The Chicago Bulls are finally inducting Michael Jordan and others from their dominant run in the 1990s into a Ring of Honor.
The Bulls announced plans for their Ring of Honor on Tuesday, which will be headlined by Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman.
The inaugural class for the Ring of Honor includes 13 people and the entire 1995-96 Bulls team — which went 72-10 and won the NBA title, the fourth in their six-title run. Former Bulls coach Phil Jackson, assistant Tex Winter and former general manager Jerry Krause are also being inducted, as are Artis Gilmore, Jerry Sloan, Toni Kukoč, Bob Love, Chet Walker, Johnny Kerr and Dick Klein.
The Bulls will honor the class at a private event at the United Center on Jan. 11, and then during halftime of the Bulls’ game against the Golden State Warriors on Jan. 12. Warriors coach Steve Kerr spent five seasons playing for the Bulls, and was a member of the 1995-96 team.
The Bulls will keep adding to the Ring of Honor every two years. In order to be eligible, players must have spent at least three seasons with the team and have been retired from the sport for at least three years.
Jordan spent 13 seasons playing for the Bulls and won six NBA titles with the franchise over an eight-year span alongside Pippen, Rodman and others. Jordan was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009, and both Pippen and Rodman were inducted in the following years.
The Ring of Honor announcement comes amid what has largely been a rough start to the season for the current Bulls. They are 9-15 headed into Tuesday’s game against the Denver Nuggets. The team has, however, won four of its last five games and fell to the Milwaukee Bucks by only four points in overtime Monday night. The Bulls, in their fourth season under head coach Billy Donovan, have made the playoffs just once in the past seven seasons