Michael Jordan had to get past the “Bad Boys” Detroit Pistons to get to his first NBA Finals. His Airness then had to defeat Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers to capture his first title.
Jordan accomplished both feats during the 1991 playoffs. The Chicago Bulls swept Isiah Thomas and the Pistons in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals after losing to Detroit in three straight postseasons. Jordan wound up winning six championships during the '90s while the Pistons never got back to the Finals.
Johnson, arguably the best point guard in NBA history, believes Thomas and the “Bad Boys” Pistons are what made Jordan the GOAT (greatest of all time).
“The Bulls kept trying to go through the Pistons and Isiah [Thomas] denied them but it made the Bulls the championship-winning team that they were,” Magic Johnson told NBC's Today on Monday morning, via Dan Cancian of Newsweek.
“They [the Pistons] took a lot of cheap shots. I can understand why Michael was so upset. The great thing is that the Pistons made Michael Jordan be the GOAT [greatest of all time]. The reason he became the GOAT is because he had to go through the Pistons.”
Michael Jordan still hates Thomas and members of those Pistons teams. The “Bad Boys” used to commit dirty foul after dirty foul, threatening the safety of the NBA.
Moreover, Jordan and the Bulls have no respect for Thomas and Co. after Detroit walked off the court without shaking hands following their 1991 Eastern Conference Finals defeat. It appears that's when Jordan really cut off his relationship with Zeke.
Thomas was left off the 1992 U.S.A. Dream Team because of Jordan. MJ told officials he wasn't going to play if Thomas was on the roster.
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