1994–95 Chicago Bulls season

The 1994–95 NBA season was the Bulls' 29th season in the National Basketball Association. This was also the team's first season playing at the United Center. During the off-season, the Bulls signed free agents Ron Harper, and Jud Buechler. The Bulls struggled in the first half of the regular season with a 23–25 record at the All-Star break. However, there were rumors that retired All-Star guard Michael Jordan would come out of his retirement to rejoin the team, after an unsuccessful baseball career. The Bulls received a major boost upon Jordan's return, as he faxed a memo that simply said "I'm back." The Bulls won 24 of their final 34 games, and finished the season with a 47–35 record, going 13–4 with Jordan back in the starting lineup; the Bulls finished in third place in the Central Division, and in fifth place in the Eastern Conference.

Jordan averaged 26.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game in 17 games, but only shot just .411 in field-goal percentage. One notable highlight of the season was Jordan scoring a season-high of 55 points, in a 113–111 road win over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on March 28, 1995. He also changed his jersey number to #45, but later on changed it back to #23 during the playoffs.

In addition, Scottie Pippen led the team with 21.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 2.9 steals and 1.1 blocks per game; he was named to the All-NBA First Team, NBA All-Defensive First Team, and was selected for the 1995 NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix, Arizona. Second-year forward Toni Kukoč provided the team with 15.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, while B.J. Armstrong provided with 14.0 points per game, three-point specialist Steve Kerr contributed 8.2 points per game and shot .524 in three-point field goal percentage off the bench, and Will Perdue averaged 8.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Harper, who usually averaged around 20 points per game with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Clippers, only averaged just 6.9 points per game with the Bulls this season. Pippen also finished in seventh place in Most Valuable Player voting, and in second place in Defensive Player of the Year voting.

The Bulls defeated the 4th-seeded Charlotte Hornets three games to one in the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1995 NBA Playoffs, but would eventually lose in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals to the Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic in six games. The Magic eventually went to the NBA Finals, but were unable to stop the 6th-seeded and eventual two-time NBA Champion Houston Rockets, as they were swept in four straight hard-fought games.

Following the season, Armstrong was left unprotected in the 1995 NBA Expansion Draft, where he was selected by the newly expansion Toronto Raptors, while Perdue was traded to the San Antonio Spurs, and Pete Myers was released to free agency.