The 1998 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1997-98 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Chicago Bulls defeating the Western Conference champion Utah Jazz 4 games to 2. The Bulls also achieved a second 3-peat, a feat unrivaled since the Boston Celtics in 1966. The 1998 playoffs was the last involving the Jordan-led Bulls (They did not return until 2005). Michael Jordan was named NBA Finals MVP for the 6th and final time in his career.

The Indiana Pacers took the Bulls to the limit in the Eastern Conference Finals, becoming 1 of only 2 teams to force a Game 7 in the Bulls' championship years (the Knicks achieved this in 1992). This team was later named by Pacers.com as the greatest in franchise history, even better than the 2000 team that won the Eastern Conference Title.

The New Jersey Nets appeared in the playoffs for the first time since 1994, but did not appear again until 2002. Their presence was a mere asterisk compared to what they accomplished in 2002, getting swept by the eventual champion Bulls.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) Playoffs is a best-of-seven elimination tournament among sixteen teams in the Eastern Conference and Western Conference (called Divisions, pre-1970), ultimately deciding the final four teams who will play in the NBA Conference Finals.

The NBA announced the current revised playoff seeding system on August 3, 2006. Following the NBA regular season, eight teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs and are seeded one to eight.

The team that has the best record in each of the three divisions in each conference is declared division champion. The three champions, and another team in the conference with the best record, are seeded one through four by their records. This guarantees that the division champions will be no lower than fourth seed, and also ensures that a conference's two best teams (by record) are ranked as the top two. However, because the NBA does not re-seed its teams and because home court advantage goes to the team with the better record, not the better seeding, division winners are guaranteed no better than a de-facto five seed, as their 4th seeding does not guarantee home court advantage in the first round, and after the first round the 4 vs 5 winner will play the same teams as the loser would have played had they won the first round. This will continue throughout the remainder of the playoffs and to the finals until the 4 vs 5 winner loses a playoff round or wins the championship. Of the remaining eleven conference teams, the four with the best records are seeded fifth through eighth based on their record.