[2] The media, hoping to recreate a Magic Johnson–Larry Bird type rivalry in Jordan-Drexler, compared the two throughout the pre-Finals hype.

Michael Jordan was named Finals Most Valuable Player for the second year in a row, to go with his sixth straight regular season scoring title.

After sweeping the Miami Heat in the opening round, they played the New York Knicks, who were now coached by Pat Riley and won in seven games.

The 1990–91 Trail Blazers won a franchise record 63 games and, as the top seed in the Western Conference, appeared destined to meet the Bulls for the championship.

This helped Portland build a 15–5 run, pushing the game into overtime after Jordan narrowly missed at the buzzer.

In overtime, Portland dominated, especially Ainge, who scored six points with one minute remaining as the Blazers won 115–104 – the Bulls' worst home defeat in an NBA Finals game.

Portland didn't pull back within single digits until less than four minutes were left in the game, and ended up losing 119–106.

Portland started strongly as they held Michael Jordan scoreless for the game's first 11 minutes, and took a 43–28 lead midway through the second quarter before Chicago went on a 16–7 run and cut the deficit to only six points.

With 11.8 seconds left and the Bulls up by 2, Jordan virtually clinched the title by hitting 2 free throws bringing him to 12 points in the fourth quarter.

The Bulls won their third straight championship in the 1992–93 season, winning 57 games and defeating the Phoenix Suns in the 1993 NBA Finals.

In the offseason that preceded Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen played for the Dream Team that won the gold medal in the Barcelona Olympics, making them the first players to win NBA championship and Olympic gold medal in the same year (Pippen would achieve this feat again in 1996, and LeBron James would accomplish this in 2012).

This made Jordan, Patrick Ewing of the New York Knicks and Chris Mullin of the Golden State Warriors the only players to have won Olympic gold medals as both amateurs and professionals, having played for Team USA in Los Angeles.

The last remaining piece of the team, Clyde Drexler, was traded and went on to win the NBA championship with the Houston Rockets in 1995.

Following the awarding ceremony by commissioner David Stern, they returned to the court to show their newly won title in front of Bulls fans.

This act eventually led to Stern's decision to present the NBA championship to the winning team at center court in front of the fans, starting in 1994; the only exception was when the Lakers won in 2001 at Philadelphia's First Union Center, but decided to hold the ceremony in their locker room.