Michael Jordan’s biggest nemesis during his NBA career was the Detroit Pistons. The Chicago Bulls were ready to dominate the NBA at the end of the 90s, but the Pistons were in a better position, and after applying certain strategies, they prevented the Bulls from winning.
It was during this time that the rivalry between the two franchises started, and some beefs have been going on for over 30 years now. John Salley recently revealed that to beat Isiah Thomas, Michael Jordan had to dislike the point guard, which ended up happening (2:56 mark).
“The crazy thing is, Isiah and Michael were hella cool. I got video when they were doing events, they were hella cool. And then, us beating them two times and coming back, Michael had to realize, I have to dislike this guy in order to beat him. I can’t be cool with him.”
Salley also talked about how Phil Jackson created a narrative against the Pistons, which changed the way the NBA saw this team’s style of play.
“It wasn’t just Michael. Phil Jackson is the first interviewed calling us thugs. He came in and said, ‘they’re thugs, they’re not good for the NBA, their style of basketball shouldn’t be allowed,’ even though when he played for the Knicks was putting the elbow on people. If he doesn’t say that, then the NBA can’t see it, then the referees don’t see it.”
He even talked about the nickname ‘Bad Boys’ and who created it, naming David Stern as responsible for that. In the end, the Bulls got over the hump, worked harder in the offseason, returned to the Eastern Conference Finals and beat the Detroit Pistons.
After that, everything changed for them. They went on to dominate the NBA, winning six championships in eight years, never losing in the Finals. Their beef continued and many years after their last duel, things aren’t getting any better.
Michael Jordan And Isiah Thomas Still Don’t Like Each Other
Many years have gone by and the animosity between Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas continues. The six-time NBA champion took things to the next level on the Chicago Bulls’ documentary ‘The Last Dance,’ which shocked a lot of people, Thomas included.
As Salley said in this interview, it’s very unlikely that Jordan apologizes for the things he said about Thomas, and the Pistons legend should forget about that as soon as possible. Things apparently started great between these two, but as time went by and the competition got harder, everything changed.
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