Maverick’s coach Don Nelson came up with a brilliant strategy for beating the Michael Jordan led Chicago Bulls. Instead of focusing on the great Jordan, he trained his sights on another player Bulls named Dennis Rodman. Rodman was a great rebounder and defender, but he was not what you would call, a pure shooter. Dennis was a career .584 from the foul line. So Nelson decided to see what would happen if the Mavericks fouled him, every time the Bulls had possesion. He tapped rookie Bubba Wells as the guy to execute his strategy.
So Wells did as he was told and within three minutes of playing time (That’s three “basketball minutes”, as you can see in the video, with all the fouls it actually took almost ten minutes.), Wells had fouled out, and in doing so, set an NBA record (which he still holds) for having fouled out in less time than any other player in NBA history.
As it turns out, Nelson’s plan failed. Although Rodman shot a miserable 1-7 from the field, he was 9-12 from the foul line, a career best. He Also grabbed twenty-seven rebounds and handed off eight assists, just missing a triple double.
Dallas Mavericks
Chicago Bulls