Whenever the greatest player of all-time debate comes up in basketball, Michael Jordan is generally the first player brought up. And that’s not a surprise to anyone.
The legendary shooting guard put together an incredible career, leading the 
Chicago Bulls to one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history.
It wasn’t a straight shot for Jordan and company to the top, and many legendary teams got in Chicago’s way during his 15-year career.
This resulted in some of the sport’s most iconic rivalries.
A few years after he retired, Michael was asked which rivals stood out the most. MJ named three teams that came to mind in an interview with Cigar Aficionado’s Marvin R. Shanken, and shockingly snubbed dynasties like the 
L.A. Lakers and 
Boston Celtics.
Milwaukee Bucks
The 
Milwaukee Bucks are definitely not the first team that comes to mind when it comes to Michael Jordan’s most formidable rivals. But during MJ’s early years, Milwaukee was one of the most stable organizations in the league, going on a twelve-year playoff streak from 1979 to 1990.
The franchise’s feature stars during this time were a pair of underrated Hall of Famers, Sidney Moncrief and Jack Sikma. Michael’s record versus the Bucks was 48-18 overall, but he did struggle against this team early in his career. That included a 3-1 series loss to Milwaukee in the first round of the 1985 playoffs.
This loss clearly still sits with Jordan, and he went into detail on why the Bucks are on his list
“Early on, it was Milwaukee. We couldn’t beat Milwaukee. They were just 45 minutes to an hour away. They were a strong team and they constantly kept beating us. Even when we got in the playoffs, they kept beating us. Then we got to a point where we started beating them.”
Detroit Pistons
Any objective list of Michael Jordan’s greatest rivals would include the “Bad Boy” 
Detroit Pistons. The only reason why MJ wouldn’t mention this team is because he wouldn’t want to give them that honor out of spite.
Michael still holds a grudge against various players from these Pistons’ teams, including their headline star, Isiah Thomas. Detroit was famous for creating the notorious “Jordan Rules”, which ultimately changed how the game was officiated.
|
Michael Jordan Career Record versus Detroit Pistons |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Number of Seasons |
Regular Season Record |
Playoff Record |
|
15 |
33-31(51.5%) |
10–12 (45.4%) |
The Bulls played the Pistons four straight seasons in the playoffs, falling the first three times. When Chicago finally climbed that mountain in 1991, sweeping their bitter foes, they never looked back.
Even though he still resents them, Detroit played a huge role in Jordan’s development.
“Then the rivalry went from Milwaukee to Detroit. And that was brutal. Isiah [Thomas] was from Chicago, and he wanted to come back and show he still dominated Chicago. I was the new guy in Chicago, and people were supporting the team. It became a dogfight between us. There was some real hatred there. On the floor, it was that whole physicality of the game, and that’s what was happening on the basketball court. Anybody going into the paint was going to get knocked down. If you got stitches, you got stitches. Those are the types of games we had. But once we overcame them, then we knew we could do anything. There was no one else beating us, or having that kind of rivalry with us.”
New York Knicks
The 
New York Knicks were a somewhat more modern version of the Detroit Pistons, in that they heavily relied on dragging teams into the mud with their physical defense.
This proud franchise had several coaches during the Patrick Ewing era, including Pat Riley, who was one win away in 1995 from bringing a championship to the Big Apple.
It wasn’t meant to be, but the Knicks had several memorable playoff series against the Bulls. The two Eastern Conference powerhouses met five times during this era, including four consecutive years between 1991 and 1994.
Two times these series went seven games, but the only time New York was able to get the best of Chicago was in 1994 when Jordan was playing baseball. The Knicks were good enough to win a championship during this era, but too many times Michael was in the way.
“Once we started winning and got past Detroit, the Knicks became our biggest rivals. They were trying to get where we were. We were trying to maintain what we were. Every battle was magnified. Patrick [Ewing] was a good friend. Charles Oakley used to be in Chicago. John Starks, Charles Smith, Anthony Mason—all these guys. When Detroit was winning, everybody had adopted the physical type of game. New York became that way, too. You go in the middle, you’re going to get hit. Patrick was a fierce intimidator.”
The Snubs
There are a few snubs that come to mind during this era. While the Los Angeles Lakers only saw the Bulls once in the 1991 Finals, they were the dominant dynasty of the 1980s and definitely one of the teams that motivated Jordan to become the player he became.
Meanwhile, the team that eliminated the Bulls almost as many times as the Pistons in the 1980s was the Boston Celtics. Larry Bird and company swept Chicago with Jordan two years in a row, in 1986 and 1987.
Lastly, there’s the 
Indiana Pacers, who Michael said in “The Last Dance” documentary stated were arguably the toughest playoff team the Chicago Bulls faced when the dynasty got underway.
Overall, no one is a better source for this topic than Jordan himself, and this is his list. At least this was his list in 2005.
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