5 great teams the Michael Jordan-Scottie Pippen Bulls totally ruined

2. Charlotte Hornets

In the 1990s, Jordan and the Bulls dominated the court but you could argue that no better team represented the aesthetic of the decade than the Charlotte Hornets. You weren’t worth a thing unless you owned a purple and teal Hornets Starter jacket.

Unfortunately, the Hornets could never translate their mainstream or fashion appeal to winning on the court as, well, Jordan and the Bulls were seemingly always in their way. In 1995 the Hornets achieved the first 50-win season in franchise history led by the dominant big man duo of Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson. Flanked by solid role-players such as Hersey Hawkins, Mugsy Bogues and Dell Curry, the Hornets seemed poised to make a deep run in the playoffs.

The Hornets first-round matchup with the Bulls would have in many years favored the Bulls, however, this was a Bulls team still trying to find their footing with the return of Jordan from his basketball hiatus. The Hornets were in a great position to defeat the Bulls and maybe find themselves in the franchise’s first NBA Finals.

Instead, Jordan got right back to work scoring 32.3 points per game throughout the series as the Bulls easily took Charlotte down 3-1.

While both Mourning and Johnson played well, change was in the air for the Charlotte franchise that had failed to make it past the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Following their loss, the Hornets traded their star center (Mourning) to the Miami Heat for Glen Rice, Matt Geiger and Khalid Reeves.

These teams would meet again in the 1998 playoffs but under very different circumstances. The Hornets had entirely transformed their team over the subsequent years as Rice became the de facto leader of the Hornets. Johnson was shipped off to New York in exchange for Anthony Mason and Bogues was traded for guards David Wesley and Bobby Phills. These new-look Hornets were back and arguably better than ever achieving another 50+ win season. This time, they were able to get out of the Eastern Conference First Round defeating the Atlanta Hawks 3-1. Now, they were back up against a hungry, motivated Bulls team looking to achieve their second three-peat of the decade.

Charlotte put up a good fight — aided by Rice’s 22.6 points per game throughout the series — but the Bulls defense stifled Mason and the Hornets’ role players holding the Hornets to just 80.2 points per game in the series. The Bulls won the series 4-1 and would weeks later raise the NBA championship above their heads for the sixth and final time.

The Hornets reeled following the loss as Rice was traded the following season and just a few short years later the team was relocated to New Orleans.