Michael Jordan still averaged over 30 points per game against Dumars, but the games were never easy.
Detroit Pistons guard Joe Dumars was the toughest defender that Michael Jordan ever faced. But even the man who gave the GOAT the hardest time on the basketball court wasn’t without weakness. So in order for Jordan to beat Dumars, MJ had to find his weak points and pounce on them.
During a 2003 interview with the late Georgetown head coach John Thompson, Jordan talked about matching up with the Pistons’ Hall of Fame guard and what he did to get the better of him during their matchups.
“I knew Dumars. Dumars positioned himself defensively great, with help. He knew he had Rodman and Laimbeer, and everybody helped it. But he could position himself great with me, and that was a great challenge to try and outthink him because he was a great thinker on defense.”
Finding Joe D.’s weaknesses
Outthinking Dumars meant finding his weaknesses and taking advantage of them. And for Jordan, the main weakness he saw from Joe D. was size. At 6-foot-3, Dumars gave up three inches of height to Jordan and so His Airness made sure he put his nemesis on an island and attacked him.
“He tried to take away some of my advantages,” added MJ. “I try to expand on that. And I tried to attack him where he had weaknesses – utilizing my size, you know, trying to get him in a one-on-one situation before the defense could come and help him. I would say that he was the guy that made me or forced me to expand from an offensive standpoint.”
Jordan averaged 30.7 PPG against Dumars in 70 total games in the regular season and playoffs. But MJ had many rough shooting nights against the Pistons. He shot 7-25 on April 15, 1998, 8-20 on March 22, 1997, 10-30 on February 15, 1996, 5-16 on May 22, 1990. Even during their final season against each other in 1997-98, Jordan shot a combined 37-93 (40%) against the Pistons.
Dumars was one of the best
While Jordan qualified his answer to Big John by saying that Dumars was a great defender with help, he didn’t do so when he talked about Joe’s defense in an ESPN interview. In that interview, he simply referred to Dumars as ‘one of the best’.
“He thought well, and he was very smart about his defense,” MJ said. “I think he approaches the game as trying to dissect his opponents and try to find weaknesses or try to force them to do things they didn’t feel comfortable doing. He introduced certain tricks to make me expand on my talents as an offensive player, and that is why I consider him one of the best.”
Joe Dumars was one of the best defensive players in the history of the NBA. But even he, individually, was no match for Michael Jordan. Although it was always a chess match against Dumars, MJ got the best of him, winning their head-to-head matchup 37-33, including 27-21 during the postseason.