During his early years in the NBA, Michael Jordan struggled against the Detroit Pistons. They were always a challenge for the Chicago Bulls. Although there were many close matches between them, the Pistons always got the better of Jordan in the late 1980s. Dennis Rodman was part of the Pistons at the time and was given the challenge of slowing down Jordan and Co. whenever they played.
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Although going up against the Bulls was terrifying, the Pistons used the matches to get better, and Dennis Rodman is glad he got those experiences.
Facing the Bulls helped the Pistons, according to Dennis Rodman
Back in 2017, Dennis Rodman joined the show Undeniable with Joe Buck. During Rodman’s conversation with Buck, he talked about the rise of the Detroit Pistons back in the late 1980s.
During Rodman’s second season with the Pistons, he reached the NBA Finals but eventually lost to the Los Angeles Lakers. Although the Lakers were still a threat, in his third season, the Pistons had to get over another hurdle to get to the finals.
The Chicago Bulls were rising as a major competition in the East for the Pistons. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were some of the best players in the NBA at the time, and this led to the Pistons putting a major focus on them. Knowing that they were going to face Jordan gave the Pistons more fuel to work harder.
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For the Pistons, it was serious business when playing against the Bulls. The 5x champion said, “It was a war every game, man. I had to guard Scottie Pippen, Michael, those two guys right there every game.“
During Rodman’s conversation, he was asked what it was like to go up against Michael Jordan. The 5-time NBA champion responded, “It was cool.”
The Worm revealed that every time the two teams faced each other, it was a war, and this made the Pistons push harder to win, which ultimately helped the team get better and secure their first championship in franchise history.
Michael Jordan struggled against the Pistons
The Pistons were making major noise under the leadership of Isiah Thomas. The team had built an identity, and the players were fully invested in the ‘Bad Boys Pistons’ mantra.
They played with extreme intensity and physicality, and His Airness was not able to get his team over the hump in the early years.
But over the years, Jordan learned how to play through the contact and defensive schemes of the Pistons and eventually got past them to win his first championship in 1991. What do you think of Michael Jordan and the Bad Boys Pistons? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!