Michael Jordan was one of the most unstoppable players during his career in the NBA. Jordan entered the league in 1984 and immediately began to make waves. Jordan won the Rookie Of The Year in 1984 and immediately ascended to All-Star status with his performances.
It seemed like nothing could stop Michael Jordan from becoming the defining star of the NBA. But in the first part of his career, one team was hellbent on doing just that; the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons faced Jordan multiple times in the NBA Playoffs.
But Jordan wasn’t able to overcome the Pistons’ rugged defense. In order to stop the juggernaut that was MJ, the Pistons came up with ‘Jordan Rules’, a playing style under which they would put hard fouls and physical play on Jordan to try and stop his offensive onslaught.
For the most part, ‘Jordan Rules’ were effective. Not that they could shut him down entirely. But the Pistons made sure that Jordan could not single-handedly defeat the Pistons with his own play. But one time, the Pistons fouled Jordan so hard that his coach came ready to fight.
During a regular-season game in October 1985, the Pistons traveled to Chicago to take on the Bulls. Jordan was having an incredible game at the time. But Bill Laimbeer made an incredibly dangerous body check when he went up with Jordan to contest a shot.
Luckily, Jordan was unhurt. But that set off his head coach Stan Albeck. Albeck charged at Pistons head coach Chuck Daly to have words. Immediately, things began to escalate between the two coaches, and they got into a short pull-apart brawl that led to both of them being ejected from the game.
Jordan had a solid game, as he scored 33 points to help the Bulls defeat the Pistons 121-118. But he would have to wait 6 years before he and the Chicago Bulls could defeat the Pistons in an NBA Playoff series. And once MJ and the Bulls broke the Pistons’ ‘Jordan Rules’, they ascended to championship status and never looked back.
