The 1997 NBA Finals was the championship series of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

's (NBA) 1996–97 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

took on the defending NBA champion and Eastern Conference champion

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

for the title, with the Bulls holding home court advantage. The series were played under a best-of-seven format, with the first 2 games in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, the next 3 games in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, and the last 2 games in Chicago. The Bulls won the series 4 games to 2. For the fifth time in as many Finals appearances,

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

was named

NBA Finals MVP The Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (formerly known as the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1969 NBA Finals. The award is decided by a panel of eleven medi ...

. The Bulls and Jazz won a combined 133 regular season games, second most in Finals history. Until

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, the 1997 NBA Finals was the last to feature teams that won a total of at least 130 regular season games.

Background

Chicago Bulls

For the Chicago Bulls, the campaign was almost identical to their record-breaking 1995–96 season. They began the season 12–0, and by the All-Star break, were 42–6, putting them on pace to win 70 games for a second year in a row. But some late-season injuries and poor play, including

Scottie Pippen Scotty Maurice Pippen Sr. (born September 25, 1965), usually spelled Scottie Pippen, is an American former professional basketball player. He played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning six NBA championships with th ...

's failed attempt at a game-winning three-pointer in the Bulls' final regular season game against the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

, denied them another 70-win season, and the Bulls settled for a league-best 69–13 record. This tied the 1971–72 Los Angeles Lakers for the third-best regular season, only behind the 1995–96 Bulls (72–10) and the 2015–16 Golden State Warriors (73–9). In the playoffs, the Bulls swept the

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

in the first round, dispatched the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

in five games in the second round, then defeated the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

in five games in the Eastern Conference finals.

Utah Jazz

The Jazz emerged as a force in the Western Conference during the 1990s, powered by its All-Star duo of

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

John Stockton and

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

Karl Malone Karl Anthony Malone (born July 24, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Mailman", he is considered one of the greatest power forwards in NBA history. Malone spen ...

. They advanced to the Western Conference finals three times between

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

and

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, (1992, 1994 and 1996), but lost on each occasion. However, a different story was written for the 1996–97 season. Powered by league MVP Karl Malone, along with the talented John Stockton, the Jazz finally asserted themselves atop the Western Conference, finishing with a franchise-record 64 wins. In the playoffs, Utah swept the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...

in the opening round and eliminated the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

in five games in the second round. Utah then eliminated the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

to advance to their first NBA Finals in franchise history, thanks to John Stockton's buzzer-beating, three-point shot in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals. Another storyline heading into the Finals was Jazz head coach

Jerry Sloan Gerald Eugene Sloan (March 28, 1942 – May 22, 2020) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) before beginning a 30-year coaching career, 23 of which were spent ...

coaching against his former team as a player. Sloan made the All-Star game twice with the Bulls and was a key player on Dick Motta’s defensive-minded teams throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

Road to the Finals

Regular season series

Both teams split the two meetings, each won by the home team:

1997 NBA Finals rosters

Chicago Bulls

Utah Jazz

Series summary

The Finals were played using a 2–3–2 site format, where the first two and last two games are held at the team with home court advantage's (Chicago's) home court (

United Center The United Center is an indoor arena on the Near West Side, Chicago, Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is home to the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

). Had the Western Conference finals between the Jazz and the

reached a game 7, the Finals would have started on Wednesday, June 4 and followed the similar Wednesday-Friday-Sunday rotation. :''All times are in

Eastern Daylight Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behin ...

( UTC−4).''

Game 1

Despite injuring his foot in the Eastern Conference finals against Miami,

helped the Bulls to an 84–82 victory over Utah on Sunday. He scored 27 points while Jordan scored 31. The Bulls trailed by one in the 4th, yet were able to grab an 81–79 lead after Pippen blocked Antoine Carr, then made his third 3-pointer with 1:11 remaining. However, John Stockton answered with a 3 of his own with 51.7 seconds left to give Utah an 82–81 lead. Michael Jordan made 1 of 2 free throws with 35.8 seconds left to tie it at 82. Then, Karl Malone was fouled by Rodman with 9.2 seconds left and had a chance to give Utah the lead. Scottie famously psyched him out, saying, "Just remember, the mailman doesn't deliver on Sundays, Karl", before he stepped up to the line. He missed them both. Jordan got the rebound and quickly called a time-out with 7.5 seconds left. With the game on the line, the Bulls put the ball in Jordan's hands. He dribbled out most of the waning seconds, then launched a 20-footer (game-winning shot) that went in at the buzzer to give Chicago a 1–0 series lead, after which he pumped his fist in triumph. The fist-pumping often draws comparisons to another famous Jordan reaction to a buzzer-beater, when he leaped into the air after hitting The Shot that eliminated the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

in Game 5 of the 1989 Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

Game 2

The Bulls simply dominated Game 2. After a hard-fought first quarter, the Bulls took control of the game with a 12–0 second-quarter run. Utah's 31 points in the first half was only one point above an NBA low. Karl Malone, who missed those two key free throws in Game 1, had another bad night, making only 6 of 20 field goals. Dennis Rodman nailed a late 3-pointer to put the Bulls up 97–85.

Game 3

Utah's fans welcomed their proud Western Conference champs with force. During the introductions of the Jazz's starting lineups, the Bulls players plugged their ears, due to the loud cheers and fireworks within the Delta Center. The Chicago Bulls started off the first three quarters with mediocre play, despite Scottie Pippen tying a then-Finals record with seven 3-pointers. Utah was led by Karl Malone, who scored 37 points and had 10 rebounds. Chicago attempted a 4th-quarter comeback, cutting a 24-point deficit down to 7, but Utah ultimately won its first game of the series. With the Bulls trailing by 18 points in the second quarter, Michael Jordan threw down an

alley-oop In basketball, an alley-oop is an offensive play in which one player passes the ball near the basket to a teammate who jumps, catches the ball in mid-air and dunks or lays it in before touching the ground. The alley-oop combines elements of t ...

slam which drew loud boos from the crowd. Dennis Rodman defended his poor performance in Game 3 with a vulgar remark denigrating

Mormons Mormons are a Religious denomination, religious and ethnocultural group, cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's d ...

and was fined a then record $50,000 for this remark and

CKE Restaurants CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc. (an acronym for Carl Karcher Enterprises) is an American fast food corporation and is the parent organization for the Carl's Jr., Hardee's, Green Burrito, and Red Burrito brands. CKE Restaurants is headquartered in ...

dropped his television commercials permanently. He apologized, claiming he was not aware that Mormon referred to a religion and intended his remark at obnoxious Jazz fans.

Game 4

Due to the extremely loud Jazz fans in Game 3, Bulls coach Phil Jackson wore a pair of ear plugs. A tight game with many lead changes throughout, the Jazz led by 5 after the first quarter, but trailed by 5 at halftime. The score was tied going into the fourth quarter. Late in the game, Michael Jordan made a fast break dunk to give the Bulls a 71–66 lead, but John Stockton made a momentum-shifting 3 at the top of the key to cut the deficit to 71–69. Jordan made a jumper to give the Bulls a 73–69 lead, but the Bulls would not score again. The Jazz pulled to within 1 when Stockton stole the ball from Jordan and made 2 free throws at the other end. On the next possession John Stockton grabbed a rebound from a Jordan miss and threw a full-court pass to Karl Malone for a layup with 44.5 seconds left that put Utah in front for good, 74–73. After Stockton made the assist, he jumped up into the air several times pumping his fist. After some Bulls misses, Karl Malone made two free throws with 17 seconds left to put the Jazz up by 3. On the next possession, Michael Jordan's potential game-tying 3 with less than 10 seconds left rattled out; Stockton grabbed the rebound and threw another full-court pass to Bryon Russell, who escaped the intentional foul and dunked with 5 seconds left in the game to seal it, drawing a huge roar from the crowd. The Jazz's 12–2 run tied the series at two games apiece. The Delta Center grew so loud that during the final moments of the game when Bryon Russell made the dunk that iced the game,

Marv Albert Marv Albert (born Marvin Philip Aufrichtig; June 12, 1941) is an American former sportscaster. Honored for his work by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he was commonly referred to as "the voice of basketball". From 1967 to 2004, he was also know ...

was unable to be clearly heard. The 78–73 score was one of the lowest scores in NBA Finals history. Jackson later wrote that the team's equipment manager had "had mistakenly served our players Gaterlode, a high-carbohydrate drink, instead of

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. The drink is owned and manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was develope ...

," making the team "sluggish... Each of the players, it was estimated, had ingested the equivalent of about twenty baked potatoes."

Game 5

Game 5, known as "The Flu Game", was one of Michael Jordan's most memorable games. At 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning, Jordan woke up and began to experience

vomiting Vomiting (also known as emesis, puking and throwing up) is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose. Vomiting can be the result of ailments like food poisoning, gastroenteritis, pre ...

and

diarrhea Diarrhea (American English), also spelled diarrhoea or diarrhœa (British English), is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements in a day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration d ...

, and called his personal trainer to his hotel room, where he was found lying curled up in the

fetal position Fetal position (British English: also foetal) is the positioning of the body of a prenatal fetus as it develops. In this position, the back is curved, the head is bowed, and the limbs are bent and drawn up to the torso. A compact position is ...

, shaking, and sweating profusely. He hardly had the strength to sit up in bed and requested a doctor. He was diagnosed with a stomach virus or

food poisoning Foodborne illness (also known as foodborne disease and food poisoning) is any illness resulting from the contamination of food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites, as well as prions (the agents of mad cow disease), and toxins such ...

, likely caused by a pizza ordered the night before. Jordan eventually claimed it was food poisoning in the 2020 docuseries ''The Last Dance''. The Bulls' athletic trainers told Jordan that there was no way he could play the next day, but Jordan insisted that he play. The Jazz were a perfect 10–0 at home in the postseason up until that point, and a third consecutive win would give them the series lead. The Bulls needed Jordan to assist them, as it was a critical game, and despite his sickness, Jordan got out of bed at 5:50 p.m. on Wednesday, just in time for the 7 o'clock tip-off at the Delta Center. Jordan was weak as he stepped on the court for Game 5, and missed team warmups. At first, he displayed little energy, and John Stockton, along with reigning MVP

, led the Jazz to a 16-point lead (36–20) in the second quarter. But Jordan slowly began to make shots despite lacking his usual speed. He scored 17 points in the quarter as the Bulls ended the half with a large run cutting the Jazz lead to four (53–49). While Jordan was fatigued in the third and sitting on the bench, Utah was able to reclaim the lead and stretched it to 8 points (77–69). Jordan shot well again in the fourth quarter, scoring 15 points. With 46.4 seconds left and Chicago down 85–84, he was fouled and went to the free throw line. He made the first to tie the game, but missed the second. Toni Kukoč got the offensive rebound to Jordan, who dribbled back to allow the offense to set up. He passed the ball to Pippen, who was quickly double-teamed. Pippen then passed the ball back to a now-unguarded Jordan, who made a 3-point shot to give the Bulls an 88–85 lead with 25 seconds remaining in the game. A Greg Ostertag dunk brought the Jazz back within one point, but Luc Longley answered with a dunk of his own, and Chicago held on for a victory when John Stockton missed the first of two free throws in front of the stunned crowd. With only a few seconds remaining and the game's result safely in Chicago's favor, Jordan collapsed into Scottie Pippen's arms, creating an iconic image that has come to symbolize The Flu Game. Malone was the high-scorer for the Jazz with 19 points but shot poorly during the game, air-balling an off-balance shot on the possession prior to Jordan's 3-pointer. Malone finished the second half 1-for-6 from the field. Jordan played 44 minutes, finishing the game with 38 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 1 block.

Game 6

Michael Jordan hadn't fully recovered from his illness, but he was feeling much better and led the Bulls with 39 points. Chicago struggled in the first half, scoring just 37 points and making only 9 of 27 field goals. With the Bulls struggling in the third quarter, Jordan dunked after a steal, bringing the crowd to its feet and Jud Buechler buried a 3 to help give the Bulls the momentum. The Bulls trailed by 9 early in the fourth quarter, but went on a 10–0 run to take their first lead since the opening minutes when Steve Kerr hit a 3-pointer, but the Jazz regained the lead and the game remained one possession until the final score. In the final minutes, Jordan's fadeaway jumper extended the Bulls lead to 3, before Bryon Russell hit a 3-pointer with 1:44 left to tie the game at 86. The two teams failed to score on their next possessions. Shandon Anderson then missed a reverse layup. The Jazz argued that this was due to Pippen grabbing the rim before the shot, causing the basketball standard to shake. However, the officials ruled that the ball had no chance of going in. Dennis Rodman grabbed the rebound and called time-out with 28 seconds left in a tie game. The Jazz expected Jordan to take the final shot. Instead, Jordan drew a double-team, then passed to a wide-open Steve Kerr, who hit a 17-footer with 5 seconds left to send the United Center into a frenzy. The Jazz looked for a final shot to stay alive, but Scottie Pippen made a significant defensive play as he knocked away Bryon Russell's inbound pass intended for Shandon Anderson and rolled the ball over to Toni Kukoč, who dunked the final 2 points of the game before the roaring crowd to bring the Finals to an end, despite there being 0.6 seconds left in the game. Jordan finished with 39 points to go along with 11 rebounds and four assists, and he was named Finals MVP for the 5th time. This would also be the last United Center championship celebration until eighteen years later when the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (N ...

beat the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. The Lightning compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the ...

to win the

2015 Stanley Cup The 2015 Stanley Cup Finals was the Stanley Cup Finals, championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) season, and the culmination of the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference champion 2014–15 ...

Player statistics

;Chicago Bulls , - , align="left" , , , 5 , , 0 , , 4.8 , , .200 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 0.8 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 8.7 , , .500 , , .250 , , .500 , , 1.2 , , 0.3 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 1.7 , - , align="left" , , , 5 , , 0 , , 3.4 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 20.2 , , .472 , , .000 , , .538 , , 3.3 , , 0.8 , , 1.0 , , 0.2 , , 6.8 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 27.0 , , .344 , , .273 , , .667 , , 4.5 , , 2.3 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 4.8 , -! style="background:#FDE910;" , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 42.7 , , .456 , , .320 , , .764 , , 7.0 , , 6.0 , , 1.2 , , 0.8 , , 32.3 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 19.5 , , .360 , , .250 , , 1.000 , , 0.8 , , 1.0 , , 0.7 , , 0.2 , , 4.3 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 23.3 , , .405 , , .556 , , .800 , , 3.2 , , 2.7 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 8.0 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 21.8 , , .606 , , .000 , , .200 , , 3.8 , , 1.2 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 6.8 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 42.8 , , .421 , , .375 , , .778 , , 8.3 , , 3.5 , , 1.7 , , 1.8 , , 20.0 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 27.2 , , .250 , , .167 , , .375 , , 7.7 , , 1.5 , , 0.7 , , 0.2 , , 2.3 ;Utah Jazz , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 0 , , 21.0 , , .316 , , .250 , , .667 , , 1.8 , , 0.5 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 4.3 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 9.8 , , .409 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.7 , , 0.8 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 3.0 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 10.5 , , .500 , , .500 , , .900 , , 0.7 , , 2.5 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 5.3 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 16.0 , , .476 , , .333 , , .923 , , 3.5 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 5.5 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 34.3 , , .379 , , .375 , , .846 , , 3.5 , , 2.2 , , 0.7 , , 0.0 , , 12.0 , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 0 , , 7.5 , , .333 , , .000 , , .500 , , 1.8 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.8 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 40.8 , , .443 , , .000 , , .603 , , 10.3 , , 3.5 , , 1.7 , , 0.3 , , 23.8 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 11.5 , , .471 , , .500 , , .000 , , 1.7 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 0.5 , , 3.5 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 21.8 , , .400 , , .000 , , .500 , , 7.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.5 , , 1.5 , , 4.3 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 38.7 , , .390 , , .441 , , .875 , , 5.8 , , 0.7 , , 0.8 , , 0.2 , , 11.3 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 37.5 , , .500 , , .400 , , .846 , , 4.0 , , 8.8 , , 2.0 , , 0.5 , , 15.0

Broadcasting

was the play-by-play announcer for his seventh straight NBA Finals for the ''

NBA on NBC Television broadcasts of the National Basketball Association (NBA) games produced by NBC Sports has aired on American broadcast network NBC under the ''NBA on NBC'' branding throughout three incarnations in its history. The NBA was first telev ...

''. It was his third straight NBA Finals working with color analysts

Matt Guokas Matthew George Guokas Jr. ( ; born February 25, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. His father, Matt Guokas Sr., Matt Sr. and uncle, Al Guokas, Al, have also played in the NBA. Guokas and his father, Matt Sr., ...

and

Bill Walton William Theodore Walton III (November 5, 1952 – May 27, 2024) was an American basketball player and television Sports commentator, sportscaster. He played college basketball, collegiately for the UCLA Bruins men's basketball, UCLA Bruins an ...

. This would be the last NBA Finals that Albert would announce in the 1990s because of a

sex scandal A sex scandal is a public scandal involving allegations or information about possibly immoral sexual activities, often associated with the sexual affairs of film stars, politicians, famous athletes, or others in the public eye. Sex scandals r ...

that would force

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...

to fire him later in 1997. During these NBA Finals,

' Hannah Storm became the first woman to serve as pre-game host of an NBA Finals. She would continue in this role for the next three

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

also used

Ahmad Rashad Ahmad Rashad ( ; born Robert Earl Moore; November 19, 1949) is an American sportscaster and former professional football wide receiver. He was the fourth overall selection of the 1972 NFL draft, taken by the St. Louis Cardinals. He was known ...

( Bulls sideline) and Jim Gray (

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

sideline) as the sideline reporters. This would be the only NBA Finals on NBC during the 1990s that would not include

Bob Costas Robert Quinlan Costas (born March 22, 1952) is an American sportscaster who is known for his long tenure with NBC Sports, from 1980 through 2019. He has received 28 Emmy awards for his work and was the prime-time host of 12 Olympic Games from ...

in any capacity. He had served as the pre-game host from 1991 to 1996. The next year, during the 1998 NBA Finals, Costas served as the play-by-play announcer, a role in which he would continue until after the

2000 NBA Finals The 2000 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 1999–2000 season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Eastern Conferen ...

. The local NBC affiliates of the participating teams included

WMAQ-TV WMAQ-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the market's NBC outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Telemundo station WSNS-TV (chann ...

(Chicago) and

KSL-TV KSL-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is the flagship television property of locally based Bonneville International, the for-profit broadcasting arm of the Church of Jesus C ...

(Salt Lake City).

Aftermath

Both teams met again in the Finals in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, the first time the same two teams met in the NBA Finals since

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, when the Lakers and Pistons went up against each other. Only this time, the Jazz had home-court advantage. The Bulls won that series in 6 games, highlighted by

's last shot as a Bull in Game 6. Nationally,

, the

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

of the league in the regular season, was criticized heavily for a subpar NBA Finals.

Dennis Rodman Dennis Keith Rodman (born May 13, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. Renowned for his defensive and rebounding abilities, his biography on the official NBA website states that he is "arguably the best rebounding forw ...

and

Brian Williams Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is an American journalist and television news anchor. He was a correspondent for ''NBC Nightly News'' starting in 1993, before his promotion to anchorman, anchor and managing editor of the broadcast in ...

forced Malone into taking more jump shots than he had in any playoff series in his career to that point. In the 1997 Finals, Malone shot 44% compared to 53% in the regular season and 60% at the free throw line compared to 78% in the regular season. In Game 1, Malone missed 2 free throws with 9 seconds left, which left Michael Jordan to hit the game winner. In Game 5, he went 7-for-17 from the floor and 5-for-9 at the free throw line for 19 points in a Jazz two point loss. In Game 6, he went 7-for-15 from the field and free throw line in a four point loss. Many felt the Jazz could have won the series if Malone played to his capabilities.

References

External links

NBA History
*

at Basketball-Reference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:1997 Nba Finals NBA Finals

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

Basketball competitions in Salt Lake City 1997 in sports in Utah 1997 in sports in Illinois 1997 in Chicago 1990s in Salt Lake City Basketball competitions in Chicago June 1997 sports events in the United States Events at United Center