The “Bad Boy” Detroit Pistons were one of the best teams in the late 90s. And they were one of the few teams to stop Michael Jordan in the playoffs. And the way they did that was to resort to a brand of physical and grueling basketball. Sometimes it went to violence as well. And it was not only Jordan they did that too. In fact, the Pistons did that to a three-time Los Angeles Lakers legend as well.

The Bad Boy Pistons were one of the best teams in the late 90s. They made three straight NBA Finals and won two titles in a row. And the core principle of the team was that of a defensive-minded approach towards the game. And sometimes the way they won games were not pretty. They would play a hard style of basketball and they would use very effective tactics to intimidate their opponents.

And this made them one of the most hated teams in the history of the NBA.

The Bad Boy Pistons spared no one including Michael Jordan

The Pistons were most famously noted for stopping Michael Jordan. And they had endured severe criticism for the way they did it. The Pistons would ensure Jordan would have to exert as much energy as possible and they would often rough him up, sometimes with cheap fouls. To stop the six-time NBA champion they implemented certain strategies, popularly known as the ‘Jordan Rules.’

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And they didn’t just do it to Jordan. During the first two trips to the NBA Finals, the Pistons faced the Lakers. And the Lakers at the time had a loaded squad. But the Pistons did not care, and they played their own style of basketball.

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One of the members of the Lakers squad of that era, Byron Scott, talked about how the Pistons used to rough him up. He even mentioned how Rick Mahorn and the other Pistons players used to play physical basketball with him. The three-time NBA champion said to former Pistons center John Salley in his podcast, “He Used To Knock the Sh*t Outta Me. All of you all.”

“You guy’s game plan was basically to beat my a**,” he added.

The Lakers weren’t the only ones. In fact, the Boston Celtics were the first team to face the Bad Boys, and they also took the beating. They won one series and lost one, and then the Celtics era came to an end. Then it was the Bulls who came into the picture.

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The Bulls lost for three seasons in a row and twice in the Eastern Conference Finals. But then Jordan took the next step and the Bulls eventually got past the Pistons. But during their era, the Bad Boys did not spare anyone. Let it be Byron Scott, Larry Bird or Michael Jordan.