“Every single time that we eliminated them, Mike found me, shook my hand” – Joe Dumars says it’s a myth Michael Jordan never showed sportsmanship originally appeared on Basketball Network.
It’s one of the NBA’s most recycled images.
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The Detroit Pistons walking off the court in 1991, refusing to shake hands after Michael Jordan’s Bulls finally toppled them. For decades, that moment was framed as the definitive grudge match, the symbol of bad blood between two dynasties.
But every myth has cracks. And according to Joe Dumars, the stoic backbone of the Bad Boys, not everything was as cold as it seemed.
Jordan vs Pistons
The Jordan-Pistons rivalry was real and tough. The Pistons had taken three straight playoff series from the Bulls between 1988 and 1990 and each time, they sent Jordan packing with bruises and lessons. But what few saw, what almost never made it into the headlines was the respect that still flickered beneath the body checks.
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“I can just tell you, every single time that we eliminated them, Mike found me, shook my hand and just whispered to me, ‘Tough battle, great battle Joe, good luck in the final,” Dumars recalled.
It perhaps wasn’t for cameras, but the kind of subtle moment that belonged to the players, not the press. And it didn’t happen once. It happened every time Detroit closed the door on Chicago’s title dreams, from the Eastern Conference semis in 1988 to the brutal back-to-back Conference finals in 1989 and 1990.
Jordan, already averaging over 30 points per game in the postseason, had his body worn down and his psyche tested by Detroit’s infamous Jordan Rules, a defensive scheme that turned artistry into warfare. But even in those losses, Dumars says Jordan always found him, quietly, respectfully.
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It reframes the narrative. The villainy often painted on the Pistons’ side wasn’t one-dimensional and Jordan’s competitiveness didn’t eclipse his sportsmanship. It made for the perfect story and the media made sure to paint the story that Jordan had immense hatred for the Pistons.
The walk off that won’t die
The infamous walkoff in Game 4 of the 1991 Eastern Conference finals was the moment that sealed Detroit’s villain legacy. The Bulls had finally broken through, sweeping the Pistons and clearing their last major obstacle on the road to the first of six championships. In the final seconds, most of the Pistons left the bench and walked past the Bulls’ sideline without offering handshakes.
It became the enduring symbol of Detroit’s bitterness. But even that story, Dumars says, isn’t complete. He approached Jordan the same way the Bulls icon always did years earlier.
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“When we were walking off, I stopped, said the same thing to him,” Dumars said.
While others, most famously Isiah Thomas and Bill Laimbeer, charged ahead without a glance back, Dumars paused. He sought Jordan, just as Jordan had once sought him. The Pistons’ exit, framed as classless, was in part a reaction to the shifting tides in the league, an era closing, a narrative already being written before the final buzzer.
But Dumars, consistent to the last, upheld a personal standard. His relationship with Jordan was built on mutual respect forged in postseason wars, not media optics. And while history has largely chosen its heroes and villains, the reality is different.
Between 1988 and 1991, the Bulls and Pistons met in the playoffs four straight times. Detroit held the early upper hand, but it came at a cost, a relentless effort to suppress one of the league’s most transcendent talents.
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And when Jordan finally broke through, he didn’t stop winning.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 9, 2025, where it first appeared.