'We Would've Beat Their Ass,' Says Ex-Rockets' Kenny Smith on Michael Jordan's Bulls
If you're going to talk smack about the great Houston Rockets teams of the 1990s, you might want to avoid letting former Rockets guard Kenny Smith find out about it. The Rockets have always had to deal critics downplaying their two championships, given that they happened while Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan was in a brief retirement while attempting to play baseball.
Smith, who won those two championships with Rockets legend Hakeem Olajuwon in 1994 and 1995, was a guest on an episode of All The Smoke, which is hosted by former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. He had some very interesting things to say about Jordan's Bulls.
"We would've beat their ass," said Smith, insisting that it didn't matter if Jordan had taken his hiatus or not.
“Mike's still the best player in the world I’ve ever seen, but that means you would have had to win eight championships in a row. He’s not going to win eight in a row. He’s not. No one’s done it in the modern era. He wouldn’t have done that."
Smith continued: “Secondly, there was no Horace Grant. He left (in free agency in 1994). Then, they became way too small. In the regular season, we went (5-1 against them). They never beat us in the regular season. We used to go to Chicago, smack them. Come back to Houston, smack them up. B.J. (Armstong) and (John) Paxson and those guys were good players, but they were too slow for us on the perimeter and (Bill) Wennington and them couldn’t guard (Olajuwon).”
Although there might be some truth to what Smith said, it must be noted that regular-season success against a certain team doesn't always necessarily translate to postseason success. For the best recent example of that, look no further than what the Rockets' I-45 rival Dallas Mavericks did in this year's playoffs.
Dallas got swept by the league-leading Phoenix Suns in the regular season, but then went on to beat them in seven games in the Western Conference semifinals. Then, in the Western Conference finals, the Mavs lost to the Golden State Warriors in just five games despite having won the season series against them, 3-1.
Luckily for the Rockets, though, they'll never have to find out what would've happened if Jordan had never retired that first time. History can't ever be erased, and no matter what critics say about their championships, those banners will always hang in the rafters.
