There has been much discussion of late about two teams, the 2016-2017 Golden State Warriors and the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls. There has been much controversy about who should be considered the better team. The old school fans go with the Bulls while the new generation of fans go with the Warriors. Who would win in an NBA Finals best of seven series?

First off, the two teams come from two different generations. In the Bulls’ generation, they were known as “grinding in the paint”, which means the majority of their scoring came from inside the paint and the free throw line. In the today’s NBA, the Warriors brought in the “three point generation” as they score from bunches from around the three point line. The Bulls came in 10th in the league in three point shots made, as they made 544 three pointers. Meanwhile, the Warriors hit 982 three pointers. They came in 4th in the league and they made 200 more threes than the leading team in the 1995-1996 season.  The Warriors would have the advantage in shooting the ball from deep.

The Bulls would have an advantage in the paint, though. The Bulls would easily outrebound the warriors, as they had three players over 7 foot while the Warriors have two, and the Bulls had Dennis Rodman, who led the league in rebounds per game that season with 14.9 rebounds per game. The Warriors’ leading rebounder was Kevin Durant who averaged 8.3 rebounds per game. The Bulls also had two of the best scorers when it came to taking it to the rim with Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan who scored the majority of their points in the paint. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson prefer to shoot behind the three point line. The Bulls would win a battle in the paint any day against the Warriors.

Defensively, it is a draw between the two. The Warriors came in 9th in team defense while the Chicago Bulls came in 8th. The Warriors have one defensive specialist in Draymond Green, who is a finalist for defensive player of the year. The Bulls had 3 defensive finalists. They had Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, who all took home all-defensive team honors that year. Stephen Curry averaged 2 steals a game this season, and Kevin Durant averaged 1.6 blocks per game. It’s basically a draw defensively as both teams seem to be equal in all of the areas in this category.

In terms of bench play, the Warriors have the upper hand. Although, the Bulls did have the sixth man of the year in Toni Kukoc, the Warriors have more firepower coming off the bench. They have Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, Ian Clark, Javale Mcgee and David West. Andre Iguodala is a sixth man of the year candidate while the others have made solid contributions to the warriors’ season. The Bulls’ best players coming off the bench were Toni Kukoc, Steve Kerr and Bill Wennington. They combined to score an average of 26.8 points compared to the Warriors 30.7. The bench advantage would go to the Warriors.

“I feel like it would be a great game if the two teams squared off, but if I had to go with one I would go with the 16-17 Warriors because they have the better all around team,” said freshman Aaron Hook.

The Warriors have a slight advantage with star potential. The Bulls have Michael Jordan who won MVP that year. They also have Scottie Pippen who was an all-star. They also have Dennis Rodman who led the league in rebounding. Yet, this doesn’t compare to the Warriors. The Warriors have two MVP’s on their team in Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry and they also have Klay Thompson as well as Draymond Green who all were also all-stars this season. The Warriors would take the advantage with the star potential.

This game would be great to watch hands down no matter who would win. Everyone would love to see who wins because both teams come from two different basketball generations. There would be lots of arguments from fans of all generations on who is better, but only time will tell which team will be remembered as the best.