Few NBA players defined an entire decade the way that Michael Jordan did in the 90s. The Chicago Bulls legend was every kid’s favorite player and helped continue the growth in popularity the NBA was seeing thanks to what Larry Bird and Magic Johnson did in the 80s. In MyNBA Franchise Mode inNBA 2K23, people can select one of four eras to start their franchise, withJordan serving as the face of the 90s era.
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Most people are going to slide on over to the Bulls and use them since it starts during the 1991 season, but many people forget that the 90s was home to many talented rosters that happened to play in the same era as one of the greatest teams of all time, if not the greatest. ThankfullyNBA 2K’s latest entrylets people rewrite that history and prevent the two three-peats the Bulls accomplished.
8Cleveland Cavaliers
If it wasn’t for LeBron James bringing a championship to Cleveland and cementing himself as the greatest Cavalier of all time, more people would likely appreciate the team Cleveland had in the 90s. Led by Mark Price, who sports an 88overall inNBA 2K23, the team also had studs such as power forward Larry Nance Sr.and centerBrad Daugherty.
Players looking to turn them into a contender would likely need to find a consistent scorer that could take some pressure off of Price and help spread the court and weaken any opposing defenses. Price is not the first name that comes up when thinking about the Cavaliers, but the 4x All-Star and 4x All-NBA player known as the OK Kid had a heck of a career.
7Boston Celtics
Looking at a roster that includes a 91 overall Larry Bird, Kevin McHale with an 83 overall, 86 overall Reggie Lewis, and finally, an 84 overall Robert Parish feels like a team that should be a no-brainer pick. The reality is that most of these guys are in the back half of their careers, so choosingthe Boston Celticsof the 90s is a bit of a risk.
One of the greatest criticisms against Michael Jordan is that he didn’t start winning until Bird and Magic Johnson’s prime was behind them. Either way, if someone is booting upNBA 2K23looking to play as the best version of the Celtics with Larry Bird they should just select the Bird/Johnson era and get the lethal Indiana product when he and the team were at the height of their powers.
6Los Angeles Lakers
As with what was mentioned with the Boston Celtics,the Los Angeles Lakersdidn’t have a bad roster in the 90s, but it was at a point where their stars were aging out of their prime. Guys like Magic Johnson and James Worthy still played well, but anyone using this team needs to have a plan to replace the talent moving forward and inject youth.
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That being said, having a 90 overall Magic and an 89 overall Worthy still make them rather enticing inNBA 2K23regardless of the circumstances. It might be a decade until the opportunity to get Kobe Bryant presents itself, but that doesn’t mean that the Lakers couldn’t contend against Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls under the right coaching and management.
5Phoenix Suns
Despite the Phoenix Suns being a force in the 90s, this roster happens to be of the year before the team landed Charles Barkley. Now, that doesn’t mean that players can’t make a deal to bring him to the desert, but it is a bummer that the Jordan era begins in 1991 and not the following season.
Jeff Hornacek and Dan Majerle are a lethal combo of 85 overall players in their own right, and if Barkley was on this roster this team might land a few spots higher. Hornacek left the team following the 1991 season, so players would also need to try and resign him and rewrite the history of him eventually landing with the Utah Jazz and building a legacy in Salt Lake City.
4Detroit Pistons
NBA fandom is weird because in one breath old heads will say that modern NBA players aren’t tough enough to handle the game of the 80s and 90s. Then a minute later people will complain that the Detroit Pistons of the 90s were dirty players who just wanted to hurt Michael Jordan. T
hat Pistons team of the 90s earned the nickname “Bad Boys”, a roster inNBA 2K23that consists of an 88 overall Joe Dumars, 87 overall Isaiah Thomas, and Dennis Rodman, and also featured veterans like John Salley, Bill Laimbeer, and Mark Aguirre. Almost every year in the 90s it felt like the Pistons served as the wall the Chicago Bulls had to demolish in order to make it to the NBA Finals.
3Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz might go down asthe best NBA teamof all time to never win a championship. John Stockton and Karl Malone were a pick-and-roll nightmare who managed to fill out the box score night in and night out while securing dozens of wins along the way.
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Malone finished and remains the #3 points scorer of all-time and #7 in total rebounds. Stockton on the other hand still stands atop the all-time assists leaderboard with a staggering 15,806 for his career. Everyone in Utah hates Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls because they are the sole reason Salt Lake City has yet to crown and celebrate an NBA champion.
2Houston Rockets
When thinking about the NBA in the 90s most people associated the Detroit Pistons or Utah Jazz as the biggest competition the Chicago Bulls faced in that decade. The truth is that the two NBA Championships between 1991 and 1998 that weren’t won by the Bulls were actually earned by the Houston Rockets. Sure, Shaquille O’Neal is considered the most dominant scorer the NBA has ever seen, but not far behind him is Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon.
The all-time great and Hall of Famer wasn’t alone in his success as he had Kenny Smith, Otis Thorpe, and Vernon Maxwell by his side. Every fan of basketball should spend ten minutes familiarizing themselves with the career and accolades Olajuwon gathered, as his greatness seems to have been lost to time in the shadow of Jordan’s 90s championship dynasty.
1Chicago Bulls
It’s safe to place the Chicago Bulls as the best team in an era labeled with the name of the team’s best player. Everyone knows about the Bulls winning pedigree during the 90s, butNBA 2K23players will take over the team during the season in which they started their dynasty.
Having a 98 overall Jordan accompanied by a 90 overall Scottie Pippen and an 84 overall Horace Grant feels like cheating to some extent. Then again, video games are about being entertained and few things are as fun as completely crushing other teams with one of the most talented and dynamic duos in NBA history. Players will likely get the chance to participate in a few dunk contests with Jordan as well.
NBA 2K23is available on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and PC.
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