Dennis Rodman on guarding Michael Jordan: ‘He couldn’t score on me’

Dennis Rodman won three championships alongside Michael Jordan. Ask him about the years they spent on opposite sides, though, and he doesn’t sound particularly intimidated.

“Michael Jordan couldn’t score on me,” Rodman said during an appearance on the Above the Rim podcast, as Julian Eschenbach of Basketball Network detailed.

His suggested evidence? “Look at the tape.”

Rodman made the same claim about Scottie Pippen, giving both of his future Bulls teammates something to dispute. Whatever else you think of the assessment, Rodman’s confidence in his defense clearly hasn’t faded.

He was recalling his younger years with the Pistons, when his mobility and willingness to take difficult assignments made him an important part of Detroit’s championship teams. By the time he joined Jordan and Pippen in Chicago, he was already in his mid-30s.

There’s certainly a case that the Pistons made Jordan work. In the 1988 playoffs, Jordan averaged 45.2 points against the Cavs in the first round, then 27.4 against Detroit in the second. The Pistons eliminated the Bulls in five games.

A year later, Jordan averaged 29.7 points against Detroit in the Eastern Conference finals. The Pistons won that series in six.

Those numbers help explain how effectively Detroit defended the Bulls. They also leave quite a bit of room between slowing Jordan down and saying he couldn’t score.

Rodman had considerable help. Joe Dumars and the rest of Chuck Daly’s defense shared the responsibility, with the “Jordan Rules” built around making Jordan encounter resistance wherever he went. A series scoring average doesn’t tell us what happened specifically when Rodman guarded him.

Still, Rodman had the credentials to feel good about his chances. He was a two-time Defensive Player of the Year who could handle assignments across positions, and his eventual partnership with Jordan showed how valuable those skills could be.

Interestingly, Jordan wasn’t Rodman’s toughest matchup. He gave that distinction to Lakers great James Worthy, whom he described as someone he struggled to figure out.

Jordan and Pippen, meanwhile, apparently had no such effect on him. At least, that’s how Rodman remembers it.