Assembling a Team of Current NBA Players That Resembles the '96 Chicago Bulls

The 1995-96 Chicago Bulls are perhaps the greatest team in NBA history.

Led by Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and coach Phil Jackson, the team won 72 games that season, a record that has yet to be broken.

Also that season, the Bulls captured their fourth title in six years as they defeated Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp's Seattle SuperSonics in the NBA Finals

Several well-known people contributed to the Bulls' unforgettable '96 season. Jordan is widely considered the best basketball player of all time, Pippen was a lockdown "Deion Sanders" type of defender and no coach in NBA history has collected more championships than Jackson.

Also, Dennis Rodman is possibly the greatest rebounder who ever lived, Toni Kukoc was a phenomenal sixth man and Steve Kerr was money from behind the three-point line.  

This slideshow compares active NBA players to players from the '96 Bulls squad. The active players will be compared to every player from the Bulls roster with the exception of Rodman's good buddy Jack Haley. Sorry guys, but he didn't contribute much by playing in just one game the entire season.

Anyway, let's get started.  

Starting Center: Darko Milicic (Luc Longley)

Darko Milicic has a few things in common with Luc Longley. 

They're both foreign big men who've played for the Minnesota Timberwolves and both own at least one NBA championship ring.

Also, they both were lottery picks who never went on to become NBA stars or anywhere close to NBA stars.

This past season, Milicic put up nearly the same numbers as Longley did in 1995-96. Milicic is the better shot blocker of the two, though.

Starting Power Forward: Kevin Love (Dennis Rodman)

Yeah, it's sort of strange to compare Kevin Love to Dennis Rodman.

Love averaged 20.2 points per game this past season, while Rodman never averaged more than 11.6 PPG during his entire 14-year career.

Love isn't be compared to Rodman because of his scoring, but because of his incredible ability to rebound the basketball.  

Love grabbed a league-best 15.2 rebounds per game this past season, which is basically the same as the 14.9 RPG that Rodman averaged in 1995-96.

Starting Small Forward: LeBron James (Scottie Pippen)

Who were you expecting here, someone like Andre Iguodala or Gerald Wallace?

Both of those guys are known for their defense, which is also what Scottie Pippen was known for. But Pippen was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history and is a Hall of Famer. 

With that said, placing Iguodala or Wallace here would be sort of disrespectful to Pippen, seeing that the two have one combined All-Star appearance. 

LeBron James is a way better scorer than Pippen ever was, but he plays the "point forward" role like Pippen used to do in Chicago.      

Starting Shooting Guard: Kobe Bryant (Michael Jordan)

Starting at two-guard is none other than Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant.

What a huge surprise, huh? 

Bryant has been compared to Jordan for years because of his scoring ability, athleticism and relentless work ethic, among many other things.

Bryant would be the leading scorer on this team just like Jordan was back on the '96 Bulls.

Bryant has a lost a step or two, but he can still score with the best of 'em.

Starting Point Guard: Kirk Hinrich (Ron Harper)

At 6'3", Kirk Hinrich is three inches shorter than Ron Harper and was never called a "Poor Man's Michael Jordan" like Harper used to be called. 

So why is Hinrich even on this slide?

The answer to that question is defense. Hinrich is currently one the league's top point guard defenders, which is what Harper was during his stay in the Windy City.     

Sixth Man: Lamar Odom (Toni Kukoc)

Lamar Odom of today and Toni Kukoc of '96 are similar players. They're both 6'10", left-handed, wear No. 7 and can handle the ball like a point guard. 

They're also talented bench players would could start for plenty of other teams in the league.

Odom was named the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year this past season and Kukoc received the honor back 1996, backing up Pippen and Rodman.

Backup Center: Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Bill Wennington)

A few years ago, it would have been silly to place the names Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Bill Wennington in the same sentence.   

Ilgauskas used to be one of the better centers in the league and was named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team twice during his career in Cleveland.

But nowadays, he's a role player who can consistently hit the open jumper like Wennington was as a Bull.  

Backup Forward: Jason Maxiell (Dickey Simpkins/Jason Caffey)

Jason Maxiell could provide a little bit off scoring and rebounding of the bench like both Dickey Simpkins and Jason Caffey did for Chicago in the 1995-96 campaign. 

Backup Forward: Jason Kapono (Jud Buechler)

Jason Kapono is known throughout the league for being a sharpshooter, which is exactly what Jud Buechler was for the Bulls.  

Backup Guard: J.J. Redick (Steve Kerr)

J.J. Redick could play the "Steve Kerr" role on this ball club, meaning he could come off the bench and drain three-pointers every night.

Redick can't shoot the ball as great as Kerr—the most accurate three-point shooter in NBA history—but the former Duke star can simply light it up from downtown. 

Backup Guard: C.J. Watson (Randy Brown)

C.J. Watson today is pretty much what Randy Brown was for the Bulls: a decent backup point guard.  

Backup Center/Forward: Theo Ratliff (John Salley)

Like John Salley, Theo Ratliff at one time was one of the league's best shot blockers.

Salley wasn't much of a contributor during his 33-game stint with the Bulls. And Ratliff wouldn't be much of a contributor on this team.

12th Man: Juwan Howard (James Edwards)

The 38-year-old Juwan Howard is being compared to James Edwards here because of his old age.

Howard isn't exactly old, but he is when it comes to being an NBA player.

Edwards was 40 during his one season on the Bulls' bench.