The 1998–99 Chicago Bulls season was the 33rd season for the Chicago Bulls in the National Basketball Association. This for the first time since 1993–94 season that Michael Jordan was not on the opening day roster and for the first time since 1986–87 season that Scottie Pippen was not on the opening day roster. Due to a lockout, the regular season began on February 5, 1999, and was cut from 82 games to 50 games.
Season summary
Off-season The Bulls entered the regular season as the three-time defending NBA champions, having defeated the Utah Jazz in the 1998 NBA Finals in six games, winning their sixth NBA championship, and completing a second three-peat in the 1990s. During the offseason, Phil Jackson's resignation as head coach, the departures of Scottie Pippen (who was traded to the Houston Rockets), Dennis Rodman (who signed with the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent), and Michael Jordan's second retirement marked the end of the Bulls' dynasty. During the off-season, the team signed free agents Brent Barry, and Andrew Lang, acquired Mark Bryant from the Phoenix Suns, and hired Tim Floyd as their new head coach.
Regular season Under Floyd, and with the addition of Barry and Bryant, the Bulls were a shell of their former selves, losing eight of their first nine games of the regular season, which included a seven-game losing streak in February. The team posted another seven-game losing streak in April, and lost 14 of their final 17 games of the season. The Bulls finished in last place in the Central Division with a 13–37 record (roughly the equivalent of 21–61), missing the NBA playoffs for the first time since the 1983–84 season; the Bulls were just the second defending champions to miss the postseason, behind the 1969–70 Boston Celtics.
Toni Kukoč became the team's scoring leader, averaging 18.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game, while Ron Harper averaged 11.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game, and Barry provided the team with 11.1 points per game. In addition, Dickey Simpkins contributed 9.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, while Bryant provided with 9.0 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, and Randy Brown contributed 8.8 points, 3.8 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Meanwhile, Hungarian rookie power forward Kornél Dávid averaged 6.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, second-year guard Rusty LaRue contributed 4.7 points per game, and Lang provided with 3.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, but only played just 21 games due to injury.
Brown finished tied in tenth place in Most Improved Player voting. The Bulls led the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 560,012 at the United Center during the regular season.
Notable highlights One notable game of the regular season occurred on April 10, 1999, in which the Bulls suffered an 82–49 home loss to the Miami Heat at the United Center; the Bulls struggled and only made 18 out of 77 field-goal attempts, and shot just .234 in field-goal percentage. It was an all-time NBA record for the fewest points scored in a single game since the shot clock was introduced during the 1954–55 season. Before that night's game, the NBA had only twelve notable moments where a team scored under 50 points in a match, where most of them occurred during the league's inaugural season, which was known as the Basketball Association of America, including two different matches where a team scored less than 40 points in a game. In addition, the two lowest scoring teams in a game happened in an infamous match on November 22, 1950, between the Fort Wayne Pistons and the Minneapolis Lakers, which resulted in the lowest-scoring NBA match ever recorded in a 19–18 Pistons victory.
Aftermath Following the season, Barry was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics, while Harper signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers to reunite with Jackson, who was hired to coach the Lakers, Bryant signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Lang and Bill Wennington were both released to free agency.
Offseason
NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club team 1 28 Corey Benjamin SG Oregon State 2 34 Shammond Williams PG North Carolina 2 58 Maceo Baston F Michigan
Roster
Regular season
Season standings
Player statistics
Regular season PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG 37 30 31.9 .396 .302 .772 3.9 3.1 1.1 .3 11.1 31 1 10.3 .376 .214 .675 1.3 .3 .4 .3 3.8 3 0 6.3 .333 .750 1.7 .0 .3 .0 2.3 39 4 11.1 .325 .100 .500 2.4 1.0 .6 .3 3.1 39 32 29.2 .414 .000 .757 3.4 3.8 1.7 .2 8.8 45 29 26.8 .483 .000 .645 5.2 1.1 .8 .4 9.0 42 7 14.9 .329 .167 .750 1.2 1.6 .5 .2 4.1 50 6 18.0 .449 .000 .811 3.5 .8 .5 .3 6.2 35 35 31.6 .377 .318 .703 5.1 3.3 1.7 1.0 11.2 29 5 16.4 .317 .311 .500 1.4 1.4 .6 .2 3.7 44 44 37.6 .420 .285 .740 7.0 5.3 1.1 .3 18.8 21 13 18.4 .323 .696 4.4 .6 .2 .6 3.8 43 6 17.0 .359 .337 1.000 1.3 1.5 .8 .1 4.7 50 35 29.0 .463 .000 .645 6.8 1.3 .7 .3 9.1 38 3 11.9 .348 1.000 .818 2.1 .5 .3 .3 3.8
Player statistics citation:
Awards and records In a home game against the Miami Heat on April 10, 1999, the Bulls scored 49 points, the fewest by any team since the shot clock was introduced in 1954.
Transactions Players added Via draft Corey Benjamin Via trade Mario Bennett Mark Bryant Andrew Lang Via free agency Brent Barry Kornél DávidPlayers lost Via trade Steve Kerr Luc Longley Scottie Pippen Via free agency Jud Buechler Scott Burrell Joe Kleine Dennis Rodman Retired Michael Jordan
References
External links
Bulls on Basketball Reference