John Salley Reveals Detroit Pistons Teammates Were Mad At Him After He Shook Hands With Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen And Horace Grant In 1991

The 1991 Eastern Conference Finals is one of the most memorable of all time, not because it was a seven-game series but because of everything that happened after it was over. That was the passing of the torch from the Chicago Bulls to the Detroit Pistons, with Michael Jordan finally becoming the ruler of the NBA. 

The end of that series is well remembered because after being swept at home, the Pistons players simply walked off the court without recognizing their rivals, starring in one of the worst moments in NBA history. 

After Game 4 and the series were over, the Pistons players refused to shake hands with the Chicago Bulls, which is still a terrible show of unsportsmanlike. While players like Bill Laimbeer and Isiah Thomas directly left the court before the final buzzer rang, others stayed.

John Salley Reveals Detroit Pistons Teammates Were Mad At Him After He Shook Hands With Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen And Horace Grant In 1991

One of them was John Salley, who had a more mature attitude and went to greet Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Horace Grant following the match. This was a great action by Salley, but not everybody thought that way. During a recent interview with VladTV, the 4-time NBA champion explained that his teammates were mad at him for being friendly with Bulls players. 

"The reason I did is 1. Because MJ is my frat brother and my friend, Scottie--I talked to Horace Grant, like texted him not too long ago. I still was cool with Horace, I recruited him to college so I stayed with him and Scottie at that time. I just didn't think it was a smart move. I literally said that not too long ago, but a lot of guys had to live with it, and I knew I would have to live with it. And that's not... Reputation is what you fall for, character is what you stand for. And my character, they beat us, they finally beat us..."

Salley explained that the Celtics pulled off a similar move when the Pistons finally beat them, except for Kevin McHale. John said that he greeted Isiah Thomas and told him to bring the NBA championship trophy to their arena, and he wanted to have a similar gesture with the Bulls. 

"That was my opinion, and so, since it wasn't the consensus of the whole squad, that's when I realized, 'hey, I gotta break out of this.'"

He admitted that his teammates were mad at him, but Salley didn't care at all about that. 

"I think so... Ask me how many f*cks I give. And they know that."

He had so much respect for Michael Jordan and their friendship and wasn't going to lose that because he lost a basketball game. In the end, nothing changed between Salley and Jordan, and they joined forces in Chicago, winning a championship a couple of years later. 

The fact that the Bulls used several Pistons players to win a title didn't sit well with Isiah Thomas, but there's nothing he can do to change history or take away any of those titles from the Bulls.