1994 Overview
From Hoopedia
1993-94 NBA Season
His team had just won three straight championships, and he had just claimed his seventh consecutive scoring title. At age 30, that seemed like enough for Michael Jordan.
Staggered by his father’s murder during the 1993 offseason, the Chicago Bulls’ star abruptly announced his retirement on October 6, on the eve of training camp.
His mother, traveling in Africa on a goodwill mission, was stunned by the news, as was the entire NBA.
Jordan soon found his way into baseball, and pro basketball was suddenly struck with a sense of opportunity. He had lorded over the playoffs, winning three straight Finals MVP Awards, but now it would be someone else’s turn. In their eagerness to show they were worthy, seven teams went on to win at least 55 games during the regular season, led by Seattle, which had come within one victory of reaching the 1993 NBA Finals. The SuperSonics won 63 games to lead the West, while Houston, led by NBA Most Valuable Player Hakeem Olajuwon, won 58.
In the East, a pair of defensive stalwarts, New York and Atlanta, won 57 games apiece, while the Jordan-less Chicago Bulls did surprisingly well, winning 55. Phoenix, which battled through injuries to Charles Barkley and Kevin Johnson, won 56 games, and San Antonio, with David Robinson enjoying his best season, won 55.
With Jordan’s absence, the playoffs presented a strange feel, emphasized when a young Denver squad achieved the improbable, becoming the first number-eight seed to defeat a number-one seed when it came back from a 2-0 deficit and ousted Seattle in the First Round.
Houston disposed of Portland easily, came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Phoenix in seven games, and beat Utah in five games to advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1986.
Pat Riley’s New York club, which took the hard road all season with its grinding defense, dismissed New Jersey, then survived a pair of seven-game series against Chicago and Indiana to reach the Finals for the first time since 1973.
Olajuwon responded to the Knicks’ gritty challenge, winning his private duel with Patrick Ewing and scoring 26.9 ppg in a series where Houston’s other players managed just 59.3 ppg. He also averaged 9.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 3.86 blocked shots.
The Knicks found themselves in what would become their third straight seven-game series of the playoffs, and they responded by taking a 3-2 lead with a Game 5 victory in Madison Square Garden. The momentum swung with Houston’s 86-84 win in Game 6, preserved when Olajuwon blocked a last-second three-point attempt by John Starks.
The Rockets then won Game 7 at home 90-84 to close out the first Finals since 1954 (the last year before the shot clock) where neither team reached 100 points in any game.
“Now that Michael has left, Hakeem is the most complete player in the game—there’s no doubt in my mind,” Cleveland center Brad Daugherty said.
“He’s 31 years old, an age when you’re considered to be on the downside of your career, but he’s just exploded into the greatest player in the league.”
Olajuwon had long been the NBA’s most underrated superstar, quietly flourishing in the background while charismatic stars such as Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Isiah Thomas and Charles Barkley captured the spotlight. Olajuwon made it to the NBA Finals in his second NBA season in 1986, but didn’t make it back to the NBA’s premier stage until 1994, when he capped his MVP season by bringing the city of Houston its first major-league championship in any sport.
For the effort, Olajuwon added a championship ring and the NBA Finals MVP award to his regular-season MVP trophy.
