It is widely acknowledged that Michael Jordan ’s animosity towards Detroit ‘Bad Boys’ Pistons persists to this day, stemming from the highly aggressive tactics they used to contain him in the late ‘80s. While most might be aware that the Pistons were a threat to the Chicago Bulls’ aspirations of reaching deep into the playoffs during those years, especially after implying their ‘Jordan Rules’ in place, a lesser-known fact is the moment from when coach Chuck Daly grew tired of MJ single-handedly beating his team. As a result, he devised a plan to make sure His Airness was stopped at all costs.
Jordan torched the Pistons on Easter Sunday
After Scottie Pippen joined the Bulls in 1987, they started to look like a more comprehensive unit, capable of making it past the first round in the playoffs. That season, Detroit and Chicago were set to face off six times in the regular season. While the Bad Boys won the first two in OT, the Bulls bounced back to win the third game behind Jordan’s stellar 36-point performance.
Then, the Pistons beat Mike & Co. in both their matchups in February, with their last face-off being in April. However, on the day of Eastern Sunday (April 03, ‘88), His Airness delivered a jaw-dropping 59-point performance against the Pistons in Detroit to lead the Bulls to a 112-110 win. Recognizing the growing threat posed by the Bulls, Coach Daly understood the need to contain Mike to dominate his team in a regular season, especially after he averaged more than 38 points per game against them.
So, before their potential matchup in the playoffs, Chuck was hellbent on devising a more structured plan.
"We made up our minds right then and there that Michael Jordan was not going to beat us by himself again," Daly said . " We had to commit to a total team concept to get it done."
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The ‘Jordan Rules’ were formed
As a result, Daly and his assistant coaches devised a set of principles specifically tailored to contain the 1985 ROY. These principles, which were later known as ‘Jordan Rules,’ involved implementing perimeter double-teams, a combination of aggressive traps and help-and-recover maneuvers, and, most importantly, employing triple-teams whenever Mike attempted to charge his way toward the rim.
The effectiveness of this strategy became evident when the Bulls encountered the Pistons in the second round of the playoffs. Although Jordan maintained a series-high scoring average of 27.4 points per game, it was a significant reduction from his extraordinary 45.2-point average in the first-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Ultimately, Mike getting buckets the hard way wasn’t enough to single-handedly lead the Bulls past the Pistons, as the series saw the latter reach the conference finals after closing out the series in five games.
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