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Pistons, Bulls and Rockets: NBA Championship-Caliber Contracts 1990-94

By N.B. Lindberg

Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, The Last Dance (Photo credit should read BRIAN BAHR/AFP via Getty Images)
Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, The Last Dance (Photo credit should read BRIAN BAHR/AFP via Getty Images) /
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NBA Mandatory Credit: Mike Powell
NBA Mandatory Credit: Mike Powell /

1991 NBA Champion: Chicago Bulls
League Salary Cap: $11,871,000
Championship-Caliber Contract: Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant & Michael Jordan

This is the season when Michael Jordan became “Michael Jordan.” Before he secured his first championship he was just a ball hog who couldn’t win the big one. As crazy as it sounds today, many throughout the sport question whether a player who played like Mike could win a championship.

Jordan’s 1990-91 season erased all of that nonsense in what might have been the GOAT’s finest season. His 25.1 Win Shares is one of the highest in history, a total only Lebron James has been able to match over the last 30. That level of production was valued at $7.15 million in value, a staggering 60.24 percent of the salary cap in 1991.

Related Story. Every NBA team's Mount Rushmore. light

The Bulls, behind peak MJ, won an Eastern Conference-best 61 games. After a dominant regular season, the Bulls made the playoffs seem easy. They absolutely dismantled their opponents, only dropped 2 games throughout, and swept the hated Pistons in the Eastern Conference Championship. In the Finals, the Bulls made quick work of the Lakers and Jordan finally reached the mountain top. His singular brilliance had never been enough for the Bulls, but the maturation and growth of Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant had propelled the Bulls to the next level. The Bulls’ first championship team was built to be a dynasty and it delivered.

Horace Grant and Scottie Pippen were both fantastic players and were below-market contracts. In fact, it was during the NBA Finals that the Bulls hammered out the fateful contract extension that would sour Scottie Pippen’s relationship with the Bulls while also paving the way for their dominance in the second half of the decade. Grant produced 14 Win Shares, valued at $3.98 million (33.6 percent of the cap), and Pippen produced 14.1 Win Shares, valued at $4.017 million (33.8 percent of the cap).

The two were paid a combined $1.765 million, which was still less than the $2.5 million Jordan was paid. The trio combined for 53.2 Win Shares at only $4.265 million in salary. Each one of these was a championship-caliber contract. Which makes it no surprise that it was only a sign of things to come.