With both teams currently in the cellar of the Eastern Conference, the rivalry between the Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons has been dormant for years. But that wasn’t always the case. It was one of the most intense and physical rivalries the NBA had ever seen, and hit its peak during the late 1980s until the early 1990s, when the two teams met in four consecutive postseasons.
At the time, Michael Jordan was known as the face of the league, but still didn’t have much playoff success. The Bad Boys Pistons, meanwhile, reigned atop the Eastern Conference. If Jordan wanted to win an NBA title, he had to get past the Pistons first. And they didn’t make it easy for him. A sign of just how intense the rivalry was is that players from both teams still take shots at each other, especially after the release of the ESPN 10-part documentary The Last Dance, which chronicles Jordan’s career and final season with the Bulls. Here are three of the most savage moments from the rivalry between Jordan’s Bulls and the Bad Boy Pistons:
3. The Pistons implement the Jordan Rules for the first time (1988)
The first of four straight playoff meetings between the Bulls and Pistons happened in 1988, when the teams met in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Jordan was at the peak of his powers, winning the MVP and Defensive Player of the Year. To prepare for the league’s best player, the Pistons created a defensive strategy that became known as “The Jordan Rules,” which involved denying him any easy baskets, giving him different looks on defense, and being physical to subdue the reigning MVP.
According to Pistons coach Chuck Daly, the goal was to be physical, but never to play dirty. The Bulls players, however, saw it differently, with the team calling it as “legalized assault,” according to Chicago Tribune reporter Sam Smith’s book The Jordan Rules. The strategy paid off for the Pistons, who limited Jordan to an average of 24 points in the final three games after a 36-point effort in Game 2, which resulted in Detroit dispatching Chicago in five games.
2. Isiah Thomas is left out of The Dream Team allegedly because of Jordan (1992)
This moment didn’t happen during a game between the two teams, but was undoubtedly a by-product of what had become a bitter rivalry. The US Men’s Basketball team that ran away with the gold during the 1992 Barcelona Olympics is considered to be the greatest collection of basketball talent ever assembled. The Dream Team included names like Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson, and was mentored by Daly, the Pistons’ coach.
Isiah Thomas was the most notable omission from the team, as he was one of the NBA’s best players at the time. While Jordan denied that he was the reason Thomas’ name was left out of the team, they weren’t exactly friends, either. Their heated battles with the Bulls and Pistons, the “freezing out” of Jordan during the 1985 All Star Game, and the ending of the Eastern Conference Finals in 1991 all played a factor in why one of the best players of that era was left off the greatest team ever. And speaking of that playoff battle…
1. The Pistons walk off the court after losing in the Eastern Conference Finals (1991)
For three seasons, Chicago kept knocking on the Pistons’ door and tried to replace them as the new power in the East, and for three seasons, they managed to hold them back. But the 1990-1991 Bulls team would not be denied, winning the series and taking down the Pistons in a four-game sweep.
In a final act of defiance, with 7.9 seconds left in Game 4 and the Bulls ahead by a huge margin, some of the Pistons players, including Thomas and Bill Laimbeer, left the court and refused to shake hands with the Bulls’ players. This act caused a lot of controversy, and Thomas later admitted it was wrong and unsportsmanlike, but it was in keeping with how the team felt after being bested by their rival.
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