Influence and Determination: The 1995-'96 Chicago Bulls.

For as long as I can remember, sports has been played one of the largest roles in my life. No matter how old I was, there was always a moment in time where sports was playing an influence in what I was doing. At 18, going on 19 in a month, I now owe nearly everything to sports and to one specific team in general.

My father is not a sports freak at all. He usually follows his favorite South Florida teams and will only seldom follow what else is going on in the sports world. But back in the late 1980's and throughout the latter part of the 1990's, he was the biggest basketball fan you can find and when he was watching a game, I was right there watching it with him.

There was one year in particular though that grabbed our interest. It grabbed the interest of many around the world and most importantly, it made me the person I am today. The year was 1995 and a man in the city of Chicago had a hold over the world's attention and put on one of the greatest spectacles that anyone has ever seen.

The Chicago Bulls had Michael Jordan back in basketball after a brief two-year stint in baseball and he had a supporting cast that made little to no doubt that something special was going to happen this year.

Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Luc Longley, Ron Harper, Toni Kukoc, Steve Kerr, Ron Harper, the players on this team had the strongest chemistry I have ever witnessed. It was like watching a family and night in and night out that family through determination and will won game after game after game after game.

Jordan's theatrics and high flying assaults were miraculous. It seemed that every time he threw down a dunk, you could feel an electricity in the air when the crowd went silent and watched a human fly for a brief moment in time. Even 1000 miles away in my living room in Sunrise, Florida, you could feel the emotions that were displayed in this phenomenal attraction.

At only five-years-old, I knew I was hooked.

I knew that whenever the Bulls stepped onto the floor of the United Center, it was going to be a win. I knew whenever the Bulls stepped onto the floor of whatever city they were in, it was going to be a win.

I was right 72 out of 82 times.

A plethora that had never been touched before. A team winning more than 70 games was never heard of before then and sure enough, Jordan and his band of brothers completed the task taking 72 wins into one of the most dominant postseason performances that the NBA world had ever seen.

A first round matchup against the Miami Heat was no sweat to the Bulls with the clean and easy three game sweep (I was a Heat fan at the time as well, but the Bulls always came first when they faced off). The dreaded New York Knicks came next where the Knicks were able to steal a game before finally losing in five games. The Bulls then decided to do a clean sweep of the state of Florida by finishing off the Orlando Magic in four games before finally going into the finals.

11-1 through three series. The one loss a tight match in overtime at Madison Square Garden where Jordan dropped 46.

The only team standing in the Bulls way were a team that proved dominant as well through the season and much of the postseason. The Seattle Supersonics were a force. With a 64-18 regular season record headlined by stars in Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton, the Bulls had found their only true test throughout 1995 and 1996.

It was over before it started.

A 17-point game one win, a four-point game two win and then a 22-point game three win for good measure. The Sonics went onto win the next two games at home before finally returning to Chicago where they would succumb to the Bulls in a 12-point loss.

The celebration had begun. The team joined together in the court side press table and celebrated their deserved win.

Champagne and cigars all around.

It was the Bulls fourth championship, but for some reason this one seemed more special than any other. It could have been the record setting number of wins. It could have been another MVP for Michael Jordan. There was one thing for certain though that made it special. It made me live, eat and dream basketball.

I was swept up in the Jordan hype. Anything he would do, I would mimic. My backyard basketball hoop was the United Center and my three-year-old brother was Shawn Kemp. Throwing up wild layups with my mouth ajar and my tongue hanging out. Jordan made me into a basketball freak.

When I hear disputes over who is the greatest player to ever be a part of the NBA, I defend Michael Jordan until I make sure everyone knows he truly is the greatest. The influence he had over the game and over all of our lives shows the true power he had over us for the 1990's and mostly for those few months through the 1995-96 season.

At 18-years-old now, I can only watch YouTube videos of the theatrics Jordan did throughout that season. It takes me back to a time when was life was a lot more simpler. Life was basketball and 13 years later it still is.