Rise of the Bad Boy Pistons

Rise of the Bad Boy Pistons

Rise of the Bad Boy Pistons

The Detroit Pistons franchise was riddled with mediocre to bad basketball performances from the 1950s all the way up to the early 1980s, and after purchasing the franchise from Fred Zollner, who originally had the team in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1974 new owner Bill Davidson had tough decisions to make. Davidson refused to play the waiting game along with the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League to have the Pistons play in the Joe Louis Arena, which was being constructed.

Davidson decided to move the Pistons to the Pontiac Silverdome in 1978, the same stadium that housed the Detroit Lions of the National Football League at the time. The Pistons were absolutely dreadful on the basketball court in the 1979-1980 NBA season, posting a dismal 16-66 record. The 1980-1981 NBA season wasn’t any better for the Pistons as they went 21-61. During these 2 seasons the Pistons endured a long losing streak of 21 games.

The pendulum finally swung in the right direction for the Pistons in the 1981 NBA Draft when they selected Isiah Thomas, a blooming star point guard from the Indiana Hoosiers, with the #2 overall pick. In early 1982, the Pistons completed trades with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Seattle Supersonics to acquire center Bill Lambeer and shooting guard Vinnie “The Microwave” Johnson respectively. Thomas, Lambeer and Johnson would play pivotal roles in the rise of Detroit Pistons basketball.

The Pistons started playing better basketball which forced sports fans and the media to start taking notice, beginning in the 1983-1984 NBA season when they finished in 4th place in the Eastern Conference standings with a 49-33 record, qualifying for the NBA Playoffs. However, they would be eliminated by the New York Knicks in the 1st Round 3 games to 2. All 5 games of this series were decided by 8 points or less.

The next year in 1985 the Pistons made progress, sweeping the New Jersey Nets in the 1st Round of the NBA Playoffs 3 games to none. Even though the Boston Celtics, led by Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Danny Ainge, defeated the Pistons 4 games to 2 in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Pistons showed that they were willing to go toe-to-toe with a team that was considered to be a dominant juggernaut in the NBA.

Knowing that they needed more firepower for their roster, the Pistons found a great talent that many other teams were not paying attention to. In the 1985 NBA Draft, with the #18 overall pick the Pistons selected guard Joe Dumars from McNeese State. Completing a successful trade with the Washington Bullets, the Pistons then acquired a rough and tough power forward and center named Rick Mahorn.

The Pistons would unfortunately take a step back in their pursuit of an NBA championship as they would fall to the “Human Highlight Reel” Dominique Wilkins and the Atlanta Hawks in the 1st Round of the 1986 NBA Playoffs 3 games to 1. It was at this point in time when Pistons head coach Chuck Daly and Isiah Thomas would consider adopting a more aggressive style of play that featured Pistons players to be mean, rough and antagonistic.

One sign of this transition to a more stingy defense would be the two picks the Pistons made in the 1986 NBA Draft as they selected power forward and center John Salley from the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at #11 overall and forward Dennis Rodman from Southeastern Oklahoma State at #27 overall. Another sign of this transition was the acquisition of small forward Adrian Dantley in a trade with the Utah Jazz.

Developing an ultra aggressive mentality on the defensive side of the basketball where they could punish players as hard as they could, whether or not their actions got called as fouls, earned them the nickname which many basketball fans refer to them as, the “Bad Boys”. The Pistons carried their new found swagger going into the 1987 NBA Playoffs, and they advanced all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals to face the Boston Celtics. After suffering a pivotal Game 5 loss where Isiah Thomas made a mental error in in-bounding the ball, which led to Larry Bird stealing the ball and passing it to Dennis Johnson to lay in the winning basket for the Celtics, the Pistons fell short 4 games to 3.

In the 1988 NBA Playoffs, the Pistons would once again face the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals, and this time the Pistons finally prevailed, defeating the Celtics 4 games to 2 and clinching the series on their home court in the Pontiac Silverdome. They advanced to their first NBA Finals in franchise history and they would face the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1988 NBA Finals. The Lakers were led by hall of fame players in James Worthy, Kareem Abdul-Jabar and Magic Johnson, who was a close friend to Isiah Thomas. The Pistons and the Lakers went back and forth, but the Lakers eventually pulled away and won the NBA championship 4 games to 3.

In Game 6 of the Finals on June 19, Isiah Thomas sprained his ankle and his injury was so bad that he could barely move around without gingerly hobbling. This would be the same game where Thomas would put on one of the most gutsy performances in his career as he scored 25 points in a single quarter, an NBA Finals record.

The Pistons said goodbye to the Silverdome and moved to The Palace of Auburn Hills for the 1988-1989 NBA season, but not all was well with the team. Adrian Dantley refused to allow Isiah Thomas to take on the team’s leadership and Dantley would clash with coach Chuck Daly on multiple occasions. Dantley would be traded to the Dallas Mavericks on February 15, 1989 for small forward Mark Aguirre. Considering Aguirre’s own personal clashes with the Mavericks team and management, this was initially considered to be a controversial trade, but ultimately this gamble paid off.

The Pistons would go on a complete tear through the NBA, winning the Central Division with a 63-19 record, and they would advance to the 1989 NBA Finals to once again face the Los Angeles Lakers. This time the Pistons swept the Lakers 4 games to none and Joe Dumars would be named Finals MVP, scoring an average of 28 points the last 3 games.

The Pistons would successfully defend their NBA championship and go back-to-back as they went to the 1990 NBA Finals and defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 4 games to 1. Although Portland’s tandem of Clyde “The Glide” Drexler, Terry Porter and Buck Williams posed a threat, the Pistons proved to be too much. Isiah Thomas was named Finals MVP, leading the team in scoring for 3 games and in assists for 4 games. Vinnie “The Microwave” Johnson scored the game winning shot with 0.07 seconds to go in the deciding Game 5 to give the Pistons the 92-90 win.

When a team has their rise, they eventually have their fall. The Pistons were no different as they went to the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals attempting to go for a three-peat, but they would be swept by the Chicago Bulls 4 games to none behind the excellent play of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant and John Paxson. The Pistons previously had the Bulls’ number as they eliminated the Bulls in 3 straight playoff meetings from 1988 to 1990, mainly because of how they implemented the “Jordan Rules” where any time Jordan got the basketball he would be harassed, double teamed and forced to give up the ball. Before Game 4 ended, the Pistons abruptly walked off the court without congratulating the Bulls. Instead, the Pistons gave the Bulls the cold shoulder.

In the 1st Round of the 1992 NBA Playoffs, the Bad Boy Pistons finally unraveled, losing to the New York Knicks 3 games to 2. At this point the era of the Bad Boys had come to a close, but their presence had been felt by many, creating rivalries with the Celtics, Lakers and Bulls and developing the reputation of being bullies and cowboys who wore the black hat. During one practice in the 1980s, the Pistons received silver and black Los Angeles Raiders football jerseys and merchandise, which complemented their Bad Boys nickname and persona. The Bad Boy Pistons were outlaws on the NBA court, and no one could deny how good they were as a cohesive brotherhood.