The Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls had one of the most heated rivalries in NBA history in the 1980’s and 90’s.
The Pistons mostly got the better of the Bulls until Michael Jordan finally broke through and carried his team to six titles.
The two teams hated each other and many of those games featured hard fouls, brawls and feelings that never really went away.
Michael Jordan admitted that he still hated the Pistons in the “Last Dance” documentary and he was the reason that Isiah Thomas wasn’t invited to play on the Dream Team even though he was the best point guard in the game at the time and the only guy who ever beat Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan.
In fact, the 1988-89 Pistons are often overlooked as a top-5 team of all-time, mostly because their titles came between the Celtics, Lakers and Bulls.
The Pistons and Bulls hate each other and that hatred carried over to the video game world.
Detroit Pistons: NBA Jam creator gave the Pistons an edge
If you are as old as me then you remember the video game NBA Jam, which was one of the first games to feature real players.
You could choose a duo from any team and the Detroit Pistons were always one of the toughest teams to beat. It turns out there is a reason for that.
The creator of NBA Jam admitted that he put a special code in the game that prevented the Bulls from making a game-winning shot against the Pistons. Here he is explaining it in an interview:
As a Pistons’ fan, this absolutely delighted me, as it was tough to sit through the Bulls’ dominance, which unfortunately coincided with some tough times for the Pistons, who were rebuilding after the Bad Boy’s era finally ended.
This bit of video game and NBA history probably hasn’t sat well with Bulls’ fans, who long wondered why they could never beat the Pistons in NBA Jam.
The Pistons and Bulls are hoping to re-ignite their rivalry after both teams have been bad for a while and are finally rebuilding behind new talent. Let’s hope these new Pistons can shut the Bulls down like they did in the past, both on the court and the video game screen.