Horace Grant recalls how the Bulls wanted to prove they could win after Michael Jordan retired: "One of the best years that Chicago had"

The 1993-1994 NBA season remains one of the most fascinating chapters not just in the Chicago Bulls’ history, but also in the league’s. After the Bulls completed a three-peat, the franchise and the league suddenly found themselves in a completely different reality when Michael Jordan stunned the basketball world by stepping away to pursue baseball.

For the rest of the league, it felt like this was a chance to finally capture a title. For the remaining players in Chicago, it was a huge loss, but it was also a chance to prove they were more than just supporting pieces in Jordan’s story.

One of the players, Horace Grant, recently spoke on All The Smoke podcast to reveal what he and the rest of the team felt after MJ left for baseball, and how, instead of folding, the Bulls regrouped with a clear sense of purpose.

“As a collective group, our minds, because you hear all the time about Michael Jordan and the Jordanaires, and we wanted to prove that we could play without him,” Grant stated.

A chance to step out of Jordan’s shadow

The label “Jordanaires”, coined by the Bad Boys Detroit Pistons, had followed the rest of the team throughout their championship runs, often used to discredit the contributions of Jordan’s teammates, such as Grant and Scottie Pippen.

So when Jordan retired for the first time in his career to pursue a baseball career, Grant recalls, it was the team’s chance to finally prove that they were not just the supporting cast, and that they could repeat their championship success without His Airness.

“When he retired, we got together that summer, and we had a few meetings, and everybody was all in that summer,” he said. “We won 55 games that year, and Pip got quite a few votes for the finalists for MVP, and myself and BJ made the All-Star team.”

Without MJ, the Bulls were undoubtedly still the Bulls. Under head coach Phil Jackson, Chicago remained one of the best teams in the league, finishing with 55 wins, just 2 fewer than the previous season.

The “Jordanaires” proved they were more than just that, especially Pippen, who cemented himself as one of the best players in the league after becoming the focal point of the offense and finishing the season averaging 22.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game to finish third in MVP voting.

Meanwhile, Grant and guard BJ Armstrong also had their best seasons, earning their lone All-Star nods, while players such as Steve Kerr and Toni Kukoc emerged as solid pieces for the franchise moving forward.

Their regular-season success carried over into the postseason, as they swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round, setting up a showdown with their rivals, the New York Knicks, in the conference semifinals.

As great as they were in that series, the Bulls eventually lost in seven grueling games. But everyone, including Grant, still remembers the personal foul referee Hue Hollins called on Pippen against Knicks’ Hubert Davis, who subsequently sank the game-winning free throws that gave New York a 3-2 series lead in Game 5.

“We had something to prove that we were NBA basketball players,” Grant said. “And if it was not for that damn phantom foul against the New York Knicks’ Hubert Davis, the referee gave that foul to Pip, and we lose that game.”

The Knicks would eventually reach the finals, losing in seven games to the Houston Rockets, while the Bulls, despite exiting in the second round, proved that they were still a contender without Jordan — an accomplishment that Grant relishes to this day.

“I think even though we didn’t win the chip, (it was) one of the best years that the Chicago Bulls had,” he stated.

Grant shuts down the conspiracy theories

Beyond basketball, Grant also shed light on rumors that Jordan’s retirement was a secret suspension for gambling, dispelling them and detailing why MJ needed to step away from basketball.

“People don’t know the trauma that a guy like that, who has no privacy, lost his dad, and the wear and tear on you mentally can take a toll on you. And he just wanted to get away and pursue baseball,” Grant explained.

“We never heard gambling and all of that s–t because in our mind, we had something to prove to ourselves and the fans in the city of Chicago that we have a legitimate chance to win without MJ,” he continued.

In the end, even without MJ, the Bulls were still a dangerous team. Jordan’s retirement only hindered their chances of winning a chip, but as Grant recalled, he was still training with the team in between his baseball career.

When Jordan returned the following season, he reestablished control and led the Bulls to another three-peat from 1996 to 1998. But his absence undoubtedly showed that Chicago was never just about one man.

There is no question that MJ was the driving force of the dynasty. Yet that brief stretch without him made it clear that the foundation of those teams was still the players who fought alongside him. Ultimately, Jordan elevated the Bulls to historic heights, but the rest of the team was just as important to their success as he was.

This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Apr 5, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Horace Grant recalls how the Bulls wanted to prove they could win after Michael Jordan retired: “One of the best years that Chicago had”

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