Latest sports chatter: Michael Jordan’s rust is not the reason Bulls lost to Magic in 1995 NBA playoffs

Episodes seven and eight of the Last Dance were two of the most unfiltered and emotional in the series to date , and it was also the first time we saw Michael Jordan walk off the court without the Larry O’Brien Trophy since 1990. The series loss to the Magic is often overlooked because it was just two months after Jordan’s return from retirement, but the Bulls didn’t lose because of Jordan’s rust.

After Jordan returned with the infamous quote, “I’m back," the film showed how he initially struggled. He shot 7-of-28 and scored 19 points in his first game, but four games later, he scored 55 in Madison Square Garden in the “double-nickel” game. Jordan played 17 regular-season games and averaged 26.9 points, 5.3 assists and 6.9 rebounds, but he was not the same player. His field goal percentage was a career-low, his scoring average was lower than his rookie season and his physical condition had a ways to go.

So yes, Jordan was rusty initially, but it didn’t last. His shooting numbers were back up when he played the Magic, but Orlando’s frontcourt dominated an inferior Bulls opponent. Shaquille O’Neal and Horace Grant averaged 13.2 and 11 rebounds, respectively. Scottie Pippen was the Bulls’ leader in rebounds (9.2), and that didn’t cut it against the Magic.

The Bulls’ disadvantage in the frontcourt was more of an issue than Jordan not being at his peak. Dennis Rodman changed the entire outlook of that matchup in the next season. The Bulls swept the Magic and had a 45.5-30.8 rebounding advantage. Rodman averaged 15.8 boards. Grant suffered an elbow injury and didn’t play past Game 1 , but he had just one board in 28 minutes.

“They needed a rebounder, they needed a defensive stopper, and that’s what Dennis did,” Grant said in episode eight. “We didn’t have a chance.”

Former Bulls trainer Chip Schaefer said in the film that M.J. played at about “80-something percent” in the Magic series. Jordan himself said that he had a “baseball body” and needed to refine his shoulders and chest over the summer to get back his basketball body. Sure Jordan wasn’t at peak form, but Luc Longley, Will Perdue and Bill Wennington never stood a chance against Grant and O’Neal.

And while Jordan’s numbers against the Magic in the 1995 and ’96 playoffs didn’t shift dramatically , the team rebounding stats saw drastic changes because of Rodman, who was one of the biggest reasons the Bulls swept the Magic in ’96.