“I don’t want to tell him” – George Karl believes Dennis Rodman not Michael Jordan beat the Sonics in the ’96 Finals originally appeared on Basketball Network.
The great Michael Jordan left his mark on the opposing team’s coaches in every NBA championship he won with the Chicago Bulls. Among them was former Seattle Supersonics head coach George Karl, who has always believed it was Dennis Rodman, and not Jordan who carried the 72-10 Bulls in the 1996 Finals.
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The Bulls closed the series out in six games that season, with Jordan winning the Finals MVP award. While the decision was quite obvious, Coach Karl argued that, from his perspective, Rodman inflicted more damage on the Sonics than Jordan did the entire series.
In fact, Karl was even convinced that Rodman was a better player than MJ during the regular season. However, the legendary coach revealed that he just chose not to tell Jordan about that.
“I remind him all the time that I think we held him below 40 percent shooting in that series,” Karl once said, recalling his memorable Jordan moments. “And I don’t want to tell him, but he wasn’t the best guy on their team that year. (Dennis) Rodman probably beat us as much as he did and of course (Scottie) Pippen took Gary (Payton) out of the game a lot. Their defense beat us.”
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Kemp agreed with Coach Karl about Jordan in ’96
In all fairness to his claim, stats revealed that Jordan shot just a little over 40 percent in that series. He logged 41.5 percent from the field, which was his lowest tally in the Finals.
MJ’s reduced field goal percentage speaks volumes about the Sonics‘Â defense. However, former Sonics All-Star power forward Shawn Kemp also credited Rodman’s efforts with the 72-10 Bulls‘ successful championship run.
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Kemp was already somewhat familiar with how The Worm played, but he was undeniably a better player in the ’96 Finals. Like Coach Karl, he also thinks it was Rodman, not Jordan, who beat his team that year.
“Michael wasn’t the reason,” Kemp assessed, reflecting on the ’96 Finals. “He didn’t beat us in the championship. He did not beat us; we was on his a*s. Dennis Rodman is the one who beat us.”
“We had no answer for his a*s, man,” he admitted. “Every time that they needed a second shot, something special, extra rebound, or tip-in, this mother****** was flying and winking and kissing and frustrating everybody on the team. Dennis is not even like that; he just do that s***. He had my team just flustered.”
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The anchors of the 72-10 Bulls
Karl has the right to stick to his thoughts on how the ’96 Finals duel between the Sonics and the Bulls played out. However, whether it was Jordan or Rodman who truly played well in that series, the truth is that the Bulls outplayed the Sonics.
Perhaps MJ’s performance did not satisfy Coach Karl, but the outcome proves that he did enough to help Chicago win its fourth NBA title. Rodman’s tenacity and otherworldly rebounding skills were also pivotal to the Bulls’ success.
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It is yet to be known whether Karl will finally discuss his opinion with Jordan in the future. But in the eyes of many, MJ, Scottie Pippen and Rodman led the Bulls to another championship victory that year and the second three-peat.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 19, 2025, where it first appeared.