"Magic made guys better, Isiah made guys better, Bird made guys better" - Michael Jordan's former Chicago Bulls coach sheds light on his underrated playmaking

According to Michael Jordan's former coach, MJ's earlier playmaking would have shone more had the Bulls constructed a better roster comparable to the LA Lakers, Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons. [Photo: Pippen Ain't Easy]

Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls didn’t have much success in the postseason in MJ’s first three years in the NBA. Despite his jaw-dropping performances from 1984-85 to 1986-87, the Bulls couldn’t get past the first round of the postseason. In that span, “His Airness” was only 1-9.

From the 85-87 playoffs, Jordan’s numbers were staggering. He averaged 35.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 6.9 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.5 blocks. As good as he was, Jordan’s biggest critics always pointed out that he could never get his teammates going.

In an episode of the Icons Club, Jackie McMullan retrieved an old interview with Doug Collins, Jordan’s former coach who explained the scorer’s overlooked playmaking:

“Michael was always troubled early because he didn’t have the supporting cast Jackie, so all he ever heard was he didn’t make guys better. Magic made guys better, Isiah made guys better, Bird made guys better and I remember Michael saying, ‘Give me the supporting cast like that and I promise you, I will make them better,’ which he did!”

Michael Jordan played with an unrelenting focus to become the greatest player ever and the most marketable man on the planet.

And for the most part, it was a solo flight.

This is #IconsClub with Jackie MacMullan: open.spotify.com/episode/0sYfAa…

The 80s were dominated by the Boston Celtics and LA Lakers before their monopoly was broken by the Detroit Pistons late in the decade. Boston and LA’s rosters were filled with Hall-of-Famers, while the Pistons had arguably a slightly better and more experienced lineup than the Bulls.

From those early playoff exits, Jordan’s Bulls would slowly climb their way to the top. They lost three straight times to the Isiah Thomas-led Detroit Pistons for three consecutive postseasons. Chicago was eliminated in the semis and back-to-back East finals in 88-90.

MJ faced the Pistons 4 times in the Playoffs (all in his peak) & this is what he averaged against their defense:

1988: 27.4 PPG / 49.1% FG
1989: 29.7 PPG / 46.0% FG
1990: 32.1 PPG / 46.7% FG
1991: 29.8 PPG / 53.5% FG

🤔 He was TRULY unstoppable...
Against lesser defenses. 🤣

Every year, as the Chicago Bulls’ roster got better, they also progressed deeper, becoming more and more difficult to beat. They lost 4-1 to the Pistons in the East semis in 88, were eliminated 4-2 in the Conference Finals in 89 and barely lost 4-3 in the 90 East championship.

Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls finally got over the hump against the Detroit Pistons and built their dynasty

Once Michael Jordan got past the Bad Boy Pistons, it was all over for the league. [Photo: NBA.com]

By 1991, Michael Jordan and his now battle-tested crew blanked their nemesis the Pistons 4-0. They would go on to torch Magic Johnson and the LA Lakers for their first of three championships in the early 90s. At that time, Jordan’s crew of Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, Bill Cartwright and John Paxson were as good as any supporting cast in the NBA.

From the 85-90 playoffs, Michael Jordan averaged 35.8 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 2.5 steals. Although it was his scoring that dominated the headlines, his playmaking deserves a ton of credit for the Bulls’ success.

After defeating the Bad Boy Pistons, the Chicago Bulls will never look back. They added two more titles following their dismantling of Magic Johnson’s Lakers. Michael Jordan would add to his first championship by beating Clyde Drexler's Portland Trail Blazers and then the Charles Barkley-led Phoenix Suns.

“When you got beat you left. Had we known the media would make a big deal about it, all of us including me would’ve stopped, shook hands & hugged… Who the hell wants to pay this price 30 years later?”

@IsiahThomas on the Pistons' infamous walkout vs Bulls in the 1991 playoffs https://t.co/5F34UfYTkQ

To this day, debate still rages over whether those early Bulls could have won more than a Grand Slam. After their first three-peat, Michael Jordan decided to indulge his childhood dream of playing baseball and briefly ended the Bulls’ dominance.