Jordan added the only important item missing from his basketball résumé when he guided the Bulls to an NBA Championship in 1990-91. During the regular season the Bulls won a club-record 61 contests to take the Central Division by 11 games. An All-Star and a member of both the All-NBA First Team and the NBA All-Defensive First Team, Jordan also won the league MVP Award for the second time in his career. With a regular-season scoring average of 31.5 points per game, he picked up his fifth straight scoring title as he topped 40 points in a game 11 times. He averaged 6.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists and ranked third in the league in steals at 2.72 per game.

The Bulls waltzed through the postseason, sweeping the New York Knicks in the opening round, cruising past the Philadelphia 76ers with only one loss in the conference semifinals, and then sweeping the archrival Detroit Pistons in four games in the Eastern Conference Finals. After losing Game 1 of the NBA Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Bulls won the next four contests to claim their first-ever title. Jordan averaged 31.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 8.4 assists during the team's postseason ride. He also earned the NBA Finals MVP Award.

Phil Jackson took over as head coach of the Bulls for the 1989-90 season, and everything started to click for Chicago. The Bulls put together a 55-27 record, the club's best showing since it had gone 57-24 under Dick Motta in 1971-72. Jordan was his usual dominating self at both ends of the court, leading the NBA in scoring (33.6 ppg) and steals (2.77 per game). He set a personal best when he scored 69 points in a 117-113 overtime win against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

He also emerged as a legitimate threat from beyond the three-point arc, posting a .376 percentage-100 percentage points above his previous career high-while hitting 92 long-range shots, compared with 68 in his first five seasons combined. A member of the All-Star Team once again, Jordan was also picked for the All-NBA First Team and the NBA All-Defensive First Team. In the postseason the Bulls got past the Milwaukee Bucks and the Philadelphia 76ers in the first two rounds but fell to the Detroit Pistons in seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals. Jordan averaged 36.7 points in 16 playoff games.