15 Years Ago Today: Bulls Win 70

CLEVELAND - The Chicago Bulls enter today's NBA Playoffs as major contenders for the title for the first time in 13 years. That fact was more than enough to remind me of the days when they truly were the most unstoppable force in sports.

That is, when Michael Jordan roamed the skies in a red uniform.

Today marks the 15th anniversary of the Bulls' record breaking 70th victory. The grind-it-out ugly win came in Milwaukee at the expense of the Bucks with megastar Jordan knocking in a sub-par 22 points on a horrid 9-of-27 shooting. That was an example of just how unassailable the team was during the 1995-96 NBA season; MJ could struggle, but the team could still emerge victorious.

Mostly.

The Bulls went on to finish with a stunning 72-10 record and capture the 4th of their 6 NBA titles in a match-up with the Seattle Supersonics. Michael, at age 33 earned his 4th league MVP award not just because he was once again incandescent (30.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg and his record 8th scoring title). But the man had also successfully returned to the legendary form that was his trademark prior to his 17 month retirement.

Today's Bulls team is led by a fantastic guard named Derrick Rose. But as wonderful as he is and as impressive as the 2010-11 Bulls may be, they will always have a gigantic mountain to climb to even approach those Bulls of the 1990s.

After all, Jordan doesn't wear red uniforms anymore.