Michael Jordan became one of the NBA’s biggest superstars even before winning any of his six championships. However, the Detroit Pistons were the bane of his existence in the late 80s. They had stopped the Chicago Bulls from advancing in the playoffs for three straight years toward the end of the 80s. And Dennis Rodman, who was drafted by the Pistons in 1986, was a big part of why Jordan and the Bulls didn’t win a Championship before 1991. His Airness had quite the history with Rodman during the latter’s stint with the ‘Bad Boy’ Pistons. The two would have several confrontations on the court before the Worm would bury the hatchet and join the Chicago side in 1995.
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Rodman and Bill Laimbeer had the responsibility, for the most part, in that team to put their opponents through a physical torment of a sort that the NBA hadn’t seen before. ‘The Jordan Rules were introduced by the Pistons, which basically meant putting MJ into intense physical defense, whereby he’ll often have 2–3 players on him on every single possession. Dennis the Menace would be one of those responsible for putting Jordan through hell. But after having enough of it, ‘His Airness’ once threatened Rodman in retaliation.
When Michael Jordan threatened Dennis Rodman on the court
Although they would go on to win three championships together, Michael Jordan once ended threatening Dennis Rodman in the middle of a game. It was Game 1 of the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals between the Bulls and the Pistons. After losing against the Bad Boys three times in a row in the Playoffs, Jordan and Co were determined to win at all costs.
Jordan wasn’t hitting his rhythm in the game, shooting just 40% from the field. But he helped the Bulls by keeping Rodman in line with an elbow and some trash-talk.
The following excerpt is from ‘The Jordan Rules’. It details that one time emotions got the better of Jordan.
“But on this day he [Jordan] was in a curious emotional frenzy. There was that flagrant elbow early on that had even caught the referees by surprise, and late in the second quarter, Jordan found himself jawing halfway down the court with Dennis Rodman. ‘We’re gonna kick your butts,’ Jordan bellowed into Rodman’s face. ‘I’m comin’ after you.’ Jordan’s reactions surprised even him, but he had been unusually somber leading up to the series and had told friends he was determined to defeat Detroit this time.”
The side Jordan showed to beat the Pistons in the 1991 playoffs had never been seen before, and it didn’t come back throughout the rest of his career. There was no other way. The Bulls needed to give the Pistons a taste of their own medicine to get past them.
Jordan buried the hatchet with Rodman once they decided to team up in 1995
After Jordan made a comeback from his retirement in 1995 and failed to lead the Bulls to the NBA Finals, the Bulls and their then GM Jerry Krause knew they needed to get Dennis Rodman if they wanted to get past Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway’s Magic the next year.
That was enough reason for everyone in the Bulls camp, including Scottie Pippen and Phil Jackson, to come on board with Rodman’s recruitment. Even Jordan came along after the four of them met before the Bulls approached the Spurs(Rodman’s team at the time) for a trade.
However, Jordan and Pippen didn’t have any kind of relationship with Rodman off-the-court in the next three years. But their chemistry on the hardwood was enough to get them three straight championships in as many years together.
