Following the Bulls’ 90 East Finals loss to the Pistons, Michael Jordan sobbed on the bus with his father, saying, “I was absolutely devastated, I cried on the bus.”

Following the Chicago Bulls’ 1990 NBA Eastern Conference Finals loss to the Detroit Pistons, Michael Jordan sobbed with his father on the team bus.

The Bulls suffered seven close losses to the Pistons.

In The Last Dance, Jordan remarked, “We had a chance to beat ’em.” We simply didn’t reply. When we arrived at the slope, we nearly peered over it. I was inconsolable. I was in complete shock. On the bus, I started crying. Upon seeing my father, he said, “See, this is just one game.” Rebound and return the following year.

The Pistons beat the Bulls in the second round of the 1988 playoffs and the 1989 and 1990 conference finals. Detroit created “The Jordan Rules,” a four-step plan to prevent Jordan from scoring and the tactics worked.

Former Pistons coach Brendan Malone explained what “The Jordan Rules” were in “The Last Dance.” Detroit didn’t want Jordan to go baseline and wanted him to go left instead of right. The Pistons were also going to trap Jordan every time he got the ball in the post and knock him to the ground when he got into the paint.

“The Jordan Rules” pushed Jordan to hit the weights and get stronger. The NBA icon put on about 15 pounds of muscle in the summer of 1990 with the help of famous trainer Tim Grover and was ready to dish out pain to the Pistons instead of receiving it.

The Bulls and Pistons squared off in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals. Jordan was mentally and physically stronger after working with Grover and finally beat his arch-nemesis.

Chicago swept Detroit in the conference finals behind Jordan, who averaged 29.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 7.0 assists. The Bulls never reacted to any of the Pistons’ dirty fouls and remained focused on playing basketball.

In the fourth quarter of Game 4 when Dennis Rodman pushed Scottie Pippen to the ground and tried to hurt him on a drive to the hoop. Pippen didn’t retaliate and Jordan loved it.

“When Pippen didn’t respond to that abuse, there was nothing they could do to beat us then,” Jordan said in “The Last Dance.”

The Bulls swept the Pistons to advance to their first NBA Finals. That should have been the main takeaway from the series. However, it wasn’t.

Before Game 4 ended, the Pistons walked off the court and didn’t shake hands with the Bulls. It was a poor display of sportsmanship, especially since Jordan and his teammates shook hands with the Pistons in 1988, 1989 and 1990.

Jordan stated to SLAM Magazine following his fifth NBA championship in 1997 that the Pistons’ choice to leave the court was standard procedure:

“Normal. We assumed the Bad Boys—their entire persona,” Jordan remarked. We simply felt that we could thrash them ass without them even needing to shake my hand. Well, it didn’t disturb me since we were so accustomed to each other’s competitiveness and friendship that it didn’t surprise us in the slightest.

“After Detroit defeated us, I shook their hands.” I was sorry to do that, but you have to show respect for other people out of sportsmanship. And if someone beats us, I’ll do the same.”