The NBA has produced some of the best rivalries in sports history. The rivalry between teams is well known, especially between the Lakers and Celtics, the Mavericks and Spurs, and the Bulls and Pistons.
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Each of these rivalries helped shape the NBA into what we know today, but perhaps the most intense rivalry was between the Bulls and the Pistons, especially in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
These two rivals hated each other with a passion, and it was evident as the players shared the same dislike, especially Bulls superstar Michael Jordan and Pistons superstar Isiah Thomas. The hatred between these two rivals even continues to this day as both have been vocal about their dislike for each other, whether passive-aggressive or not.
That has only gotten stronger over the years, and recently Thomas added fuel to the fire. A few days ago, Thomas took to Twitter/X to bluntly respond to a fan who said the Bulls couldn’t have won a championship without Jordan.
Thomas disagrees.
Thomas believes Jordan’s star teammates Pippen and Kukoc could have brought a few rings to the city of Chicago and the Bulls organization.
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The Bulls played an entire season without Jordan on their roster during the 1993-94 season. The Bulls had just won consecutive NBA titles and Jordan decided to trade in his basketball shoes for baseball cleats.
Without Jordan, the Bulls finished the season with a record of 55-27. That was enough to finish as the No. 3 seed in the East, which isn’t bad considering they lost the best player in the NBA at the time.
The Bulls started the playoffs strong, sweeping their division rivals, the Cleveland Cavaliers, 3-0 in the first round. However, the New York Knicks took advantage of the Jordan-led Bulls and the Bulls lost a tough seven-game series 4-3 in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Pippen played at an MVP level, averaging 22.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game. He finished third in the MVP voting. Kukoc averaged 10.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game.
Although the Bulls were a formidable team, it was Jordan who kept bringing them to the top. Jordan is arguably the greatest basketball player and athlete who ever lived. If Jordan had been on the 1993-94 team, they would have had a great chance to win their fourth consecutive title.
We saw how it went for one season, and it’s likely that without Jordan’s heroics and leadership, the Bulls would have failed time and time again.
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