Joe Dumars guarded Michael Jordan every time the Detroit Pistons played the Chicago Bulls, and he did a better job at it than almost any other player during Jordan's career. Even Mike acknowledged that Joe was one of the toughest defenders he ever played against.
However, amid their bitter rivalry, Joey D. and MJ turned mutual respect into a blossoming friendship after being teammates on the 1990 Eastern Conference All-Star team
"Our wives talk all the time," Jordan said . "We had an opportunity to play with him at the All-Star Game and see him on the social side. I'd always admired his athletic ability and basketball talent and a good friendship has been built. There's a mutual respect because of the talents we have to put against each other when we play."
"It's hard to compete against a good friend"
The Chicago Tribune article was published on May 23, 1990, after the Pistons took a 2-0 series lead over the Bulls in the 1990 Eastern Conference Finals. Even though Chicago won three out of the next five games, Detroit advanced to the 1990 Finals, where they secured their second straight title after defeating the Portland Trail Blazers.
In 1991, the Bulls finally got over the hump and swept their nemesis in the Eastern Conference Finals en route to the first of what would be six NBA championships. The "Bad Boys" became controversial for not shaking the Bulls' hands in Game 4, with only John Salley, Scott Hastings, and Dumars being the exception.
"It's hard to compete against a good friend. To compete against a good friend, you tend to get a little bit relaxed and joke around little bit too much when you should be serious. But that won't happen because we both are focused on what we have to do for our respective teams," Jordan added.
Related: Julius Erving believes no player is similar to him in the modern NBA: “I was a small forward, but I really played like a power forward”
Dumars was MJ's snitch?
Nothing was said about Dumars' friendship with Jordan during that time. But in 1994, Isiah Thomas spoke to Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press and told him that the Pistons lost their aura of invincibility once Joe got close to Mike, suggesting that his backcourt partner was MJ's snitch on the team .
"Yeah, they got to be friends, so Jordan got to get inside our inner workings and find out who was who and what made this guy tick. When you look back on it, you see the games that he played in the media and how he moved that guy and moved that guy. It was masterful," Thomas said . "I don't want to say that's the reason why they beat us, but all of a sudden, we weren't the big bad bear anymore. And when you're not the big bad bear, they say, 'OK, I'll go in and take this layup.'"
Was there any truth to Isiah's words? It's hard to tell. However, the fact is Jordan shot 53.3 percent against the Pistons during the 1990-91 regular season and 53.5 percent in the 1991 playoffs, both his best marks against the "Bad Boys."
Related: Joe Dumars shares why Michael Jordan never trash-talked him during their matchups: ”We never said a negative word to each other on the court”
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