Michael Jordan cried on the team bus with his father after the Chicago Bulls lost to the Detroit Pistons in the 1990 NBA Eastern Conference Finals.
The Bulls lost to the Pistons in seven hard-fought games.
“We had a chance to beat ’em,” Jordan said in The Last Dance. “We just didn’t respond. We got to that hill, we almost looked over the hill. I was devastated. I was absolutely devastated. I cried on the bus. My father came on and said, ‘Look, it’s just one game. Bounce back, come back next year.'”
The Pistons beat the Bulls in the second round of the 1988 playoffs and the 1989 and 1990 conference finals. Detroit created “The Jordan Rules,” a four-step plan to prevent Jordan from scoring and the tactics worked.
Former Pistons coach Brendan Malone explained what “The Jordan Rules” were in “The Last Dance.” Detroit didn’t want Jordan to go baseline and wanted him to go left instead of right. The Pistons were also going to trap Jordan every time he got the ball in the post and knock him to the ground when he got into the paint.
“The Jordan Rules” pushed Jordan to hit the weights and get stronger. The NBA icon put on about 15 pounds of muscle in the summer of 1990 with the help of famous trainer Tim Grover and was ready to dish out pain to the Pistons instead of receiving it.
The Bulls and Pistons squared off in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals. Jordan was mentally and physically stronger after working with Grover and finally beat his arch-nemesis.
Chicago swept Detroit in the conference finals behind Jordan, who averaged 29.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 7.0 assists. The Bulls never reacted to any of the Pistons’ dirty fouls and remained focused on playing basketball.
In the fourth quarter of Game 4 when Dennis Rodman pushed Scottie Pippen to the ground and tried to hurt him on a drive to the hoop. Pippen didn’t retaliate and Jordan loved it.
“When Pippen didn’t respond to that abuse, there was nothing they could do to beat us then,” Jordan said in “The Last Dance.”
The Bulls swept the Pistons to advance to their first NBA Finals. That should have been the main takeaway from the series. However, it wasn’t.
Before Game 4 ended, the Pistons walked off the court and didn’t shake hands with the Bulls. It was a poor display of sportsmanship, especially since Jordan and his teammates shook hands with the Pistons in 1988, 1989 and 1990.
After winning his fifth NBA title in 1997, Jordan told SLAM Magazine that the Pistons’ decision to walk off the court was a typical move by them:
“Typical. We figured the Bad Boys, their whole image,” Jordan said. “You know, we just felt …well, they didn’t have to shake my hand to know we just whipped they ass. Oh, it didn’t bother me because it didn’t surprise us at all, because of the camaraderie and the rivalry that we had against each other.
“I shook [Detroit’s] hands when they beat us. I hated to do it, but out of sportsmanship, you have to pay your respects. And if someone beats us, I’ll do the same.”
More must-reads: