We can write a book about the whole thing lol
The Laimbeer phamtom foul on Kareem in 88
1992 Finals : Drexler wasn’t allowed to guard Jordan, especially in the first 2 games, a lot of imaginary and 1s and shooting fouls
If you watch highlights of MJ vs Clyde pre-summer of 1990 (before Stern decide to make Baldy untouchable) you will see it was another story when Clyde was allowed to D him up
1993 was juicy too :
- ECF game 5, and I’m not talking about the Charles Smith play I don’t think he was fouled, but the whole night Jordan was bailed out by the referees
- in the middle of the Conference Finals, NBC aired an NBA Finals promo featuring Jordan vs Barkley
- And for good measure, the league made sure that matchup happened, in game 7 the Suns shot 64 FT’s
while also fouling out Eddie Johnson who was red hot that night and other key Sonics
- 2001 : The Bucks were robbed in the ECF, Stern wanted AI vs Kobe, Sixers vs Lakers
Milwaukee was so good that year, and they beat the Lakers soundly in the regular season that year