houston, this is year two of the Hakeem Olajuwon–Clyde Drexler partnership. Last season, as a sixth seed, they made a surprise run all the way to the Conference Finals, and now they enter the playoffs as the team to beat.

At #2 are the Sacramento Kings (57–25), who remain among the West’s elite thanks to All-Star Shawn Kemp and his deep supporting cast. Kemp may be the only All-Star on the roster, but Sacramento arguably boasts the most balanced starting five in the entire league.

The Phoenix Suns (55–27) take the third seed. Since arriving in Phoenix, Charles Barkley has led the team to two Conference Finals and one NBA Finals, but the four-time champion has yet to win a ring in the desert. With the Suns still in the mix, Barkley is running out of chances to add another title to his legacy.

Rounding out the top four are the San Antonio Spurs (50–32). Last year’s conference champions suffered a noticeable decline after losing Dennis Rodman to the Bulls, but they remain dangerous with Karl Malone leading the charge.

Seeds five through eight are the Minnesota Timberwolves, Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz, and Golden State Warriors. Minnesota returns to the playoffs after missing last year, while Dallas makes its first postseason appearance since 1993 — the final year of Reggie Lewis’s career before his tragic passing that summer. 

Without Lewis or Barkley, John Stockton couldn’t carry the Mavs on his own, but after a few lottery seasons, Dallas has retooled and now features All-Star Grant Hill.

The Utah Jazz continue their run of consistent playoff appearances, though with David Robinson leading the way, they have only advanced to the Semifinals twice. 

The Golden State Warriors, meanwhile, haven’t missed the playoffs since drafting Dikembe Mutombo, but they also haven’t advanced a single round, going 0–4 in postseason series.

The Mavericks and Timberwolves replace last year’s Lakers and Blazers. The Lakers, who finished second in the West a year ago, collapsed to tenth after losing Alonzo Mourning to Miami. 

The Trail Blazers, meanwhile, miss the playoffs for the first time in our history, continuing their steady decline in the wake of Clyde Drexler’s departure.  

Now on to the playoffs, where the #1 Miami Heat faced off against the #8 Toronto Raptors. In their very first year of existence, the Raptors did the incredible by making the playoffs, but their reward was a matchup with arguably the most dominant team in our universe. The Heat made quick work of the newcomers, sweeping the series 3–0.

The 2/7 matchup featured the defending champion Chicago Bulls against the Atlanta Hawks, who had won it all just one year prior. Only Mookie Blaylock remained from that championship squad, but Atlanta still proved scrappy. 

With Christian Laettner stepping into Derrick Coleman’s old role, the Hawks pushed the Bulls to a decisive Game 5. In that final game, the Chicago crowd was electric, and Scottie Pippen and Larry Johnson fed off the energy, reminding Atlanta who the reigning champs were. The Bulls closed it out with a 109–101 victory.

The 3/6 matchup brought a true Battle of New York, as the New Jersey Nets took on the New York Knicks. Both teams leaned heavily on their frontcourts: the Knicks with All-Star Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley, and Anthony Mason, while the Nets countered with Vlade Divac, and All-Stars Vin Baker and Shawn Bradley. 

Each team held serve at home, forcing a Game 5 in New Jersey. Knicks fans traveled in droves and at times even outshouted the Nets faithful. The deciding game went down to the wire, but in the end it wasn’t the stars who sealed it. Up by three in the closing seconds, Kendall Gill buried a jumper to put the series away, sending the Nets through to the Semis.

Finally, the 4/5 matchup pitted the Orlando Magic against the Washington Bullets. Orlando had reached the Conference Semis in each of the last two seasons, while the Bullets, led by All-Star Chris Webber, had pulled off a shocking upset of the defending champion Hawks just last year. 

The Bullets struck first in Orlando, only for the Magic to answer back in Game 2. But once the series shifted to the nation’s capital, history repeated itself — Washington closed out the series 3–1, eliminating the Magic just as they had done to Atlanta the year before.

In the end, only the Bulls matched what happened in the actual 1996 playoffs. In reality, the Knicks, Magic, and Hawks all advanced — but in our universe, each suffered a first-round exit, with the Hawks falling to the defending champs from Chicago.

Out West, the top-seeded Houston Rockets opened their playoff run against the #8 Golden State Warriors. The duo of MVP Hakeem Olajuwon and All-Star Clyde Drexler proved overwhelming, though Dikembe Mutombo managed to lead Golden State to a gritty Game 3 win in Oakland. 

That would be their only highlight, as Houston closed the series 3–1. The Warriors, now 0–5 in playoff series with Mutombo, continue to search for the right co-star — something Olajuwon has finally found in Drexler.

Speaking of dominant big men, the 2/7 matchup featured David Robinson and the Utah Jazz against the Sacramento Kings. Like Mutombo, Robinson has lacked the help needed to make a deep run. 

Though he’s reached the Semis twice, he has never pushed further. Standing in his way now was perhaps the most balanced starting five in the league, led by All-Star Shawn Kemp. Robinson carried Utah to a Game 3 victory, but Sacramento’s depth was too much. 

The Kings closed it out in Game 4, winning the series 3–1. Both Robinson and Mutombo once again walked off their home courts in frustration, left to wonder when their fortunes would finally change.

The most intriguing series came from the 3/6 matchup, as the Phoenix Suns faced the Dallas Mavericks. This was the first time Charles Barkley had faced his old team in the playoffs, and though Dallas had changed significantly since his departure, John Stockton was still there to lead them. 

Together, Stockton and Barkley had carried the Mavericks to five NBA Finals and four championships — making them the only two active players in the league with four titles apiece.

Now Stockton had a new running mate in All-Star Grant Hill, who emerged as the Mavericks’ most talented weapon. Hill powered Dallas to two victories, forcing a decisive Game 5 in Phoenix. 

Stockton, desperate to defeat his former teammate, delivered a vintage performance with a double-double. But in the end, it was Robert Horry, who buried the Mavericks with clutch shooting and sent the Suns through.  Later in life he would be known as "Big Shot" Horry for moments like these.

Finally, the 4/5 matchup featured the defending Conference champion San Antonio Spurs against the Minnesota Timberwolves, who themselves had once shocked the league by reaching the 1991 Finals in their playoff debut. That Cinderella squad is long gone, but these Wolves had some bite. Behind Karl Malone, San Antonio battled to the wire, but Minnesota pulled off the upset, toppling the reigning West champs.

Just like in the East, only one team in our universe matched real-life 1996 results: the Rockets. In reality, the Jazz and Spurs both advanced to the Semis, but here they bowed out early. 

Meanwhile, the real #1 seed that year — the Seattle SuperSonics — never even formed in our world, as Gary Payton landed with the Lakers and Shawn Kemp instead leads his Kings into the Semis.

The #1 Miami Heat, fresh off their sweep of the Toronto Raptors, now faced the Washington Bullets, a team making a habit of shocking higher seeds. 

After upsetting the Hawks last year and the Magic this year, Washington found themselves back in the Semis for the second straight season. This was also a rematch of last year’s clash, when the Bullets pushed the Heat to seven games before bowing out. 

But this time, Miami was even more dangerous. With Tim Hardaway and Alonzo Mourning joining forces alongside Shaquille O’Neal, the Heat were no longer just talented — they were overwhelming.

The Bullets put up a fight, but Miami quickly seized control, winning the first three games. In Game 4, Chris Webber and company finally found some rhythm and managed to stave off elimination. 

But back in South Beach for Game 5, the Heat slammed the door shut, running away with a dominant performance to claim the series 4–1. The message was clear: this Miami team wasn’t just looking to advance — they were chasing destiny.

On the other side, the defending champion Chicago Bulls, seeded #2, met the #3 New Jersey Nets. The Nets had a breakthrough year with 58 wins, earning homecourt advantage against the champs.

This series had all the intensity of a Finals matchup. The Nets’ towering frontline of Vin Baker, Vlade Divac, and Shawn Bradley pushed Chicago to the brink, taking a 3–2 lead into Game 6. 

With elimination staring them in the face, the Bulls’ veteran trio of Scottie Pippen, Larry Johnson, and Chris Mullin delivered a vintage performance in Chicago to force a deciding Game 7.

The finale in New Jersey was a battle to the wire. Pippen, Johnson, and Mullin carried the scoring load, but the true difference-maker was Dennis Rodman. 

Against one of the biggest frontcourts in the league, Rodman was relentless, pulling down 20 rebounds, including a staggering nine offensive boards. 

Those second-chance opportunities proved decisive, as Chicago edged the Nets 112–109 to survive and advance. Afterward, Rodman summed it up perfectly: “They should have finished the job in Chicago.”

Out West, the top-seeded Houston Rockets met the #5 Minnesota Timberwolves, fresh off their upset of the defending conference champion Spurs. 

The Wolves hoped to recapture the Cinderella magic of 1991, when they shocked the league with a Finals run. Houston, however, quickly crushed that dream. 

Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler were locked in, overpowering Minnesota’s defense at every turn. The Wolves managed to steal Game 3 at home, giving their fans a brief taste of hope, but the Rockets stormed back to close the series in five, punctuating it with a blowout win that sent a message: they were not about to be another upset victim.

The other Western Semifinal was a true slugfest. The #2 Sacramento Kings, led by Shawn Kemp, once again found themselves up against Charles Barkley and the #3 Phoenix Suns. 

This was the third playoff showdown between the two, and history had not been kind to Kemp. Barkley had eliminated him in both 1993 and 1994 — the latter a grueling seven-game series in the Conference Finals, won in Phoenix.

Now, two years later, the Kings looked ready to flip the script. After taking a 3–2 series lead with a win at home in Game 5, Sacramento had a golden opportunity to close things out in the desert. But once again, Phoenix proved too resilient. Behind Barkley and Kevin Johnson, the Suns rallied in Game 6, forcing a decisive seventh game.

Back in Sacramento, the pressure shifted heavily onto the Kings. But instead of feeding off their home crowd, they came out flat. The sting of dropping Game 6 lingered, and by halftime the Suns had already seized control. 

Barkley smelled blood, and Phoenix never let up, silencing the Sacramento fans on their way to a decisive Game 7 victory. For Kemp and the Kings, it was déjà vu — another hard-fought series against Barkley, and another heartbreaking exit.

Before diving into the Conference Finals, it’s worth comparing reality with our alternate universe. Out of the four teams still standing, only the Chicago Bulls advanced in both worlds. 

In real life, those Bulls finished 72–10 with the best record in league history. Our Bulls, however, managed just a 49–33 record, fifth best in the East — but unlike their real-life counterparts, this Chicago squad entered as the defending champions.

Their reward? A showdown with perhaps the most dominant team our universe has ever seen: the Miami Heat, who stormed through the season at 68–14. Led by the powerhouse frontcourt of Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning, paired with Tim Hardaway at the point, the Heat represented a challenge unlike any Chicago had faced in its title defense. 

This was also the third straight postseason meeting between the two franchises. The Bulls had taken the previous two series from Shaq’s Heat, but those victories came with homecourt advantage. This time, Miami had that edge — and more star power than ever before.

The Heat had lost just once in their first two playoff rounds, and many expected them to roll through Chicago in five or six games. But the champs weren’t going quietly. 

Neither side could break serve in the first six games — Miami holding firm at home, Chicago doing the same in the Windy City. It all came down to Game 7 in South Beach, and this time the Heat’s star trio left no doubt. 

Rodman, who had been the difference-maker against New Jersey, couldn’t repeat his magic, finishing with just two offensive rebounds. Without those second chances, the Bulls had no margin for error. Miami pounded the paint, dictated the tempo, and pulled away late for a 115–102 win, finally toppling the champs to reach their first NBA Finals.

Out West, the matchup was equally rich in history. Charles Barkley’s Suns squared off against Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler’s Rockets in a battle that felt years in the making. Barkley’s Dallas Mavericks had once tormented Drexler’s Portland Blazers, beating them in four separate Conference Finals during the late ’80s and early ’90s. 

When Barkley left for Phoenix, the tables began to turn — his first season with the Suns ended in a Conference Finals loss to Drexler and the Blazers. And while Olajuwon and Barkley had split two early career playoff meetings, the stakes had never been higher than now.

Both teams arrived in the Conference Finals with momentum. The Rockets, like Miami, had cruised through the first two rounds only dropping one game in each series. 

The Suns, battle-tested after surviving Sacramento, were determined not to waste Barkley’s window. The series lived up to the billing. In the first four games, neither team could protect its home court — each side won one game on the road. 

In Game 5, Olajuwon and Drexler steadied Houston with a commanding performance to retake the series lead. But in Game 6, Phoenix struck back behind Barkley and Kevin Johnson, forcing yet another decisive Game 7.

History loomed large: four of the six playoff series involving these players had gone the distance, and in every case the home team had advanced. Game 7 in Houston would follow the same script.

 

The Rockets, stung by last year’s heartbreaking Game 7 loss in San Antonio, refused to falter again. Olajuwon was masterful, Drexler relentless, and newcomer Arvydas Sabonis proved the X-factor. 

His size and skill overwhelmed Phoenix’s frontcourt tandem of Danny Manning and Hot Rod Williams. With the paint dominated, Houston controlled the flow, pulling away for a 124–117 victory that punched their ticket to the NBA Finals.

The NBA Finals in our alternate universe played out far differently than the one history remembers. In real life, Michael Jordan and the Bulls took down the 64-win Seattle SuperSonics, powered by Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton, in six games. 

Here, the story was rewritten. The East was represented by a juggernaut Miami Heat squad featuring Shaquille O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning, and Tim Hardaway. The West countered with a powerhouse of its own: Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, joined by Arvydas Sabonis, who in this reality had landed in Houston instead of Portland.

The Finals opened with Miami protecting home court, but Houston immediately answered, storming back in Game 2 to steal one on the road and even the series. 

When the Heat regained momentum with a Game 3 win in Houston, it looked like business as usual for the East’s top seed. But the middle stretch of the series flipped the narrative. 

Under the old 2-3-2 format, Games 4 and 5 were played in Houston, and the Rockets delivered. In Game 4, everyone contributed — none bigger than Allan Houston, who poured in 20 points to help seal a comfortable 15-point win. 

Game 5 was tighter, but when it mattered most, Olajuwon reminded the world why he was the MVP. He dominated the fourth quarter, finishing with 38 points, 15 rebounds, and 4 blocks, while Drexler and Houston hit clutch shots late to push the Rockets to a 129–125 victory and a 3–2 series lead. For the first time all year, Miami trailed in a playoff matchup.

Back in South Beach with their season on the line, the Heat’s stars refused to fold. Game 6 was a rout, with Shaq and Mourning overwhelming Houston inside as Miami ran away with a 22-point blowout to force a decisive Game 7. 

The finale lived up to the billing — 12 lead changes, constant swings in momentum, and both fanbases living on every possession. In the fourth quarter, with everything on the line, it was the lone player on either roster with championship pedigree who made the difference. 

Tim Hardaway, a champion with the Celtics back in 1991, took command. He orchestrated the offense with precision, knocked down key shots, and, in the defining moment, came up with a crucial steal in the closing minutes. That defensive play sealed the game — and the championship — as Miami edged Houston 110–107.

With the victory, Shaquille O’Neal became an NBA champion years ahead of schedule, rewriting his career arc. Mourning earned his first ring in his prime, rather than a decade later in 2006, and Hardaway became a two-time champion in this universe, something he never achieved in reality.

So, in the year where Jordan and Pippen reclaimed the throne, in our world, it was the Miami Heat who climbed the mountaintop here. The question now looms large: can this Miami squad do what nobody has done since the Mavericks in 1990 — go back-to-back?

Stay tuned for Season 13.