?A Monkey Is Off Our Backs?: Michael Jordan and Bulls Were Accused of ?Strange Things? with Dennis Rodman and Co. Furious with Refs in 1991

The Chicago Bulls and the Detroit Pistons’ butting heads was one of the most entertaining rivalries in the NBA. In the late 80s and the early 90s, the fans got to witness some of the most amazing contests with Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas leading the two sides. Understandably, the games are still talked about to this day and have a permanent place in NBA folklore. Sam Smith’s book The Jordan Rules talked about the battles between the Bulls and the Pistons in detail. This particular extremely physical 1991 game was a concern for Dennis Rodman and the Pistons as many ?strange things? happened while they lost to the Bulls.

In the regular season, the Bulls and Pistons battled heavily, with a lot of fouls. As the game came to an end, the Chicago side left the Pistons in a furious mood.

Michael Jordan and the Bulls’ battle with the Pistons left them angry?

The book The Jordan Rules divulged many interesting tales about the rivalry, like this one. The regular season matchup between the Bulls and the Pistons was particularly physical, with players being ejected. Dennis Rodman and the Detroit Pistons were known to be tough cookies on-court but this never happened.

It all started when an apparent foul on Pistons star Bill Laimbeer by Bill Cartwright led to the latter’s ejection. According to the book The Jordan Rules, Cartwright was ejected without any warnings or technical fouls, something which was unheard of.?

Safe to say, the weak refereeing calls were not good for the game that night. As it would be, something “strange” started to happen as most of the calls went in favor of the Bulls. Mark Aguirre, John Salley, and many others were called for fouls which were debatable. Joe Dumars was called for a foul while he was the victim. All of this made Chuck Daly angry and he started yelling at the referees.

“We’re home, What’s going on?” yelled Daly. The complaints and yells were of no use as the Chicago Bulls emerged victorious by a two-point margin.?The match was contested so heavily that a tired Michael Jordan exclaimed at the end of the game “A monkey is? off our backs.“

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Even though the Bulls might have gotten lucky, Jordan still dropped 30 pts on the night. The Pistons were always a problem for Jordan and co. and in 1991 they decided to put an end to it.

The Bulls facing the Pistons in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals

The Chicago Bulls were irked a lot by the Detroit Pistons. There were a few reasons contributing to it, one being their inability to defeat them.

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But in 1991, the Bulls had enough as they went on to sweep them in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Pistons were so dejected that they even refused to shake hands with their opponents after the game.