"I want them to win, just not when I'm still playing" - Michael Jordan on why stopping his rivals from winning rings made him proud

Yahoo

12-07-2025

"I want them to win, just not when I'm still playing" - Michael Jordan on why stopping his rivals from winning rings made him proud originally appeared on Basketball Network.
By the time he walked away from the game, Michael Jordan was 6-0 in the NBA Finals. But behind that perfection were names like Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, and John Stockton — Hall of Famers left without rings simply because they happened to share an era with Jordan.
Had MJ not stepped away in 1993, Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler could have also been in the same company.
Facing Jordan in the Finals always resulted in heartbreak for the opposition. The Chicago Bulls asserted their dominance so well that none of the Finals series they played in reached Game 7.
And Jordan took pride in that.
"I joke around with my friends about it, Charles, Patrick and all of these guys. I take great pride in making sure that they don't win because that means you have a better chance to win, and that's the attitude that I take. I want them to win, I just don't want them to win when I'm still playing," said MJ, who completed two three-peats with the Bulls.
Jordan's dominance during the '90s created an unmatched aura that continues to exist to this day. Facing him and the Bulls required the opposition to have more mental toughness and perseverance than anything else.
Touching upon the credibility factor associated with winning the chip against him, Jordan cited the 1991 championship against Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers.
"I'd like for them to think that if they win a championship, it didn't feel quite the same because they didn't win it against Michael Jordan," he added. "It would mean the same thing. If we didn't have the opportunity to beat Magic Johnson in 1991."
"I'm pretty sure I would have some thoughts about it. I would have gotten over it, but just being able to beat Magic Johnson, who was a king at that time of winning championships, gave our championship some credibility," explained Jordan, whose first NBA championship came against the Lakers.Of course, Jordan wasn't untouchable from the start. Before the three-peats, there were the Detroit Pistons — the biggest roadblock on his way to the ultimate glory.
Led by Isiah Thomas and coached by Chuck Daly, the Bad Boys held off the Bulls for three straight years, sending Jordan home bruised, battered, and without answers. Their defensive blueprint, famously known as The Jordan Rules, was designed to wear him down physically and mentally.
Jordan finally broke through in 1991, sweeping the Pistons in the Eastern Conference finals and ending one of the most intense rivalries in NBA history.
"We surprised a lot of people, and we surprised ourselves. We didn't feel we could sweep this team, but we knew we could beat them. We had to accept every beating, every push and every elbow they gave us and stay focused on our goal. I was glad to see our team stay so focused," Jorda said via the New York Times after beating the Pistons in 1991.
It took time, pain and failure, but after that, no one could stop him.This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 12, 2025, where it first appeared.