NBA all-time great Michael Jordan won six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls. However, earlier in his career, he was not able to achieve team success even though he was arguably great individually. A young Jordan racked up individual accolades but could not win a title. In the latter parts of the 1980s, the Detroit Pistons were a huge roadblock for the Bulls.

The Pistons were the best team in the league and MJ struggled against them. NBA veteran John Salley won four titles in his career. Interestingly, he won two with the Pistons, one with the Bulls, and one with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Salley was on the ‘Bad Boys’ Pistons team that gave Jordan so much trouble and then went on to play with him. Just like another teammate Dennis Rodman. In one of the episodes of ‘The Rich Eisen Show’, John Salley was a guest where he talked about a variety of things including the Pistons.

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During the talk, Eisen asked how good will it be if there is a show about the Detroit Pistons like ‘Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.’ And Salley said that it would be great with all the players they had at the time.

Michael Jordan vs. the ‘Bad Boys’

Salley then proceeded to say that the Pistons could have run the Chicago Bulls to the ground had they known they were in the heads of the Bulls players. He said, “I found this out when I was watching Michael Jordan’s ‘Last Dance’. If we knew we were in their head as much as we were in their head, you would never have heard about Michael Jordan. We would have run that into the ground!”?

The Pistons selected Salley and Rodman in the 1986 NBA draft. Interestingly, Salley was selected in the first round and Rodman in the second. Their addition gave much-required depth to an already strong team. And they started winning games.

During that period of time, Michael Jordan was in his prime. However, the Bulls were no match for Isiah Thomas and the Pistons. In the playoffs, the Bulls could not move past their rivals. And the Pistons went on to win two straight titles in 1989 and 1990.

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The Detroit Pistons earned their nickname ‘Bad Boys’ because of their physical defensive style. There were no easy buckets against that team. Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls had to fight for every point.

The Pistons also used their infamous ‘Jordan Rules’ to contain him. However, MJ and the Bulls finally broke free in 1991 and then went on to clinch their first NBA championship. And then they went on to achieve their first of two three-peats.