Dennis Rodman still remembers his time with the Detroit Pistons and the rivalry they had with the Chicago Bulls and the plan they needed to have in order to beat the team from Windy City. The Bad Boys intended to physically bully Michael Jordan simply because there was no other way for them to stop him.
Detroit watched MJ dismantle teams wth a unique combination of explosiveness and athleticism. Jordan and the Bulls were trying to dethrone them in the late ’80s as the Pistons became the best team in the league with the back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990. However, as much as he admired Michael, Rodman’s job at the time was to hurt him and his team.
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“When we started playing Chicago in the playoffs, the Bulls were actually coming up as we were in ’86. I think in ’88, when we started to really have motivation to win the championship, Chicago figured out that they could do the same thing, but they had to get through us. And thank God we could hit people then,” Dennis told The Athletic in 2018.
“Because Michael Jordan, wow, that was probably the greatest athlete on the planet at the time. And we had to contain him. We always said, ‘Let Michael score all the points.’ So we made sure we shut everybody else down. That basically was our ingredients to beat Chicago at the time.”
Rodman on The Jordan Rules
While some fans still think that The Jordan Rules was just media hype or a catchy nickname for a standard double-team play, knowing how brutally honest Rodman is, he confirmed right away that The Jordan Rules existed back then.
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Dennis added that whatever people heard about The Jordan Rules was real. However, in Rodman’s book, it wasn’t the Jordan Rules that defined that epic Pistons-Bulls rivalry. Instead, it was the fact that the Bad Boys played a role in helping MJ and the Bulls develop into a championship squad.
“Oh yeah. We made that up. Chuck Daly started that. He said, ‘OK, every time he comes into the lane, put his ass on the floor,'” Rodman said of The Jordan Rules.
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“Basically that’s what we did. Every time he came into the lane, he was on the floor. I remember after the series in ’88, they asked him a question: ‘Why didn’t you guys win the game?’ And he said, ‘I have to go back in the gym and get stronger because these guys are going to beat my ass every time I go to the basket.’ When he got back the year after that, in ’89, they almost beat us in the playoffs.”
From a Bad Boy to a Bull
Rodman’s transition from the Bad Boy who haunted the Bulls to the ultimate rebounder who helped Chicago win more titles is one of the most improbable redemption arcs in NBA history.
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By the time he joined the Bulls in 1995, Rodman had already embraced a new persona, one that was wilder. Yet, his approach to the game was still the same and more importantly, his winning mentality remained intact.
With Rodman in the front court, the Bulls won 72 games in one season, traveled like rock stars and completed another three-peat.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Apr 1, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.