Robert Gill This is what Jim Brown had to worry about being attacked by the NFL in the '60s everyone was after him and out to stop him using any tactic at their disposal.
0:04 testament to how amazing MJ was. "He was sensational going right. Only GREAT going to his left" which was where the Pistons were trying to force him to.
The difference between Jordan and almost every other super star is that when shit got tough, he didn’t make excuses, he didn’t switch teams, he actually got better. He had heart and he had balls lol
@@kerrykeith4740 lol first of all i said ALMOST every other super star, second of all jordan has more chips than those players mentioned, sooo what’s your point?
Well those two aren't players..they are just garbage being paid to get some decorations and name for super star like Jordan..like in a movie..they are just stunt stupid man
@@37thousand i think i remember in a documentary isiah said he was talking to Dumars thinking of ways to stop mj and the game up with it or they both did then the coaching team I’m sure sharpened it
Jordan should praise the Pistons for playing him so hard. It caused him to become stronger and get his teammates more involved. I honestly think that his teammates were caught off-guard when he passed the ball while driving to the basket.
Jordan admits that if it was for the wars with the Pistons, they may have not won any ships. Not how much Jordan dislikes the Bad Boys and Zeke, he has always given that Detroit team it's props for what they accomplished.
But did he? No! In fact, he so was mad at Isiah Thomas for the walk off, he saw to it that he wasn't on the 1992 Dream Team. Yep. What Bill Laimbeer said "He's the only one on that ball club that can beat you", was true until Phil Jackson implemented a new offensive philosophy, the triangle, getting everybody on the team involved, so that was no longer the case. They got sick of losing to the Pistons.
Let's all take a moment of silent and thank the Pistons for making MJ the monster he became. Beating this man for 3 years took him from superstar to the GOAT.
More like the Bulls front office built a better team around him. Jordan was always great in the playoffs but his teams were nothing special. Don’t tell me you’re one of these people who think basketball is just a one man sport.
The GOAT was resilient, didn't give up, and Phil Jackson implemented a new offensive philosophy, the triangle offense, which was getting other team members involved in the offense, so he was no longer the only "player on the ball club that can beat you". It paid off with a 4-game sweep in 1991. The statement him and his team made in 1991: "We're sick and tired of losing to this ball club, so if we're going to get to the finals and win the title, we're going to have to beat the Detroit Pistons." They were the standard. And they did, plus 5 more titles in the 1990s. 2 threepeats, and some of the teams the Bulls beat in the 1990s probably would've won a title (Blazers, Suns, Sonics, Jazz) had it not been for MJ and the Chicago Bulls.
Try watching some of the enforcer action when Phil Jackson came in off the New York Knicks to throw elbows and get a better player ejected??! This was in the 1970s ?
They tried to stop him, there were Jordan stoppers coming every year, and yet, it doesn't matter who they played against him, Jordan would always go and get his 30 points. That's greatness.
Those pistons teams were better than you think on offense...they still scored 108 a game..they just held you to 102.....they were a great team...salley Edwards aguire dumars and johnson don't get enough credit for their offense ...guys like Mahorn lambier and Rodman get all the shine but they weren't scoring ....
I started watching the NBA in 1980 I know what the league was like then. I also know what would have happened to that layup @7:23 had it been LeBron on that chase down (So does Andre Iguodala.)
LOL, one of the highest IQs in basketball history was supposed to have struggled in a LESS sophisticated era? Gimme a break, Babe Ruth never saw a slider. The game progresses. The player that has manhandled THIS era is the greatest of all time. No amount of "back in my day..." will change that.
Its such a pointless debate anyway. The difference between Jordan and the worst player to ever play in the NBA is probably a million times smaller than the difference between the worst nba hooper and the average amateur basketball player. These guys are all statistical anomalies, there’s no deep lesson to be gained by splitting hairs between them
This made MJ such a tough player having to literally fight his way to the hole every possession. Most players aren't this physically and mentally durable to the softness of the NBA now. It's molded a lot of soft superstars. Not a fan.
🎯 They are the greatest example in NBA history to what it means to be a TEAM! And they were the toughest. They went through LA and Boston and got two rings. They were the team to beat. They weren’t concerned about the Bulls.
@@ebkdoagbgbabies347 by the statement you made I'm sure you never watch them actually play! I'm not mad at you though,. propaganda is always a tough thing to overcome if you don't do your own research, or if you don't know better. God bless you and yours.
Pistons were the team that made Jordan great. Here is why: Towards the end you hear Laimbeer say that Jordan won by passing the ball more. Hence, Jordan was a ballhog and tried to do it all. Ofc Phil Jackson helped him but ultimately it was Jordan himself who changed his game and was able to dominate the 1990's. If MJ didnt change his style he wouldve been less great.
He also said he started working out like hell to get bigger/tougher to play a more physical game against guys like this. It helped him push his game forward to overcome the hurdle known as the Pistons.
3:37 Damn, like it's not enough to form superteam 1992 Olympic Dream Team, but to add Chuck Daly as head coach already sent a strong message to opposing teams on the planet
"If Jordan got loose, you have to hit him---- go Physical to destroy his Rules". Imagine Player these days..... Jordan Survived and Conquered HandChecking BattleFields....
If the Pistons had not played physical defense against Jordan back then he would probably have 8 rings instead of 6. Going through the Pistons was a learning experience for him and it made him a better team player. From then on he understood that you can't beat a team by yourself.
Invictus 06, Oh no.. even Jordan admitted that he couldn't have gotten 6 rings if not for bad boys.. the experience he had with pistons made him stronger physically and mentally...
No he would've won 3 if he beat the Pistons in 1990 then lost to the sun's and rockets once. Then in 1995 he would've either gone back to back or three peated still probably gets 5 and maybe 6, but not the perfect finals record.
this shows how a player called the greatest..after that physical plays and finally pistons founds how to stop the great Michael...Jordan also finally found how to beat their physical plays and that is shows when they meet again in 1991..it means,no one can be compared to Jordan..that is how Jordan why Jordan is the greatest..and some people can't see those things because they are jealous..some are surepass by Jordan and some are hard fans of another player..
The fact that the pistons had to come up with rules full of hard fouls and some dirty plays shows you how great a player that Michael Jordan really was.
They were great at carrying it out though. They had the right personel at the right time to carry it out and win back to back NBA titles. MJ didn't want to give up control yet at that point, because he wasn't ready to do so. They needed a new offensive philosophy that would be more difficult to defend, and finally got that with Phil Jackson, got closer in 1990, but Pistons had homecourt, and the only way the Bulls win in 1990 was win a game at the Palace and couldn't do it. Not just because of Pippen's migraine im game 7, but game 5 in that kind of series is very pivitol, and Pistons won that one. MJ waited year in and year out patiently, and finally won in 1991.
Not necessarily. We watched teams do similar things to players like Shaq and Giannis. The 2004 Pistons let Shaq score inside, but on defense drew him out toward the 3pt line so the Pistons could score as well. We watched the Celtics clamp down on Giannis every time he drove down the middle. The Jordan rules aren't unique today. What's unique is Jordan changed to be less of a blackhole and trusting his teammates more on offense.
For me Michael Jordan is the strongest shooting guard in the history of the NBA the way he used to take all this punishment and not getting injured through his career it's just insane and winning six championships the six times he went to the finals and being the finals MVP each time that is why people consider him the greatest player that ever lived or played basketball
Watching the series in '91 over and over it becomes obvious that the Pistons, like Jordan, have changed their tactics, but unlike Jordan, not to an advantage. The Pistons were also obviously getting older, but the lack of tenacity against the Bulls has always puzzled me. I've listened to a few players talk about the change of rules in the league that would allow players like Jordan to sweep the lane. Tell me, if you can't physically stop a guy from coming up the lane, what the hell is the point of having players on the court! The loss of Mahorn and the changing of some league rules undid the Pistons.
Joe Dumars was 27 and Rodman was 29. They both played horrible that series. That’s what undid the pistons. Thomas was still 29. That’s still very young. The only guy that was older was Vinnie,34 and he played better than any piston that series.
Have you ever heard of from boy's to mens thats.why.the.bulls.beat.the piston it.was not.because they were.old.the bulls had players the.same age.as.the.piston
Once the lane opened it helped MJ a ton. But let’s not forget if you forced him left, he hit. If you forced him right, he hit. If you held the line and pushed him back , he dropped fade always. So what do you have? MJ, one of a kind.
The lane never opened, the league added 1 rule in the offseason the flagrant foul, and if you watch the series in 91 you’ll see Detroit still doing the same shii.
Some people are too dense to understand that the Pistons FORCED Jordan to utilize his team. Michael Jordan and the Jordanaires never won anything except a trip home from the ECF against Detroit. One player CANNOT win anything!
Redgrin Grumboldt, but Jordan had to carry his team alone.. remember, they had almost no real good player in bulls at that time.. and I think the coach before Phil was just too weak to formulate a strong offense style..
Redgrin Grumboldt Jordan had 9 assists in elimination game his starters shot 10/49 had 26 points 1990 game 7. Pippen was 1/10 had 2 points blamed a migraine, Grant was 3/17, Cartwright 3/9 BJ Armstrong 1/8, Hodges 3/13. Jordan had 31 points made 13/27. He used his teammates they didn’t show up. As a rookie he averaged 5.9 assist. Season before 8 assists.
Im from Detroit and watched these series back then. The Pistons were not "dirty". Basketball was just waay more physical back then. That pistons team had to go through the Celtics and maann was that hard to do! But what were people saying back then about Bird, Ainge, McHale, Johnson and Parish, they were saying they were dirty. They weren't dirty, teams just play very hard then (not that they don't play hard now) but the rules changed to favor offensive players more and now you rarely hear about a team being dirty.
Can you imagine Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and even LeBron dealing with this kind of pressure ? But the physical play in that day was over the top. When you cant stop a player from a skill standpoint you resort to beating them up. However, today's game is way too soft and every little thing is a foul. There has to be a happy medium somewhere..
@watches777 Thoughtful analysis. I do not think LeBron mentally takes the punishment, or have enough leadership ability to make it by the playoffs with teams who had 3 to 5 Hall of Famers every round. 80’s and the Bulls era completely different level. Curry however has the ability to lead lesser players to greatness, a mandatory requirement for the 80s and 90s. He has the “IT” any decade.
@watches777 He’s not lasting at the SF/PF more than 12 in the 80s and 90s. His stats are not a valid argument. Its why old school players, life long NBA experts, and NBA fans who have watched for 4 decades don’t GOAT him. Does he beat Magic, Bird, Jordon, Dr J, Isiah Thomas teams? He just doesn’t, and then to get to those teams, you have to play the rest of the Dream Team’ers and their teams. LeBron never made it the finals with hand check rule, and watch Detroit highlights. They committed real crimes on the floor. Take the BEST 8 years of Lebron, and slap that over the other Greats, that’s a true comparison
I am pretty sure that Curry can't shoot that well against defense like this. I have my reason. Check out the stat in recent 5 years of the NBA, average FG% keeps going up. If you compare today's league to 10 years ago, today's league is very very soft. Every stars just like have a boost on their stat especially on offense side nowadays if compare to 5 or 8 years ago. I don't even need to mention 1995-2004, those years were very tough on defense.
Watching this footage you cant help disliking the bad boy pistons. Its a miracle he didn't get a career ending injury from these series. Its insane to think the 6 rings followed 3 brutal loses to this team. He could've won at least another ring if the pistons didn't resort to playing unsportsmanlike. And he shook the pistons hand every year despite all of it. Jordan is the greatest not just because of the 6 rings, but he did it after enduring all of this. No one like him.
Why Bulls were able to overcome the Bad Boys (in my opinion): 1. The emergence of Scottie Pippen as a superstar (this somehow does not get talked about enough) 2. Age caught up to the Pistons 3. Triangle Offense (ball/player movement got teammates involved; also made it tougher to double MJ) 4. Rule changes 5. It was Bulls' time (much like it was The Pistons' time when they finally overcame the Celtics)
Points 1, 2 and 4 are not true. Pippen was never a superstar until he peaked out in the mid 90s. He was only selected into All-NBA First Teams three times in his whole career and he wasn't even selected as an All-Star at 97-98, the year they won their last championship. Even at '94 with MJ, Thomas, Bird, Magic out of the picture and with guys like D.Wilkins, Barkley, Price on the decline due to injuries, Pippen was probably only the 5th or 6th best player in the league. Olajuwon, Shaq, Robinson, Malone, Ewing were clearly better at 1994 and Barkley was arguably better as well even though he was on the decline. Most of these players were still better players than Pippen even during the next few seasons down the line. Jordan's teammates finally stepped up for the first 6 games of the 1990 ECF against the eventual 1990 champion Pistons (number 1 defense), and the series was tied 3-3 - In Game 7, Jordan put up 31-9-8 on 48%, and also held Isiah Thomas to 41% shooting. Jordan also went up against DPOY Rodman, who can actually guard 1-5, in this series as well as Dumars - However the rest of Jordan's teammates played garbage in Game 7. The only teammate of Jordan's in double figures was Horace Grant with 10 pts on 3-17 (18%) shooting. Pippen finished with 2 pts 4 rebs 2 ast on 1-10 shooting - Dennis Rodman actually outscored every teammate of Jordan's, and did it more efficiently with 13 pts on 6-7 shooting. - While Jordan shot 48%, no other notable teammate (benchwarmers in garbage time don't count) shot better than 33.3%. 1) Even with home court advantage, Larry Bird's Celtics lost to Patrick Ewing's Knicks in the first round. Jordan's Bulls never lost to Patrick Ewing's Knicks in 5 playoff meetings, even with a 6 seed Bulls team in 1989. For those claiming that this Celtics team was washed up, Bird was 1 rpg and 1 apg shy of a triple double, and McHale, Parish, and Lewis all played very well offensively. This wasn't the same Celtics team of the 80s. but they were still expected to beat the Knicks. 2) Magic Johnson and Kareem lost to a 40-42 Rockets team in the first round of the playoffs after winning the championship in 1980. Larry Bird's first championship came against that same 40-42 Rockets team. Jordan never lost a series with home court advantage like Bird, Magic, and Kareem did, and never lost to a team lower than a number 2 seed like Bird, Magic, and Kareem also did. 3) The 80s Lakers never beat a team with a great center. Parish is only in the Hall of Fame because of Bird - he never made the playoffs in a season without Bird unless he was playing under 20 mpg off the bench. The 80s Lakers lost to Moses twice (1981 and 1983), and against Hakeem (1986), going a combined 2-10 in playoff games against them. These were the only times the 80s Lakers played a top 10 all-time center in a playoff series. 4) Larry Bird in 1983 got swept by Sidney Moncrief and Paul Pressey's Bucks in the second round. That was even when Bird had a stacked lineup up of Robert Parish, Finals MVP Cedric Maxwell, and Kevin McHale. As a rookie, Jordan had an 8 seed Bulls team of Orlando Woolridge and Quintin Dailey as his best options. He still managed to win one game against Moncrief and Pressey's Bucks in the first round even though Bird had the much, much more stacked team. 5) In 1990, Magic Johnson's Lakers had a top 7 defense and offense and the best record in the league. Magic also won MVP that year. Even then, Magic lost to a 5 seed Suns team led by Kevin Johnson and no Charles Barkley in only 5 games. Jordan ended up beating a Suns team with Kevin Johnson as well as the MVP Charles Barkley in the 1993 Finals.Every single team that Jordan lost to in the playoffs after his rookie year made the NBA Finals, something you can't say about the 1983 Bucks, 1990 Suns, or 1990 Knicks.6) Larry Bird and Magic Johnson never swept the Bad Boy Pistons, which Jordan did in 1991. Not only that, but Bird and Magic never played the Pistons when they had the number 1 defense in the league, nor when Dennis Rodman won DPOY like the Pistons did in 1991. 7) Magic Johnson could not even win one game against the 1989 Pistons in the NBA Finals before his injury, even after his team went 11-0 in the Western Conference. Jordan's 6 seed Bulls were the only team that won a game against the 1989 Pistons, which they did twice Detroit Pistons (Back to back NBA Champs with the number 1 defense in the league) - The 91 Pistons had the number 1 defense in the league, and Dennis Rodman was DPOY for the second year in a row. - Isiah's injury is not an excuse, because Isiah already played almost 50 games in the season and had played through injuries before, such as the 1989 Finals. Isiah also averaged almost 12 apg in the first round of the playoffs this year against Dominique Wilkins' Hawks. - and if you are going to use Isiah's injury as an excuse, Jordan must be given extra credit for winning with an injured Toni Kukoc (1996 ECSF), Ron Harper (1996 Finals) and Scottie Pippen (1997/98 season and 1998 Finals)- This Pistons team was still good enough to sweep the Celtics with Reggie Lewis and McHale playing very well - People claim this team was weakened by the flagrant foul rule, but they ended up with the number 1 defense in the league for the second year in a row and with Rodman winning DPOY again, even after the introduction of that rule. Clearly the myth that the introduction of this rule hurt the Pistons is far from true. The Pistons actually allowed less PPG in 1990/91 than they did in 1989/90. - For those who still doubt the 1991 Pistons defense, they shut down Dominique Wilkins to 21 ppg on 37% after 26 ppg on 47% in the regular season in the first round of the playoffs. Joe Dumars was 27 years old, Rodman was 29 years old so was Thomas. John Salley was 26 years old. They were far from being an old team when their 3 of their key players were in their primes and under 30 years of age. Los Angeles Lakers - The Lakers were still a great team, and they were not washed up like people think, though not as great as the 80s Lakers. - Former Finals MVP James Worthy was playing with an ankle injury, but he still put up 19-3-2 on 48%, which was not far off from his playoff and season averages. Considering he was doing that against a top defense like the Bulls, it shows no indication that he wasn't playing well. By the time Worthy missed Game 5, the series was already over with the Bulls up 3-1 - James Worthy broke his leg and missed all of the 1983 playoffs, but nobody tries to discredit Moses Malone's 1983 victory over the Lakers in the Finals. - The Lakers didnt have Kareem, but Kareem was a minor contributor on the 1988 and 1989 Lakers team. They were still a great team even with Kareem having a minimal impact. - Vlade Divac in the 1991 Finals played much, much better than a faded Kareem did in in the 1988 and 1989 Finals. He was more than enough to offset the loss of a fading 88-89 Kareem (not a prime Kareem obviously) - Kareem 1988 Finals - 13-4-1 on 41%, 0.6 spg, 1 bpg - Kareem 1989 Finals - 12.5-5-2 on 44%, 0.5 spg, 1 bpg - Kareem 1982 Finals - 18-8-4 on 53%, 1.3 spg, 3.2 bpg - Divac 1991 Finals - 18-9-2 on 57%, 1.8 spg, 2.4 bpg Divac in 1991 actually played at practically the same level that Kareem did for the 1982 Finals - This is the same Vlade Divac who was a key piece of the Kings that nearly ended the 2000-02 Lakers 3peat chances. Somehow only in Jordan's era is he considered part of a weak team - Magic Johnson averaged 12.5 apg in the NBA Finals and regular season. Since then, no player outside of John Stockton has matched those numbers in the regular season, and Stockton never reached that assist output after the 1993/94 season. - and no player besides Magic Johnson has ever reached 12 apg in the NBA Finals - No player since 1991 has even reached 10 apg in the Finals, and no player in the 2000s has reached 12 apg in a season. - Magic had averaged a triple double in the 1991 WCSF against the Warriors, dropping 26-10-13. - If Magic Johnson was washed up at this point, then that only shows how vastly superior Jordan's era was compared to the 2000s, since a "washed up" Magic Johnson was a far better distributor and all-around player than any PG of the 2000s. - This Lakers team beat the same Blazers team in 1991 that the Pistons had to beat in 1990 to win the championship, so they were far from washed up.- When the Pistons beat the Lakers in 1989, Magic Johnson played a combined 5 minutes in the last 2 games of the Finals due to injury. Yet people try to discredit the Bulls' 1991 championship?
+Jun Hee Ho pippen was not an allstar the 97-98 season because of injuries, there was no way he couldve made the all star team that season as he was gone that whole half of the year
I love everything about the Jordan Rules because it shows a lot of teamplay. People complained about the hard fouls but that was only when he got free, the rest was a lot of cerebral teamwork.
This is the stuff that made Jordan even better...they were instrumental in the developing of an absolute monster...the absolute monster...THE GOAT MICHAEL JORDAN.
This is why Lebron goat debate is nothing more than media hype. Your journey contributes to who you are. MJ was enduring the Pistons. Lebron was forming superteams. It's clear as day, that Lebron is fabricated, while MJ is organic.
@@meg-k-waldren exactly. The NBA attempted to make/create LeBron as the next evolution and poster boy of the NBA. Steroids and super teams and complete support and hype from the refs and announcers. LeBron was absolutely a manufactured product designed by the NBA system. And sti he struggled to win 4 rings...one has a fix conspiracy attached and the other was during a shortened pseudo season. He was never once truly the best player in the league. It was Kobe or KD or Curry or Westbrook always. Kobe showed him up in the all star game when LeBron was hyped as the best. LeBron led the Olympic team and lost the Gold for the United States. Kobe had to come and lead the team and of course they then took Gold. Michael Jordan is the GOAT for probably hundreds of reasons. The GOAT debate may be fun to argue when looking at guys like Wilt and Kareem and Kobe and Magic Johnson but there really is no debate and putting LeBron in there is just blasphemy.
I played basketball throughout my childhood until High School and man... after awhile of playing you learn how insanely fun defense can actually be when you can stick to your man the entire game and take him out. It's a different style of game at that point though and it's not much fun for the spectators 'til a fight breaks out.
THIS IS GONNA SOUND SILLY, BUT I APPLIED THE JORDAN RULES STRAT WHEN PLAYING NBA 2K12 GAME. WHEN YOU REANCT THE PISTONS VS BULLS GAME IN LEGENDS. I PUT MAHORN SALLEY RODMAN AND LAMBEER ON THE FLOOR CONSTANTLY. MAN TO MAN WITH RODMAN GUARDING JORDAN. NOT LETTING JORDAN RUN THE BASELINE AND DOUBLE AND TRIPLE TEAMING HIM EVERY TIME HE GOT THE BALL. AND IT WORKED. MY PISTONS USING THIS STRAT MANAGED TO HOLD CPU JORDAN TO JUST 20 POINTS AND WE WON BY 20 POINTS. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL.
The more you age the more you will appreciate the Bad Boy Pistons and those Championships back-to-back, sandwiched in between the Celtics, Lakers, and Bulls
Lebron was facing the new school Pistons not the old school Pistons like MJ. I remember watching MJ game on tv. Pistons was trying to hurt him bad. When land on his back and move his head in a awkward way. So he wouldn't landed on the back on his head. They even kick him in the groin area. Pistons were doing MJ dirty on the floor. New school Pistons don't treat LeBron the same way. These rules were really try to knock out MJ out the NBA for good. Thomas know what he was doing. that's why he wasn't on the team with MJ. He the one made up the jordan rules.
Single joint hits like elbows, knees, little kicks and punches here and there in the middle of chaos were their secret. But multiple joint grabbing, pushing to the ground, or multiple teaming like holding from the waist while someone else jumped and sat on his neck were "obvious" stuff, no secret here. In short, large teamwork to create chaos in the paint is non-secret, all the dirty little moves you do inside the chaos is secret. Possible conversations in the locker room like "Imma break his leg again," "first let's try kicking his nuts harder" are secrets too. I admire MJ for his anger control even more than his basketball talents.
Jordan shattered those rules in '91 and that team never won again! Swept the Pistons off their home court... the rules only worked for the Detroit their 2 championship years because they had a better team. Once the Bulls became the "Bulls" they won 3 straight twice. Detroit really created the Dominant Greatest Player ever in Micheal Jordan by making him earn it so hard! Amazing stories!
07:39 .. that little hidden punch by Rodman..There are so many of those little hidden dirty plays involved it's unreal :). I like it though. Is it they way basketball was meant to be played? Propably not but I love the gritty and dirty style and how they gave everything in order to win. I remember in the Pistons 30 for 30 documentary one of the guys saying "I'd give my left leg and my unborn son's left leg for this ring." A little extreme? Yes, maybe. But imagine going to the hole against a guy like that in comparison to let's say a Roy Hibbert. Those are the differences I think that count the most..not those statistics they bring up all the time.
Pistons were old in 90-91?? Thomas was 29, dumars 27, Rodman 29. Jordan was 27. They were all around the same age. The pistons being old is a dumb argument.
@@versatiletitan2466 still not old, the reason they were swept is because jordan made the team hit the gym, and they could not be assaulting players anymore.
that being old thing was just excuses bad boy pistons specially isiah and lamebeer(laimbeer), they were freaking ashamed that MJ and the bulls beat thier butts off real hard, lol!
Isiah Thomas was injured much of that season, but the Bulls still would've won even if he hadn't been, though it may or may not have been in a 4 game sweep. 1991 was the 5th straight year that got past the ECSF to the ECF, and to the Finals 3 of those 5 years. Overtime, I do think they didn't have as much energy, as they had in previous years, because they were playing many post season games, in addition to 82 regular season games.
08:00 Watch that shove by Rodman. He just flat out punches Jordan to the ground while in mid air. Now imagine a normal everyday guy like me doing that...that's already annoying and dangerous. But that's Dennis Rodman, one beast of an athlete. :D
@@davemerkury Yeah punch is propably the wrong word. There is another scene of him punching him mid air while he's getting clubbered by other Pistons though. :)
Over the years since posting this video that I produced and edited in 2014, I have watched 1500+ comments in the thread and over 500k+ views. Some comments are just random rants and others are scientific analyses by people that really know the game. Yesterday, I had a comment come into my mind as to why MJ is the greatest player to ever play the game and I wanted to share it. Here it is: No one will ever be better than Michael Jordan not because of skill, but because the league will never be better than Michael Jordan. In his era ‘Michael Jordan’ became ‘the league’ and ‘the league’ became ‘Michael Jordan’. They mutually reached the top of their game at the same time. Sponsorship was just coming of age, players were just starting to get paid big money, and yet the heart of the sport was still intact with greed only waiting in the wings. You still had to earn your rank. You still had to fight your way to the top physically and you couldn't run off with a million in sponsorship dollars on your first year. Sports have declined greatly since then and players by in large have sold out. The NBA, NFL, and the MBL are now just games played on a stage of money. Players get deals before they even hit the court and the dollar has usurped the heart of the game long ago. So the answer to the question of "why no one could beat MJ" is not because of skill, but because no one can compete with the era and the trajectory of growth both he and the league went through at that time while still maintaining the heart of the game. Painfully, I seldom watch a modern game with the charade of politics, money, fame, and fortune that surround the now circus of players.
My whole life I always truly believe Lebron was better than mj but after watching this I now know Lebron will always be the second best of all time mj is truly the all time goat 😣🙄 and it's only because it's like the pistons fucked around and pushed him so hard nearly killing him and it unlocked a new transformation in mj so he the first nigga to go super sayain LMAO 😂😂 . 1.mj 2lebron
This's HOW FUKN GREAT HE IS!... HES BIGGER THAN THE TEAM/ NBA! You really got to ADMIRE how it was back then! These teams would slaughter today's teams! It's rugged 100% physical intensive basketball! Teams are literally fighting on every play!
I really think that after the 1989-90 season, Chicago self-scouted, looked at film, during the offseason, and studied hard on how to defeat the Detroit Pistons, know they'd most likely be the team they would face, yet again, in the 1991 playoffs, either in the ECSF, or ECF, depending on how the bracket was drawn. They worked hard offseason, and all the 1990-91 season for the 4th playoff meeting...and a different outcome than the previous three.
No, the Piston’s became obsolete, when they could no longer play dirty. Pulling a person down in mid air is nothing to brag about. You actually had to be a skilled defender in the 90’s.
The Jordan Rules became obsolete after he bulked up and learned to use his bigger body to post up and shoot his patented fade-away. That's an unstoppable move no matter what strategy you use.
The biggest reason was MJs teammates got better, most notably the acquisition of BJ. Isiah could have his way with Paxon but not BJ. BJ was fast, physical, and a feisty defender. I always tell people BJ was the x factor for the Bulls v Pistons.
Michael Jordan didn't have to LEARN to trust his teammates. His teammates needed to grow up and evolve so they could be trusted. He had no one coming into the league.
@Bread And Circuses Doesn't matter I guess. The video was very fair, did not just show a bunch of hard fouls and call them thugs. There was plenty of game film that was longer than the traditional 2 or 3 second clips we are usually shoveled. The right people were interviewed, these guys ABSOLUTELY know what they are talking about. The video showed Jordan REPEATEDLY getting defended without fouling, against the BS modern day narrative. It explained in great detail and accuracy what the "Jordan Rules" were, and they were far more complex and skillful than just knocking him on his ass, as most young punks were taught to believe. Overall, very fair, very in-depth, very educational, and very coherent and well thought-out. Oh, and very objective, a drastic change from the norm. How is that for an answer?
The Pistons (And Phil Jackson) got Michael to realize that he was not going to win an NBA championship by himself. The Pistons taught him that he had to get physically tougher which is why he started weight training for the first time in his life after the series and he learned that he had to start trusting teammates more. Kobe tried to do the same thing and he realized he couldn't do it on his own after shack left and at the organization to go get some stars cuz he needed help and he knew it and then in come Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol.
KD leaving to go play for the Warriors is like MJ leaving to play for the Pistons, just a disgrace that makes any accomplishment after the fact unimportant.
Inspiring. All that beat down mentally and physically made 23 even a better player. If you are going through a bad day, just getting through with a smile means you're strong.. That's why they call him the Jordan of Jordans.
Jordan Rules in short: If Mike has the ball, anything that doesn’t kill him, is totally fine.
and some of those plays were damn close to ending his career lmao.
thats why jordan is the real goat
Unless ur Lambeer ....where the rules change to try to kill him
Lmao really y'all that was the Jordan rules beat up MJ PIP and Horace lol
You have to not forget coach Chuck Daly.
The fact that an entire team had to devise such a plan, a set of rules for one man ...... Wow!!
Robert Gill This is what Jim Brown had to worry about being attacked by the NFL in the '60s everyone was after him and out to stop him using any tactic at their disposal.
and what's makes this defense so special is only the Pistons can execute it perfectly against Jordan. That's proves a lot.
Same as harden, but the entire nba is trying to stop him.
@@nicjohn60 LMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!
@@nicjohn60 harden 😆 🤣
“If Michael goes to the bathroom, we’re all going with him.”
Brilliant!
Sound like how people gotta guard Curry today 😂
The Pistons made Jordan tougher.
"The Pistons made Jordan tougher." What doesn't kill you ...
@@NameCallingIsWeak 'The pistons made Jordan tougher'.
Bulls signed Dennis Rodman in 95-96 to form the greatest team ever.
Jordan owes it to.them
@@samiahmed6875 Yes he does
Yep they did. They use to abuse him a Pippen. Dennis Rodman had mo mercy for Any player
I would 💘 for him to Bulldog Thay weak ass LeBron.
0:04 testament to how amazing MJ was. "He was sensational going right. Only GREAT going to his left" which was where the Pistons were trying to force him to.
Many teams do the same thing to certain players stop acting like this was a Jordan only thing . SMH
@@davemartino5997 The pistons were filthy, other teams got physical but the pistons tried to injure people
@@davemartino5997 bruh u weak butler fanboy
@@nabkid6578 sounds like u the fan boy
@@davemartino5997 they were forcing him on his "weaker" side along with elbow to his ribs just to stop him.
"He wouldn't give up, that's what I would say about Michael Jordan, he would not give up".-James Edwards.
The difference between Jordan and almost every other super star is that when shit got tough, he didn’t make excuses, he didn’t switch teams, he actually got better. He had heart and he had balls lol
Yup!
He switched sports when the gambling got tough
Bird switched teams?? Magic switched teams???? Those guys dealt with the same stuff MJ did, they just knew how to pass the ball and win championships.
@@kerrykeith4740 lol first of all i said ALMOST every other super star, second of all jordan has more chips than those players mentioned, sooo what’s your point?
Spot on… 👌🏻
Imagine being guarded by Joe Dumars and Dennis Rodman in the same game!😁
That pistons team was legendary
Yeah and jordan would give them.both fits so Isiah created the Jordan rules
Well those two aren't players..they are just garbage being paid to get some decorations and name for super star like Jordan..like in a movie..they are just stunt stupid man
@@donnelladams8362 lol isiah alone did?
@@37thousand i think i remember in a documentary isiah said he was talking to Dumars thinking of ways to stop mj and the game up with it or they both did then the coaching team I’m sure sharpened it
Jordan should praise the Pistons for playing him so hard. It caused him to become stronger and get his teammates more involved. I honestly think that his teammates were caught off-guard when he passed the ball while driving to the basket.
MJ did in 30 for 30 espn
Jordan admits that if it was for the wars with the Pistons, they may have not won any ships. Not how much Jordan dislikes the Bad Boys and Zeke, he has always given that Detroit team it's props for what they accomplished.
@Lighthouse in the Storm Facts, this who world is scripted
@Lighthouse in the Storm you’re scripted
But did he? No! In fact, he so was mad at Isiah Thomas for the walk off, he saw to it that he wasn't on the 1992 Dream Team. Yep. What Bill Laimbeer said "He's the only one on that ball club that can beat you", was true until Phil Jackson implemented a new offensive philosophy, the triangle, getting everybody on the team involved, so that was no longer the case. They got sick of losing to the Pistons.
NBA was a real man's game back in that day
80s and early 90s NBA was amazing
Let's all take a moment of silent and thank the Pistons for making MJ the monster he became. Beating this man for 3 years took him from superstar to the GOAT.
Kobe is the greatest
@@gregcampbell3052 how is he better than MJ
You mean the league office and changing the rules.
More like the Bulls front office built a better team around him. Jordan was always great in the playoffs but his teams were nothing special. Don’t tell me you’re one of these people who think basketball is just a one man sport.
@@danielvrodriguez81what rule changes?
The GOAT was resilient, didn't give up, and Phil Jackson implemented a new offensive philosophy, the triangle offense, which was getting other team members involved in the offense, so he was no longer the only "player on the ball club that can beat you". It paid off with a 4-game sweep in 1991. The statement him and his team made in 1991: "We're sick and tired of losing to this ball club, so if we're going to get to the finals and win the title, we're going to have to beat the Detroit Pistons." They were the standard. And they did, plus 5 more titles in the 1990s. 2 threepeats, and some of the teams the Bulls beat in the 1990s probably would've won a title (Blazers, Suns, Sonics, Jazz) had it not been for MJ and the Chicago Bulls.
Try watching some of the enforcer action when Phil Jackson came in off the New York Knicks to throw elbows and get a better player ejected??! This was in the 1970s ?
Jordan ruined alotta players from his time chances of getting chips Ewing., Malone, Stockton, Barkley and Miller just to name a few
@@shadowdoglaw257 big deal . Larry bird won titles against the greatest teams and players ever .
@@davemartino5997 Detroit ended Larry Bird's run.
@@davemartino5997 Larry Bird's run had already ended by the time the Bulls dominated the 1990s.
They tried to stop him, there were Jordan stoppers coming every year, and yet, it doesn't matter who they played against him, Jordan would always go and get his 30 points. That's greatness.
@Lighthouse in the Storm lmao, ok LeFlop fanboy..Drink your meds. It'll help you relieve depression or stupidity.
@Tony D'Archi right that makes no sense
@Lighthouse in the Storm how does hacking him equal babying him.
Bird did the same thing except have 12 rebounds and 8/9 assists big deal
Drazen Petrovic one of the only guys in the league who could keep MJ honest.
I loves Rodmans style of play! Mind games!!! 😂 A cerebral assassin
These "Lebron is better than Jordan fans" had no idea what the league was like.
OH SHUT UP!!!
Those pistons teams were better than you think on offense...they still scored 108 a game..they just held you to 102.....they were a great team...salley Edwards aguire dumars and johnson don't get enough credit for their offense ...guys like Mahorn lambier and Rodman get all the shine but they weren't scoring ....
I started watching the NBA in 1980 I know what the league was like then. I also know what would have happened to that layup @7:23 had it been LeBron on that chase down (So does Andre Iguodala.)
Hei C lebron would've gotten crushed mentally. It's not physically that lbj would struggle but THE MIND
LOL, one of the highest IQs in basketball history was supposed to have struggled in a LESS sophisticated era? Gimme a break, Babe Ruth never saw a slider. The game progresses. The player that has manhandled THIS era is the greatest of all time. No amount of "back in my day..." will change that.
It was a real pleasure to watch Pistons in that era, a well-oiled defensive machine...
THE FACT IS THEY SPECIFICALLY DEVISED A STRATEGY TO STOP... 1 MAN..
(A PLAN TO STOP MJ)
WHY?? HE WAS GREAT & UNSTOPPABLE!!!
Scottie Pippen was a casual at the time and MJ didnt trust him so the Pistons had only 1 guy to stop
Pretty normal for the greats
@@Aazib_Warriors That is true.
This is why MJ is the GOAT, you gotta go through some shit to become great, Lebron is my era we came up from MJ, players would kill you those days
Its such a pointless debate anyway. The difference between Jordan and the worst player to ever play in the NBA is probably a million times smaller than the difference between the worst nba hooper and the average amateur basketball player. These guys are all statistical anomalies, there’s no deep lesson to be gained by splitting hairs between them
This made MJ such a tough player having to literally fight his way to the hole every possession. Most players aren't this physically and mentally durable to the softness of the NBA now. It's molded a lot of soft superstars. Not a fan.
So blame the players instead of the owners
MJ was already 110% tough and great, its not like MJ will not be labeled as the GOAT without beating the piston.
The Bad Boy Pistons are probably the greatest team unit in sports history ! They were truly a family.
An évidemment family.
🎯 They are the greatest example in NBA history to what it means to be a TEAM! And they were the toughest. They went through LA and Boston and got two rings. They were the team to beat. They weren’t concerned about the Bulls.
Nope all they do is wrestling 🤣 that ain’t basketball u casual
@@ebkdoagbgbabies347 by the statement you made I'm sure you never watch them actually play! I'm not mad at you though,. propaganda is always a tough thing to overcome if you don't do your own research, or if you don't know better.
God bless you and yours.
@@ebkdoagbgbabies347 did you ever actually watch any full games by them
Pistons were the team that made Jordan great. Here is why: Towards the end you hear Laimbeer say that Jordan won by passing the ball more. Hence, Jordan was a ballhog and tried to do it all. Ofc Phil Jackson helped him but ultimately it was Jordan himself who changed his game and was able to dominate the 1990's. If MJ didnt change his style he wouldve been less great.
Jordan once said that if it weren't for the Pistons he wouldn't be as mature as he was
MJ also got a lot tougher and stronger
1-9 WOULD DO THAT TO YA.....HA HA
Bad Plush also The Nicks!
He also said he started working out like hell to get bigger/tougher to play a more physical game against guys like this. It helped him push his game forward to overcome the hurdle known as the Pistons.
Chuck Daly was the ultimate fire coach, the type you would put in the movies
3:37 Damn, like it's not enough to form superteam 1992 Olympic Dream Team, but to add Chuck Daly as head coach already sent a strong message to opposing teams on the planet
Those handchecks are lit.. 😯
"If Jordan got loose, you have to hit him---- go Physical to destroy his Rules".
Imagine Player these days.....
Jordan Survived and Conquered HandChecking BattleFields....
If the Pistons had not played physical defense against Jordan back then he would probably have 8 rings instead of 6. Going through the Pistons was a learning experience for him and it made him a better team player. From then on he understood that you can't beat a team by yourself.
Invictus 06, Oh no.. even Jordan admitted that he couldn't have gotten 6 rings if not for bad boys.. the experience he had with pistons made him stronger physically and mentally...
Jordan would have 8 or 10 if he didnt leave for baseball or leave for the wizards and he would have had less than 6 without the pistons
@altovelli08 it wasnt him, mj even said it wasnt him, IT was MAGIC JOHNSON
No he would've won 3 if he beat the Pistons in 1990 then lost to the sun's and rockets once. Then in 1995 he would've either gone back to back or three peated still probably gets 5 and maybe 6, but not the perfect finals record.
@@antonioguglielmetti2661 We will never know what would have happened
this shows how a player called the greatest..after that physical plays and finally pistons founds how to stop the great Michael...Jordan also finally found how to beat their physical plays and that is shows when they meet again in 1991..it means,no one can be compared to Jordan..that is how Jordan why Jordan is the greatest..and some people can't see those things because they are jealous..some are surepass by Jordan and some are hard fans of another player..
The fact that the pistons had to come up with rules full of hard fouls and some dirty plays shows you how great a player that Michael Jordan really was.
There was way more to the Jordan rules than fouling every time he drives
Bro this is the second comment I read by you that makes absolutely no sense.
Naw man
They were great at carrying it out though. They had the right personel at the right time to carry it out and win back to back NBA titles. MJ didn't want to give up control yet at that point, because he wasn't ready to do so. They needed a new offensive philosophy that would be more difficult to defend, and finally got that with Phil Jackson, got closer in 1990, but Pistons had homecourt, and the only way the Bulls win in 1990 was win a game at the Palace and couldn't do it. Not just because of Pippen's migraine im game 7, but game 5 in that kind of series is very pivitol, and Pistons won that one. MJ waited year in and year out patiently, and finally won in 1991.
Not necessarily. We watched teams do similar things to players like Shaq and Giannis. The 2004 Pistons let Shaq score inside, but on defense drew him out toward the 3pt line so the Pistons could score as well. We watched the Celtics clamp down on Giannis every time he drove down the middle. The Jordan rules aren't unique today. What's unique is Jordan changed to be less of a blackhole and trusting his teammates more on offense.
Pistons were dirty but I liked them and I'm a huge Bulls fan I just like basketball as a whole may the best team win and may the best players emerge.
Jordan an.scottie.an the mighty Chicago bulls let's.have.a last dance champions forever over.the. ??????.
You gotta admit, this was some genius coaching
For me Michael Jordan is the strongest shooting guard in the history of the NBA the way he used to take all this punishment and not getting injured through his career it's just insane and winning six championships the six times he went to the finals and being the finals MVP each time that is why people consider him the greatest player that ever lived or played basketball
@Lighthouse in the Storm 😂😂
Watching the series in '91 over and over it becomes obvious that the Pistons, like Jordan, have changed their tactics, but unlike Jordan, not to an advantage. The Pistons were also obviously getting older, but the lack of tenacity against the Bulls has always puzzled me. I've listened to a few players talk about the change of rules in the league that would allow players like Jordan to sweep the lane. Tell me, if you can't physically stop a guy from coming up the lane, what the hell is the point of having players on the court! The loss of Mahorn and the changing of some league rules undid the Pistons.
Joe Dumars was 27 and Rodman was 29. They both played horrible that series. That’s what undid the pistons. Thomas was still 29. That’s still very young. The only guy that was older was Vinnie,34 and he played better than any piston that series.
@@Unitas19 at that season Isaiah Thomas was seriously injured too and only played 48 games. They had to pick a second pg, Henderson to replace him
Excuses! 80s Pistons never had a 3-peat like 90s Bulls..
Lol “obviously getting older”. We all get older. It’s a lame and false argument. They were In their late 20’s and early 30’s.
who's here after The Last Dance
A follower
Have you ever heard of from boy's to mens thats.why.the.bulls.beat.the piston it.was not.because they were.old.the bulls had players the.same age.as.the.piston
I'm watching the Last Dance of the Bulls on ESPN
Jordan Rules is what really makes Jordan the 🐐
Once the lane opened it helped MJ a ton. But let’s not forget if you forced him left, he hit. If you forced him right, he hit. If you held the line and pushed him back , he dropped fade always. So what do you have? MJ, one of a kind.
The lane never opened, the league added 1 rule in the offseason the flagrant foul, and if you watch the series in 91 you’ll see Detroit still doing the same shii.
@@kendrickking3699. Exactly, the Pistons were like a shark out of water. They became a mediocre team, when they couldn’t hack.
Some people are too dense to understand that the Pistons FORCED Jordan to utilize his team. Michael Jordan and the Jordanaires never won anything except a trip home from the ECF against Detroit. One player CANNOT win anything!
Redgrin Grumboldt, but Jordan had to carry his team alone.. remember, they had almost no real good player in bulls at that time.. and I think the coach before Phil was just too weak to formulate a strong offense style..
Redgrin Grumboldt Jordan had 9 assists in elimination game his starters shot 10/49 had 26 points 1990 game 7. Pippen was 1/10 had 2 points blamed a migraine, Grant was 3/17, Cartwright 3/9 BJ Armstrong 1/8, Hodges 3/13. Jordan had 31 points made 13/27. He used his teammates they didn’t show up. As a rookie he averaged 5.9 assist. Season before 8 assists.
edjae david the offense comes from Tex Winters the bulls assistant coach since 1985 Phil was assistant since 1987.
@@edjaedavid6362 Soug Collins was the coach before Phil, know your history.
Well... one Player CAN win a couple MVPs. All first teams, all first defence. But I think what you should say is one man doesn’t win championships 😂
I like watching things like this because it exposes just how human and touchable Jordan was.
Im from Detroit and watched these series back then. The Pistons were not "dirty". Basketball was just waay more physical back then. That pistons team had to go through the Celtics and maann was that hard to do! But what were people saying back then about Bird, Ainge, McHale, Johnson and Parish, they were saying they were dirty. They weren't dirty, teams just play very hard then (not that they don't play hard now) but the rules changed to favor offensive players more and now you rarely hear about a team being dirty.
Sir, im gonna have to ask you to stop making so much sense. This is youtube...
@@mohammedalim7958 LOL
Detroit stand up
There’s literally clips of Jordan getting pulled to the floor.
Can you imagine Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and even LeBron dealing with this kind of pressure ? But the physical play in that day was over the top. When you cant stop a player from a skill standpoint you resort to beating them up. However, today's game is way too soft and every little thing is a foul. There has to be a happy medium somewhere..
Steph would be shooting from half court😂. Those guys would murder his small frame.
Exactly
👍🤣
@watches777 Thoughtful analysis. I do not think LeBron mentally takes the punishment, or have enough leadership ability to make it by the playoffs with teams who had 3 to 5 Hall of Famers every round. 80’s and the Bulls era completely different level. Curry however has the ability to lead lesser players to greatness, a mandatory requirement for the 80s and 90s. He has the “IT” any decade.
@watches777 He’s not lasting at the SF/PF more than 12 in the 80s and 90s. His stats are not a valid argument. Its why old school players, life long NBA experts, and NBA fans who have watched for 4 decades don’t GOAT him. Does he beat Magic, Bird, Jordon, Dr J, Isiah Thomas teams? He just doesn’t, and then to get to those teams, you have to play the rest of the Dream Team’ers and their teams. LeBron never made it the finals with hand check rule, and watch Detroit highlights. They committed real crimes on the floor. Take the BEST 8 years of Lebron, and slap that over the other Greats, that’s a true comparison
Steph Curry could not survive against the Pistons. This was the meat grinder. He's not on MJs level, nobody is.
anybody who watches these types of videos knows this. so there is no point for you to bring that up.
Are you so sure of everything?
Ryan Chinn no, but i am sure of this.
I am pretty sure that Curry can't shoot that well against defense like this. I have my reason. Check out the stat in recent 5 years of the NBA, average FG% keeps going up. If you compare today's league to 10 years ago, today's league is very very soft.
Every stars just like have a boost on their stat especially on offense side nowadays if compare to 5 or 8 years ago.
I don't even need to mention 1995-2004, those years were very tough on defense.
Curry is probably the greatest shooter I've ever seen, but yes Jordan was a better all around guard.
Watching this footage you cant help disliking the bad boy pistons. Its a miracle he didn't get a career ending injury from these series. Its insane to think the 6 rings followed 3 brutal loses to this team. He could've won at least another ring if the pistons didn't resort to playing unsportsmanlike. And he shook the pistons hand every year despite all of it. Jordan is the greatest not just because of the 6 rings, but he did it after enduring all of this. No one like him.
I think one of the Main objectives was not to contain Mj points wise. But to shut down his playmaking and frustrate him to turn him into a ballhog
The Celtics did the same thing with Wilt.
Why Bulls were able to overcome the Bad Boys (in my opinion):
1. The emergence of Scottie Pippen as a superstar (this somehow does not get talked about enough)
2. Age caught up to the Pistons
3. Triangle Offense (ball/player movement got teammates involved; also made it tougher to double MJ)
4. Rule changes
5. It was Bulls' time (much like it was The Pistons' time when they finally overcame the Celtics)
+Kimani Gregoire and the bulls were armed with deadly shooters like bj and craig hodges.
Well said Kamani, good observations.
Points 1, 2 and 4 are not true.
Pippen was never a superstar until he peaked out in the mid 90s. He was only selected into All-NBA First Teams three times in his whole career and he wasn't even selected as an All-Star at 97-98, the year they won their last championship. Even at '94 with MJ, Thomas, Bird, Magic out of the picture and with guys like D.Wilkins, Barkley, Price on the decline due to injuries, Pippen was probably only the 5th or 6th best player in the league. Olajuwon, Shaq, Robinson, Malone, Ewing were clearly better at 1994 and Barkley was arguably better as well even though he was on the decline. Most of these players were still better players than Pippen even during the next few seasons down the line.
Jordan's teammates finally stepped up for the first 6 games of the 1990 ECF against the eventual 1990 champion Pistons (number 1 defense), and the series was tied 3-3
- In Game 7, Jordan put up 31-9-8 on 48%, and also held Isiah Thomas to 41% shooting. Jordan also went up against DPOY Rodman, who can actually guard 1-5, in this series as well as Dumars
- However the rest of Jordan's teammates played garbage in Game 7. The only teammate of Jordan's in double figures was Horace Grant with 10 pts on 3-17 (18%) shooting. Pippen finished with 2 pts 4 rebs 2 ast on 1-10 shooting
- Dennis Rodman actually outscored every teammate of Jordan's, and did it more efficiently with 13 pts on 6-7 shooting.
- While Jordan shot 48%, no other notable teammate (benchwarmers in garbage time don't count) shot better than 33.3%.
1) Even with home court advantage, Larry Bird's Celtics lost to Patrick Ewing's Knicks in the first round. Jordan's Bulls never lost to Patrick Ewing's Knicks in 5 playoff meetings, even with a 6 seed Bulls team in 1989.
For those claiming that this Celtics team was washed up, Bird was 1 rpg and 1 apg shy of a triple double, and McHale, Parish, and Lewis all played very well offensively. This wasn't the same Celtics team of the 80s. but they were still expected to beat the Knicks.
2) Magic Johnson and Kareem lost to a 40-42 Rockets team in the first round of the playoffs after winning the championship in 1980. Larry Bird's first championship came against that same 40-42 Rockets team. Jordan never lost a series with home court advantage like Bird, Magic, and Kareem did, and never lost to a team lower than a number 2 seed like Bird, Magic, and Kareem also did.
3) The 80s Lakers never beat a team with a great center. Parish is only in the Hall of Fame because of Bird - he never made the playoffs in a season without Bird unless he was playing under 20 mpg off the bench. The 80s Lakers lost to Moses twice (1981 and 1983), and against Hakeem (1986), going a combined 2-10 in playoff games against them. These were the only times the 80s Lakers played a top 10 all-time center in a playoff series.
4) Larry Bird in 1983 got swept by Sidney Moncrief and Paul Pressey's Bucks in the second round. That was even when Bird had a stacked lineup up of Robert Parish, Finals MVP Cedric Maxwell, and Kevin McHale. As a rookie, Jordan had an 8 seed Bulls team of Orlando Woolridge and Quintin Dailey as his best options. He still managed to win one game against Moncrief and Pressey's Bucks in the first round even though Bird had the much, much more stacked team.
5) In 1990, Magic Johnson's Lakers had a top 7 defense and offense and the best record in the league. Magic also won MVP that year. Even then, Magic lost to a 5 seed Suns team led by Kevin Johnson and no Charles Barkley in only 5 games.
Jordan ended up beating a Suns team with Kevin Johnson as well as the MVP Charles Barkley in the 1993 Finals.Every single team that Jordan lost to in the playoffs after his rookie year made the NBA Finals, something you can't say about the 1983 Bucks, 1990 Suns, or 1990 Knicks.6) Larry Bird and Magic Johnson never swept the Bad Boy Pistons, which Jordan did in 1991. Not only that, but Bird and Magic never played the Pistons when they had the number 1 defense in the league, nor when Dennis Rodman won DPOY like the Pistons did in 1991.
7) Magic Johnson could not even win one game against the 1989 Pistons in the NBA Finals before his injury, even after his team went 11-0 in the Western Conference.
Jordan's 6 seed Bulls were the only team that won a game against the 1989 Pistons, which they did twice
Detroit Pistons (Back to back NBA Champs with the number 1 defense in the league)
- The 91 Pistons had the number 1 defense in the league, and Dennis Rodman was DPOY for the second year in a row.
- Isiah's injury is not an excuse, because Isiah already played almost 50 games in the season and had played through injuries before, such as the 1989 Finals. Isiah also averaged almost 12 apg in the first round of the playoffs this year against Dominique Wilkins' Hawks.
- and if you are going to use Isiah's injury as an excuse, Jordan must be given extra credit for winning with an injured Toni Kukoc (1996 ECSF), Ron Harper (1996 Finals) and Scottie Pippen (1997/98 season and 1998 Finals)- This Pistons team was still good enough to sweep the Celtics with Reggie Lewis and McHale playing very well
- People claim this team was weakened by the flagrant foul rule, but they ended up with the number 1 defense in the league for the second year in a row and with Rodman winning DPOY again, even after the introduction of that rule. Clearly the myth that the introduction of this rule hurt the Pistons is far from true. The Pistons actually allowed less PPG in 1990/91 than they did in 1989/90.
- For those who still doubt the 1991 Pistons defense, they shut down Dominique Wilkins to 21 ppg on 37% after 26 ppg on 47% in the regular season in the first round of the playoffs. Joe Dumars was 27 years old, Rodman was 29 years old so was Thomas. John Salley was 26 years old. They were far from being an old team when their 3 of their key players were in their primes and under 30 years of age.
Los Angeles Lakers
- The Lakers were still a great team, and they were not washed up like people think, though not as great as the 80s Lakers.
- Former Finals MVP James Worthy was playing with an ankle injury, but he still put up 19-3-2 on 48%, which was not far off from his playoff and season averages. Considering he was doing that against a top defense like the Bulls, it shows no indication that he wasn't playing well. By the time Worthy missed Game 5, the series was already over with the Bulls up 3-1
- James Worthy broke his leg and missed all of the 1983 playoffs, but nobody tries to discredit Moses Malone's 1983 victory over the Lakers in the Finals.
- The Lakers didnt have Kareem, but Kareem was a minor contributor on the 1988 and 1989 Lakers team. They were still a great team even with Kareem having a minimal impact.
- Vlade Divac in the 1991 Finals played much, much better than a faded Kareem did in in the 1988 and 1989 Finals. He was more than enough to offset the loss of a fading 88-89 Kareem (not a prime Kareem obviously)
- Kareem 1988 Finals - 13-4-1 on 41%, 0.6 spg, 1 bpg
- Kareem 1989 Finals - 12.5-5-2 on 44%, 0.5 spg, 1 bpg
- Kareem 1982 Finals - 18-8-4 on 53%, 1.3 spg, 3.2 bpg
- Divac 1991 Finals - 18-9-2 on 57%, 1.8 spg, 2.4 bpg Divac in 1991 actually played at practically the same level that Kareem did for the 1982 Finals
- This is the same Vlade Divac who was a key piece of the Kings that nearly ended the 2000-02 Lakers 3peat chances. Somehow only in Jordan's era is he considered part of a weak team
- Magic Johnson averaged 12.5 apg in the NBA Finals and regular season. Since then, no player outside of John Stockton has matched those numbers in the regular season, and Stockton never reached that assist output after the 1993/94 season.
- and no player besides Magic Johnson has ever reached 12 apg in the NBA Finals
- No player since 1991 has even reached 10 apg in the Finals, and no player in the 2000s has reached 12 apg in a season.
- Magic had averaged a triple double in the 1991 WCSF against the Warriors, dropping 26-10-13.
- If Magic Johnson was washed up at this point, then that only shows how vastly superior Jordan's era was compared to the 2000s, since a "washed up" Magic Johnson was a far better distributor and all-around player than any PG of the 2000s.
- This Lakers team beat the same Blazers team in 1991 that the Pistons had to beat in 1990 to win the championship, so they were far from washed up.- When the Pistons beat the Lakers in 1989, Magic Johnson played a combined 5 minutes in the last 2 games of the Finals due to injury. Yet people try to discredit the Bulls' 1991 championship?
+Jun Hee Ho how fucking long did that take probably longer than it takes me to do my homework
+Jun Hee Ho pippen was not an allstar the 97-98 season because of injuries, there was no way he couldve made the all star team that season as he was gone that whole half of the year
You think LeBron flop and cry a lot now? let him play during this era.
The one He wouldnt have made it , Thats the reality . Just the ghost of jordan gives him nightmares.
Lebron would rather be a hollywood actor for sure.
*actress
I love everything about the Jordan Rules because it shows a lot of teamplay. People complained about the hard fouls but that was only when he got free, the rest was a lot of cerebral teamwork.
Little did the Pistons know they were helping a GOAT in the making
NBA owe it to Detroit Bad Boys. The greatest dynasty of all time.
This is the stuff that made Jordan even better...they were instrumental in the developing of an absolute monster...the absolute monster...THE GOAT MICHAEL JORDAN.
This is why Lebron goat debate is nothing more than media hype. Your journey contributes to who you are. MJ was enduring the Pistons. Lebron was forming superteams. It's clear as day, that Lebron is fabricated, while MJ is organic.
@@meg-k-waldren exactly. The NBA attempted to make/create LeBron as the next evolution and poster boy of the NBA. Steroids and super teams and complete support and hype from the refs and announcers. LeBron was absolutely a manufactured product designed by the NBA system. And sti he struggled to win 4 rings...one has a fix conspiracy attached and the other was during a shortened pseudo season. He was never once truly the best player in the league. It was Kobe or KD or Curry or Westbrook always. Kobe showed him up in the all star game when LeBron was hyped as the best. LeBron led the Olympic team and lost the Gold for the United States. Kobe had to come and lead the team and of course they then took Gold. Michael Jordan is the GOAT for probably hundreds of reasons. The GOAT debate may be fun to argue when looking at guys like Wilt and Kareem and Kobe and Magic Johnson but there really is no debate and putting LeBron in there is just blasphemy.
@@ryublueblankahaha u have an imaginary friends
He was still getting zoned while it was supposed to be illegal. Incredible.
Comparing MJ to any player in today's NBA is blasphemy
a good defense is a dirty defense. basketball is still a contact sport.
Truer words haven't been spoken
aegis 123 yep. Play hard or go home.
aegis 123 strongly agree
aegis 123 not now it isn't....its powder puff compared to then
I played basketball throughout my childhood until High School and man... after awhile of playing you learn how insanely fun defense can actually be when you can stick to your man the entire game and take him out. It's a different style of game at that point though and it's not much fun for the spectators 'til a fight breaks out.
God. I wished we had awesome sport intros like they did back in the day.
THIS IS GONNA SOUND SILLY, BUT I APPLIED THE JORDAN RULES STRAT WHEN PLAYING NBA 2K12 GAME. WHEN YOU REANCT THE PISTONS VS BULLS GAME IN LEGENDS. I PUT MAHORN SALLEY RODMAN AND LAMBEER ON THE FLOOR CONSTANTLY. MAN TO MAN WITH RODMAN GUARDING JORDAN. NOT LETTING JORDAN RUN THE BASELINE AND DOUBLE AND TRIPLE TEAMING HIM EVERY TIME HE GOT THE BALL. AND IT WORKED. MY PISTONS USING THIS STRAT MANAGED TO HOLD CPU JORDAN TO JUST 20 POINTS AND WE WON BY 20 POINTS. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL.
Scottie Pippen was the X-FACTOR. 😅😅😅
His growth and development was a GAME-CHANGER.
The more you age the more you will appreciate the Bad Boy Pistons and those Championships back-to-back, sandwiched in between the Celtics, Lakers, and Bulls
Bill Laimbeer said it best they knew he would shoot...shoot shoot and not pass. He finally learned to pass.
Jordan rules: trying to actually kill him.
Spurs strategy against lebron: daring him to shoot
Lebron was facing the new school Pistons not the old school Pistons like MJ. I remember watching MJ game on tv. Pistons was trying to hurt him bad. When land on his back and move his head in a awkward way. So he wouldn't landed on the back on his head. They even kick him in the groin area. Pistons were doing MJ dirty on the floor. New school Pistons don't treat LeBron the same way. These rules were really try to knock out MJ out the NBA for good. Thomas know what he was doing. that's why he wasn't on the team with MJ. He the one made up the jordan rules.
@breadandcircuses8127. No, MJ became unstoppable, when you couldn’t tackle him.
The Pistons abused Jordan for year's. They made him tougher. The league hated the Pistons but when Boston did their walkoff the media said nothing m
Jordan decides to drive to the basket
Bad Boy Pistons: “So you have chosen death”
Single joint hits like elbows, knees, little kicks and punches here and there in the middle of chaos were their secret. But multiple joint grabbing, pushing to the ground, or multiple teaming like holding from the waist while someone else jumped and sat on his neck were "obvious" stuff, no secret here. In short, large teamwork to create chaos in the paint is non-secret, all the dirty little moves you do inside the chaos is secret. Possible conversations in the locker room like "Imma break his leg again," "first let's try kicking his nuts harder" are secrets too.
I admire MJ for his anger control even more than his basketball talents.
Jordan shattered those rules in '91 and that team never won again! Swept the Pistons off their home court... the rules only worked for the Detroit their 2 championship years because they had a better team. Once the Bulls became the "Bulls" they won 3 straight twice. Detroit really created the Dominant Greatest Player ever in Micheal Jordan by making him earn it so hard! Amazing stories!
07:39 .. that little hidden punch by Rodman..There are so many of those little hidden dirty plays involved it's unreal :). I like it though. Is it they way basketball was meant to be played? Propably not but I love the gritty and dirty style and how they gave everything in order to win. I remember in the Pistons 30 for 30 documentary one of the guys saying "I'd give my left leg and my unborn son's left leg for this ring." A little extreme? Yes, maybe. But imagine going to the hole against a guy like that in comparison to let's say a Roy Hibbert. Those are the differences I think that count the most..not those statistics they bring up all the time.
Crazy that Rodman could guard MJ and Shaq both successfully
He never guarded MJ successfully
He didn’t guard Hakeem successfully, matter of fact he couldn’t stop him
And by guarding MJ successfully, you mean he still gets 27, but his shooting percentage drops a couple
Rodman forced Jordan into 6 fouls in the 4th quarter of a game in 1989 but why let facts get in the way of your monumental retardation
Pistons were old in 90-91?? Thomas was 29, dumars 27, Rodman 29. Jordan was 27. They were all around the same age. The pistons being old is a dumb argument.
Deep playoff runs
@@versatiletitan2466 still not old, the reason they were swept is because jordan made the team hit the gym, and they could not be assaulting players anymore.
that being old thing was just excuses bad boy pistons specially isiah and lamebeer(laimbeer), they were freaking ashamed that MJ and the bulls beat thier butts off real hard, lol!
Isiah Thomas was injured much of that season, but the Bulls still would've won even if he hadn't been, though it may or may not have been in a 4 game sweep. 1991 was the 5th straight year that got past the ECSF to the ECF, and to the Finals 3 of those 5 years. Overtime, I do think they didn't have as much energy, as they had in previous years, because they were playing many post season games, in addition to 82 regular season games.
They was done end of debate
08:00 Watch that shove by Rodman. He just flat out punches Jordan to the ground while in mid air. Now imagine a normal everyday guy like me doing that...that's already annoying and dangerous. But that's Dennis Rodman, one beast of an athlete. :D
no punch....and the 'shove' wasn't a shove just a touch for the most part....rodman was a versatile defender though
@@davemerkury Yeah punch is propably the wrong word. There is another scene of him punching him mid air while he's getting clubbered by other Pistons though. :)
@@airtime23 now thats not to say a punch didn't during the game though lol....
MJ was probably satisfied to have rodman do that to others once he joined the bulls
Bad boys, Magic-Bird, Drexler, Kemp-Payton, Sir Charles, Reggie, Knicks, Stockton-Malone,etc. Tough Road yet able to get 2 3-peats. Truly the goat.
@Lighthouse in the Storm well that's what happened- deal with it, live with it hommie. Ciao.
The Bad Boys went through Bird, Jordan, and Magic in the same YEAR.
Over the years since posting this video that I produced and edited in 2014, I have watched 1500+ comments in the thread and over 500k+ views. Some comments are just random rants and others are scientific analyses by people that really know the game.
Yesterday, I had a comment come into my mind as to why MJ is the greatest player to ever play the game and I wanted to share it. Here it is:
No one will ever be better than Michael Jordan not because of skill, but because the league will never be better than Michael Jordan. In his era ‘Michael Jordan’ became ‘the league’ and ‘the league’ became ‘Michael Jordan’. They mutually reached the top of their game at the same time. Sponsorship was just coming of age, players were just starting to get paid big money, and yet the heart of the sport was still intact with greed only waiting in the wings. You still had to earn your rank. You still had to fight your way to the top physically and you couldn't run off with a million in sponsorship dollars on your first year. Sports have declined greatly since then and players by in large have sold out. The NBA, NFL, and the MBL are now just games played on a stage of money. Players get deals before they even hit the court and the dollar has usurped the heart of the game long ago.
So the answer to the question of "why no one could beat MJ" is not because of skill, but because no one can compete with the era and the trajectory of growth both he and the league went through at that time while still maintaining the heart of the game.
Painfully, I seldom watch a modern game with the charade of politics, money, fame, and fortune that surround the now circus of players.
Great comment!
“We re all go with him” danm
Anyone old superstars playing on this modern girlie NBA era could have easily win a lot more rings
I truly loved watching, studying Basketball in that era.
here after the new episodes.. gahdamn Detroit literally trying to shut down Jordan lol
My whole life I always truly believe Lebron was better than mj but after watching this I now know Lebron will always be the second best of all time mj is truly the all time goat 😣🙄 and it's only because it's like the pistons fucked around and pushed him so hard nearly killing him and it unlocked a new transformation in mj so he the first nigga to go super sayain LMAO 😂😂 .
1.mj
2lebron
Kinda remind me of the giannis wall , which is why I was happy when he found out how to play around it
15:13 for Pistons handshake with Jordan
Lol good one
Even with the "Jordan Rules" he still dominated... GOAT
This's HOW FUKN GREAT HE IS!... HES BIGGER THAN THE TEAM/ NBA! You really got to ADMIRE how it was back then! These teams would slaughter today's teams! It's rugged 100% physical intensive basketball! Teams are literally fighting on every play!
I really think that after the 1989-90 season, Chicago self-scouted, looked at film, during the offseason, and studied hard on how to defeat the Detroit Pistons, know they'd most likely be the team they would face, yet again, in the 1991 playoffs, either in the ECSF, or ECF, depending on how the bracket was drawn. They worked hard offseason, and all the 1990-91 season for the 4th playoff meeting...and a different outcome than the previous three.
The competition was greater in the 80s than it was in the 90s... Boston, LA and Detroit got old and Jordan was the NBAs new product for the 90s ...
No, the Piston’s became obsolete, when they could no longer play dirty. Pulling a person down in mid air is nothing to brag about. You actually had to be a skilled defender in the 90’s.
The Jordan Rules became obsolete after he bulked up and learned to use his bigger body to post up and shoot his patented fade-away. That's an unstoppable move no matter what strategy you use.
The biggest reason was MJs teammates got better, most notably the acquisition of BJ. Isiah could have his way with Paxon but not BJ. BJ was fast, physical, and a feisty defender. I always tell people BJ was the x factor for the Bulls v Pistons.
Michael Jordan didn't have to LEARN to trust his teammates. His teammates needed to grow up and evolve so they could be trusted. He had no one coming into the league.
Simpliest way to explain it is keep Jordan grounded as much as possible and away from the paint
Lol the giannis rules
7:39 Dennis Rodman gave MJ a light punch
lol
was just a tap to the chest
Outstanding video. Well done!
@Bread And Circuses Are you the one that made this video? I would be happy to explain it to you if this is your work.
@Bread And Circuses Doesn't matter I guess. The video was very fair, did not just show a bunch of hard fouls and call them thugs. There was plenty of game film that was longer than the traditional 2 or 3 second clips we are usually shoveled. The right people were interviewed, these guys ABSOLUTELY know what they are talking about. The video showed Jordan REPEATEDLY getting defended without fouling, against the BS modern day narrative. It explained in great detail and accuracy what the "Jordan Rules" were, and they were far more complex and skillful than just knocking him on his ass, as most young punks were taught to believe. Overall, very fair, very in-depth, very educational, and very coherent and well thought-out. Oh, and very objective, a drastic change from the norm. How is that for an answer?
The Pistons (And Phil Jackson) got Michael to realize that he was not going to win an NBA championship by himself. The Pistons taught him that he had to get physically tougher which is why he started weight training for the first time in his life after the series and he learned that he had to start trusting teammates more. Kobe tried to do the same thing and he realized he couldn't do it on his own after shack left and at the organization to go get some stars cuz he needed help and he knew it and then in come Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol.
4:36 "There is Michael Jordan... and Bill Cartwright... The Pistons are in blue, the Bulls are in white." Nice rhymes by commentator :)
They were guarding the living hell out of Jordan… they were taking turns on him.. it was amazing.
They hit the weight room that off-season and then history started
Reminds me of the Iverson rules:
Every Team: Whenever he drives knock him to the floor.
Referees: We only call every 5th foul.
Yeah!!!
If they kept Kukoc Iverson would have had a ring
wow , i would have seen this tough rivalry live.......
Chuck Daly got tired of Jordan scoring "astro points", and came up with "the Jordan Rules".
Wow the bad boy's days I miss them 88-90, I got my picture in the news sport section 8D with Spider Man! BB was so physical in the late 80s and 90s
Yo wtf young Mike had craazy acceleration 🏎 🏎 🏎 🏁
This the era I miss. Grown man sport not today love tap. This is what made Mike tough. Knicks is trying to be like Detroit in the '90s
That wasn't defense that was a street fight! How Jordan wasn't seriously injured is beyond me!
He's tough!
1988 Bulls-Pistons Eastern Conf Semi-Finals, Jordan 27 points, 49% shooting, 8 rebs, 4 assists, 2 steals a game on average (lost)
1989 Bulls-Pistons Eastern Conf Finals, 29 points, 46% shooting, 6 assists, 5 rebs, 2 steals a game (lost)
1990 Bulls-Pistons ECF 32 pts, 46% shooting, 7 rebs, 6 assists, 2 steals/game (lost)
1991 Bulls-Pistons ECF 29 pts, 53% from the field, 7 assists, 5 rebs, 2 steals/game----------Bulls sweep
They made it look like he shot more bricks in the losing series than he did, but the Pistons did drop his shooting % a bit (career 49% shooter).
0:16 that's a point guard getting up there and swatting that shit. That's how you know a team is full of dogs. MJ GOAT
The Jordan rules, administer as much physical pain on this man that you can. MJ still played and overcome them. GOAT.
MJ got beat by them several times.
And those experts truly think Stephen Curry would dominate ??thats laughable
Guilain Nkossi Thank you
Curry would stay on thr injured list.
lmaoooo “If he had to guard isiah god help him”😭😭😭😭🔥🔥
KD leaving to go play for the Warriors is like MJ leaving to play for the Pistons, just a disgrace that makes any accomplishment after the fact unimportant.
Bitch move by KD.
Inspiring. All that beat down mentally and physically made 23 even a better player. If you are going through a bad day, just getting through with a smile means you're strong.. That's why they call him the Jordan of Jordans.