Brown thinks about '96 Chicago Bulls vs. '16 Warriors

Chicago Bulls assistant coach Randy Brown, a member of the 1995-96 team that won an NBA record 72 games, admitted he will be in the mood to celebrate if the Golden State Warriors suffer loss No. 11 this season.

“You know what, there might be a little champagne flowing when they lose that 11th game,” Brown said. “I wouldn't mind. The record's been standing for a long time and I've got more things to worry about, but I get worried about that for sure.”

Fair enough, but suppose those 1995-96 Bulls could step out of a time machine and take on the 38-4 Warriors at the United Center on Wednesday night. What would happen?

First of all, the hype would be off the charts. That Bulls team with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman was arguably the most popular American sports team of the last 50 years. Every game, home and away, was a major event.

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is traveling with his team but has yet to return to coaching duties. Luke Walton has filled in while Kerr recovers from two back surgeries.

So there would be no question where Kerr's loyalties would lie — he's playing for the Bulls in the time-travel game.

Now here's the biggest question in a fictional contest between the '96 Bulls and '16 Warriors: What set of rules will be used?

Those Bulls played in the physical, low-scoring 1990s, when hand-checking was allowed and virtually every game got rough. The Warriors are thriving in a high-scoring, hands-free, fast-paced league.

Maybe the Bulls, with all their athleticism, would excel under the current rules. After all, no one could stop Jordan even when they could grab him. No hand checks might lead to scoring records.

Then again, that Bulls team utilized a suffocating defense. With long-armed, interchangeable players like Jordan, Pippen, Rodman and Ron Harper, the Bulls' defense might have been more valuable than its offense.

“Of course, I think the game would have been better for Michael because he would have slowed the game down by living at the free-throw line,” Brown said. “But for us, because we're not able to touch guys, we would have had to adjust using our length a little bit more. There wouldn't have been any more pressure defense. It would be more about shrinking our defense.

“So the variables change. I think it would have been good for us because we had Michael, who was a great 1-on-1 player, by the way. Flip side, not being able to touch Curry … tough task.”

The day before this game for the ages, it's easy to imagine media from all over the country swarming the Advocate Center, and one of the top storylines would have been a somewhat forgotten man on that team: Harper. He would have had the task of trying to slow down Curry, the reigning MVP currently averaging 30 points.

Brown pondered Harper vs. Curry on Tuesday. Of course, if Harper couldn't get it done, Brown would have been the next man in.

“Ron Harper, I think, was very smart,” Brown said. “He and Michael were actually the ones that taught me about angles. When I came to the Bulls, I was a good defensive player, but I didn't know the ins and outs of guarding a guy. They taught me about angles.

“I'm not sure if angles would work with Steph Curry today. He's got different angles. It would have been different with Ron Harper because he's long. He was smart. But I'm seeing Steph Curry, he's doing it against small, medium, large. It doesn't matter to him. The angle part of it probably wouldn't make a difference.”

The last point in this dream matchup is how similar the two teams are.

Jordan and Curry are very different players, but both the dominant scorers of their time. Each team had a loyal sidekick, Pippen and Klay Thompson. There was a wacky power forward on each side. Rodman vs. Draymond Green would have been another popular sidebar.

Both teams like to play small. The Bulls started 7-foot Luc Longley at center, but almost always finished games with a lineup of Toni Kukoc, Rodman, Pippen, Jordan and Kerr, with Harper jumping in as a defensive sub.

“I look at our (comparison) in this day and age as the Spurs — veteran team, playing the system, Hall of Fame coach,” Brown said. “It would have been a lot of tough matchups with Dennis being able to guard 1 through 4 and Scottie being able to chase Klay Thompson and Michael being able to not use a lot of energy (on defense).

“It would have been interesting to see.”

One intriguing difference between those two teams is the Bulls were coming off the failure of losing to Orlando in the playoffs when Jordan returned from his baseball break. Jordan, especially, had an inner inferno burning.

“Michael said during training camp every game was going to be like a playoff game to him,” Brown said. “That '95-'96 team was all business.”

The Warriors are the defending champs. They've run up a 38-4 record and a 34-point win at Cleveland on Monday because they're not satisfied with being one-time champs. The Bulls won 69 games in 1996-97, so they know something about not losing the hunger, but this year's success speaks well for Golden State's mental makeup.

So what would happen if those teams played?

It would make for an entertaining seven-game series, and the feeling here is the Warriors would be very competitive. Beating Jordan, Pippen and the Bulls, though, would be too tough a task.

But what if Rodman got ejected and suspended for multiple games? He did miss more time than any of the Bulls' regulars in 1995-96. Now that changes everything in the matchup that will never actually happen.

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