Prelude to the Dance: The Bad Boys present MJ and the Bulls toughest climb to the top of the NBA
After a tremendous start to the Last Dance the previous Sunday, parts three and four of the 30 for 30 on the Chicago Bulls debut on Sunday night. The first two parts helped build a solid foundation and backstory into the tumultuous relationships within the Bulls franchise.
On Sunday, the 30 for 30 will take a deep dive into the Pistons-Bulls rivalry that helped shape not only Michael Jordan’s legacy. It will also profile perhaps the NBA’s most interesting player ever, Dennis Rodman. Here’s what to look out for on Sunday starting at 6 p.m. on ESPN.
What could be best described as a defensive strategy by Detroit to neutralize Michael Jordan turned into NBA lore in the late 1980s. Before MJ had his first run of championships, he had to contend with the Pistons as both teams were trying to take the torch from the Celtics and Lakers for NBA supremacy. After struggling with Jordan in the playoffs, the Pistons developed a plan to rough up Jordan and it became known as the Jordan rules.
This defensive game plan became stuff of legend as it helped Jordan realize that he needed to start hitting the weight room, depend on his teammates more and those teammates growing up themselves. That period of growth helped spark a rivalry and beef that lasts to this very day. Even in the lead up to the debut of the “The Last Dance”, Isiah Thomas has been interested in how he’ll be portrayed.
Isiah Thomas: from hero to villain
Born in Chicago, one of the greatest basketball players to come from the city and by the end of the decade you are the chief villain and rival to the team you grew up watching. That happened with Isiah Thomas as he helped lead the Detroit Pistons battling the Bulls in the 80s and 90s. Although names like Mahorn, Laimbeer, and Rodman were more combative to Jordan-led Bulls, it was Isiah’s cunning and somewhat vengeful attitude towards Jordan is what stands out today.
On Sunday, I’d expect to hear about the following in “The Last Dance”...
-MJ’s “freeze out” in the 1985 All Star Game, rumored to have been led by Thomas.
-Isiah Thomas’ desire to play for the Bulls and actually tanked interviews with teams ahead of the Bulls in the 1981 NBA Draft order.
-Perhaps the most interesting dynamic of the Isiah Thomas factor is him not being on the 1992 Dream Team. Did Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan help engineer a movement to keep Thomas off the team?
The Worm
Another one of those factors in the Bulls-Pistons rivalries is Dennis Rodman, the Piston-turned Bull was a key part of the second three-peat in the 90s. The trials of Dennis Rodman as a Bull are legendary. From kicking a cameraman, wearing a wedding dress to a book signing and then there was the time he left the Bulls to join the NWO in WCW.
I’m sure we’ll find out a ton more on Rodman’s run with the Bulls this evening starting at 6 p.m. on ESPN.
This story was originally published April 26, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
