Before the Chicago Bulls began their march to six titles in six NBA Finals, like any young team preparing to become a dynasty, they had to go through some tough losses that later shaped them into champions.
For the Bulls, those were undoubtedly the epic battles against the Detroit Pistons, who eliminated them three straight seasons in the playoffs. Still, one of the key players of the Bulls at the time, Horace Grant, recalled on the UrbanGrindTV podcast the moment when Phil Jackson’s squad finally found its identity.
Advertisement
“We were a young team,” Grant said. “We were getting our ass kicked and it’s like, are you gonna mature as a team or you’re going to stay in that spot getting your ass kicked? And we had a great leader in MJ, Michael Jordan, man.Â
“One of the greatest leaders I have ever played with. Once you mature and know what to do as a team, we knew the sky was the limit then, brother. We felt it. We didn’t like our ass kicked, but it’s growing pains. But once we matured, you can say the rest is damn history,” he added.
After 1991 the Bulls never looked back
Isiah Thomas and the Detroit Pistons had won two NBA titles then, officially taking the mantle from the Boston Celtics as the best team in the East. While it was clear that Chicago, led by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, was on the rise, it wasn’t until after their narrow seven-game loss in 1990 that the Bulls matured to take on the Bad Boys.
Advertisement
In 1991, they swept the Pistons on their way to the Finals, marking the start of their dynasty. Jordan was finally crowned as the best player in the league, and with that momentum, the Bulls never looked back.
Grant described the moment everything began to change earlier when he revealed what made MJ the true GOAT.
“Man, let me tell you, we thought this guy was just the devil,” Grant once said of Jordan on the Scoop B Radio podcast. “When I say the devil, that’s out of respect. In terms of the way he practiced, we thought that we were the Detroit Pistons or the New York Knicks.”Â
Advertisement
“This guy practiced so hard, and if you weren’t on his team in practice, you were his enemy. And that’s how driven this man was, and that’s why you can say that he was the best player that ever played this game,” he added. Â
MJ led by example
Chicago began to find its identity when MJ began leading by example. If you were his teammate at the time, you couldn’t slack off. Jordan realized the rest of the roster wasn’t near his skill level, but he also believed that if they worked as hard as he did, no one could beat them based solely on talent.
Advertisement
He believed that the ultimate goal, the Larry O’Brien Trophy, could be achieved only through hard work. Once the group adopted his mindset, the rest of the league could only fight for second place.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 16, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.