Bill Laimbeer revealed that the Detroit Pistons didn't shake hands with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls when they were swept in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals because they had personal issues with them. In an interview with SLAM's Alan Paul in 2010, the two-time champion opened up about the infamous moment.
" No, I have no regrets. They had said some things about us personally over the course of a year and a half in the papers. Not stuff about us as players, but personally, and we weren't going to forget or ignore that. And time has shown that we were true champions, and they didn't treat us all as kindly, " Laimbeer said.
The infamous Pistons walk off
With the premiere of Jordan's documentary "The Last Dance" in April 2020, the Pistons' infamous walk off was highlighted, which made it a huge talking point amongst basketball fans. The six-time champion described what Bill, Isiah Thomas , and the rest of the "Bad Boys" did as classless, which painted them as the villains of the Bulls' dynasty run.
"We shook their hands when they beat us. There's a certain respect to the game that we paid to them. That's sportsmanship, no matter how much it hurts, and believe me, it f**** hurt," Jordan said in episode four of "The Last Dance."
But now apparently, we learned from Laimbeer that the reason why the Pistons didn't do it was because they felt disrespected by the Bulls throughout that season. In fact, Zeke also said that what the walk off the Pistons did wasn't unusual , as they wanted to give way to the Bulls to celebrate the fact that they finally got over the hump.
Still, as Jordan said, that's not an excuse to avoid accepting defeat and moving on. In fact, even if the Bulls felt disrespected by the Pistons prior to 1991, that didn't stop them from showing sportsmanship.
"All you can do is wish them good luck. We fought hard. They were the better team. We went to a seven-game series. What more can you ask for. We wanna be where they are. We still gotta wait our turn. We are still trying to improve our team. They were the better team, and they played better today," Mike said after losing Game 7 of the ECF.
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Jordan thinks the Pistons were embarrassed
MJ believes that the Pistons walked off the floor not because they felt disrespected or wanted to give way to the Bulls to celebrate but rather because they were embarrassed to lose to them, especially after beating them in 1989 and 1990.
"That's why they walked off the court. We embarrassed them. To sweep them four times, it was embarrassing. Defending champions, embarrassing. It was like good overriding evil," Jordan said in an interview with Playboy Magazine in 1992.
"Isiah Thomas is the president of our players' association, and yet he is going to orchestrate that unsportsmanlike conduct? Three years in a row, I pushed myself to shake their hands and wish them luck and told them to bring the championship back to the Eastern Conference."
Even though it's been 33 years and counting since this moment happened, it seems both sides will never really make peace with it. Laimbeer and Thomas believe their reasons for not shaking hands were justified, while Michael and the Bulls think these reasons are merely an excuse to hide their embarrassment.
We can only theorize who was right or wrong because, after all, this is what happens in a historic rivalry consisting of two teams that hate each other.
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