Along his journey to conquer the NBA, Michael Jordan had some of the best supporting cast. Sharing the same goal and desire to win, Dennis Rodman was one of the most important pieces for His Airness. However, there was a time these two couldn’t look each other in the eye. In an interview, Jordan gave light to his insane rivalry with the “Bad Boys”, the Detroit Pistons.

A rivalry that comes back even to this day,  a battle of egos went on between the Chicago Bulls and the Detroit Pistons. The Bad Boys of the NBA were no joke. Moreover, they weren’t afraid to let their dirty side take control. Jordan went through an assault in his early days. However, the losses didn’t rattle him. The hard days motivated Jordan to get into the gym.

It was the tough side of the Bulls that the Pistons just couldn’t break through. In addition, MJ and his crew weren’t afraid to give it back to them.

How Michael Jordan agitated Dennis Rodman

Before his stellar run with MJ, Rodman was skying for rebounds in Detroit. He represented the Bad Boys with a motive to break down Jordan. The Worm arguably put the five-time MVP through the mud for three years in a row. However, it was only a matter of time before the competitive fire in Michael Jordan taught the Detroit Pistons a lesson. In his interview with Playboy, MJ spoke about the time he took the challenge head-on. And Rodman didn’t like any form of abuse from his to-be teammate.

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Jordan detailed saying, “Rodman, I said, ‘Rodman, best defensive player? Jump your ass over here if you think you’re the best defensive player in the league.’ And that irritated the hell out of him.” He elaborated, “I’m trying to knock the hell out of Rodman. I’m telling Scottie to bring him off the screen—boom, I knock him. Rodman got pi**ed off because we were doing the same s**t that he would do. I knew I was getting to him.”

The Detroit Pistons were by far the biggest enemies of the Chicago Bulls at the time. However, it was all about to change. In 1991, the Bulls overcame their biggest challenge to date. Likewise, it gave berth to one of the NBA’s most iconic dynasties.

No one believed the Bulls could ever get past the Pistons. However, after getting physically stronger, there was no stopping Jordan and the Bulls. It took them just four games to make the Bad Boys go home in the Eastern Conference Finals. Jordan averaged nearly 30 points while putting his defense all over the back-to-back champs.

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For the Chicago Bulls, it was a win that began the story of their legend. And for the eventual six-time NBA champion, the path to becoming one of the most lethal winners in sports had finally come across.