"Scottie Pippen's son, Michael Jordan's son Jerry Butler is playing' - 4x NBA champion jokes about Michael Jordan being Jimmy Butler's father
Many NBA players have been compared to Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan. One player who truly lived up to the comparison was Kobe Bryant. According to John Salley, a four-time NBA champion, Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler also has a similar game style to Jordan.
In an interview on VladTV, the former Pistons and Bulls forward joked that Butler is so similar to Jordan that he might be actually be his son.
"LeBron's son is going to be a great player in the NBA. Shaq's son, Scottie Pippen's son, Michael Jordan's son Jerry Butler is playing. I'm just joking, I said Jerry, I meant Jimmy. Jimmy Butler is the beast, I'd hate to play against Jimmy Butler," John Salley said.
Not only does Jimmy Butler have a similar playing style to Jordan, but his outlook towards the sport is also the same. Butler is known to demand a lot from his teammates, much like Jordan, who used to do whatever it took to get his team ready for games.
John Salley played against Jordan on numerous occasions when the former was part of the Pistons and the latter represented the Bulls. Salley also played alongside Jordan during the 1995-96 season. The Bulls won 72 games during the regular season and capped it off with a championship.
Michael Jordan's struggles against the Detroit Pistons
Michael Jordan in the 1980s was a scoring machine. He recorded some of the most absurd stat lines the game has ever seen. He was also an incredible defender.
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In 1988-89, Michael Jordan posted a career-high 12.6 Box +/-.
That season, he averaged 32.5 PTS, 8 REB, 8 AST, 2.9 STL and 0.8 BLK, with a .614 TS% (league-average TS% that season was .537).
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However, Jordan and the Bulls did not have much luck in the postseason. The Detroit Pistons were a thorn in MJ's side, thwarting him in his attempts to win the title. Only after the appointment of Doug Collins as head coach in 1986 did the Bulls and Jordan start finding some postseason success.
In the 1988 Playoffs, MJ and the Bulls met the Pistons in the second round. Detroit won in five games despite Jordan averaging 27.4 points per game. They met again a year later in the Eastern Conference Finals. Michael Jordan averaged 29.6 points per game, but the Bulls fell in six games.
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April 12, 1993 Pistons lose 98-95
Bill Laimbeer was fined $12,000, Scott Williams $6,000. Darrell Walker, who ran onto the court in street clothes to strike Laimbeer, was suspended for one game fined $10,000.
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The Chicago Bulls got closer in 1990 as they pushed the reigning champions to seven games. They were the favorites to win Game 7. However, a migraine that affected Scottie Pippen meant that MJ and the Bulls were without their second-best player.
The Pistons resorted to overly physical tactics to stop Jordan. They committed hard fouls whenever necessary to throw the Bulls star off his game and it worked.
However, the Pistons’ time came to an end in the 1991 postseason. Michael Jordan and the Bulls swept Detroit in the ECF en route to winning their first championship.