Chicago Bulls: 30th anniversary of Scottie Pippen's most disrespectful poster

You wouldn’t know if by watching them today, but the Chicago Bulls were once in some of the greatest rivalries in the history of team sports. 

Their first obstacle was the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons, who the Bulls finally overcame in 1991 after losing to them three years in a row, twice in the Eastern Conference Finals. 

These two teams hated each other, culminating in the Pistons sulking and walking off the court before the final game of the sweep was over, refusing to shake hands with the Bulls. 

Next up was the New York Knicks, who the Bulls played four times in the playoffs in very physical matchups. Chicago prevented some very good New York teams from getting a shot at a title in three of the matchups, though the Knicks did win in 1994 while Michael Jordan was playing baseball. 

These series were heated and led to one of the most disrespectful and savage posters in NBA history. 

Chicago Bulls: 30th anniversary of Scottie Pippen's most disrespectful poster 

Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of Scottie Pippen posterizing Patrick Ewing with a dunk that would have blown up the internet had it happened today. Pippen went over and through Ewing, helping him to the ground with a push and then stood over him to drive home the point: 

Can we first recognize what would happen to Pippen if he did that today? He definitely would have gotten a technical for taunting and possibly another for the push that assisted Ewing to his back. 

It’s possible he would have gotten tossed and even suspended for doing this in 2024, which shows how much the game has changed, as this was a normal occurrence back in the 1990s, when games were far more physical. 

The lack of physicality (though we’ve seen more of it in the playoffs this year) in the modern game is part of the reason why we don’t see intense rivalries like we did back then. Stars also change teams with more regularity, so you don’t get as many consecutive years with basically the same teams playing each other in the playoffs. 

There are some things to like more about the modern game, but it’s certainly not as intense. 

It’s also difficult to have rivalries if you aren’t good, and the Chicago Bulls are a long way from their previous glory when they were mainstays in the playoffs. 

We may never see the likes of Bulls/Pistons or Bulls/Knicks again and we definitely won’t see a dunk like this without there being a slew of technical fouls handed out afterward.