Jordan averaged 31.2 points on 56% shooting, 11.4 assists, 6.6 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 1.4 blocks en route to his first NBA Finals MVP Award.

The Bulls, led by Jordan and small forward Scottie Pippen, would win five more championships after 1991 in a seven-year span, cementing their status as a dynasty.

Jordan became only the fourth player in NBA history (after Joe Fulks, George Mikan, and Abdul-Jabbar) to capture the scoring title and a championship in the same season.

The team was coming off a grueling seven-game loss to the Detroit Pistons in the 1990 Eastern Conference Finals, and in the six years since Michael Jordan joined the Bulls, they were showing signs of improvement.

Jordan won the scoring title for a fifth consecutive season, but the team was no longer a one-man show of years past.

Instead, Jordan distributed the ball with regularity, thanks in large part to the triangle offense instituted by head coach Phil Jackson and assistant Tex Winter.

This gave the Bulls additional offensive weapons to choose from, ranging from wingman Scottie Pippen and post players Horace Grant and Bill Cartwright to shooters such as John Paxson and B. J. Armstrong.

In a last show of defiance, most of the Pistons walked off the court with :08 left on the clock in a blowout loss at home so as not to congratulate the new Eastern Conference champions, though Joe Dumars, Vinnie Johnson, and John Salley did remain to shake the Bulls' hands.

Even though the Lakers won 63 games that season, and Magic Johnson was second in league MVP voting while surpassing Oscar Robertson for the all-time career assist record, it was clear that the team was growing weary of head coach Pat Riley's intense approach.

Dunleavy then abandoned the trademark Showtime offense in favor of a more deliberate style of play, but despite the change in playbook, the Lakers still enjoyed an impressive season, winning 58 games.

Jordan made a comeback in the fourth quarter with 13 points, but it was Scottie Pippen's two free throws that would give the Bulls a 91–89 lead.

To date, this is the most recent time any finals game in any of the four major American sports leagues started before 6:00 p.m. Eastern.

Jordan made a 14-foot jump shot just inches away from Divac's fingertips with 3.4 seconds left to tie the game at 92 and force overtime.

The Lakers faced a huge blow as Worthy and Scott left the game (and eventually the series) with ankle and shoulder injuries, respectively (Worthy's ankle injury from the Conference Finals against Portland had flared up, and Scott injured his shoulder after slipping on a wet spot on the floor).

The Lakers refused to go down and shrank the deficit to 7 points in the fourth quarter, but it was the closest they would get, as Pippen and Jordan led the Bulls on a 19–8 run to put them one game away from their first NBA Championship.

This was the only NBA Finals series in which recently departed Lakers coach Pat Riley worked as a broadcaster; he was paired with Bob Costas in the pre-game, half-time and post-game presentations.

Riley was then hired as head coach by the New York Knicks in the 1991 offseason and would eventually win another title with the Miami Heat in 2006.

Neil Funk succeeded Durham the following season and was the radio voice on five NBA Finals involving the Bulls (1992, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 1998).

The Lakers' Showtime era would end on November 7, 1991, as Magic Johnson announced his retirement due to the HIV virus.