Or throwing a bounce pass to Joe Dumars as he curled off a screen, the ball waiting for him as he arrived. Or speed-dribbling on the edge before crossing up a defender and finishing at the rim. Thomas whipping a no-look pass to a baseline cutter.
Yet both Jackson and Jordan ignored how physical the Celtics, and even the "Showtime" Lakers could be. The proof is in the clips. Well, winners usually get to write history, and those comments shaped the Pistons’ legacy. It was my team against your team, and let’s see who wins.” It was no hidden agendas or anything like that. “The competition that we had on the floor was just that.
#The bad boys free#
“We have a great deal of respect and admiration for Michael Jordan in terms of the way he played and what he’s done for our game,” Thomas told the Free Press last week. Isiah Thomas, who was interviewed for the film, recently said he hopes his team gets a fair shake in the retelling of those years. All three relied on perimeter ball skill, off-ball movement, screening and passing to win.Ĭhances are we won’t see much of that movement and shot-making in “The Last Dance.” ESPN’s 10-part documentary is, after all, about Jordan and his last title run, about the cultural influence he wielded, about one of the most popular sports teams in modern history, about the weariness and tension and will behind the NBA’s most iconic dynasty.
They were a precursor, if you will, to the late-model Spurs, or even to the Warriors - without the three-point shooting. They had more in common with the space-and-movement teams of today than you might think. They played basketball, in an often-thrilling style, not rugby in sleeveless jerseys. Laimbeer was ahead of his time. So was the rest of the team, combining lock-down defense with fluid, half-court offense. Yet that's the same Laimbeer who tied a then-Finals record for 3-pointers a game earlier with six. That’s right, a center who could stretch the floor. Yes, several of the Bad Boys embraced their villainous caricatures - none more famously than when Laimbeer fouled out in Game 3 of the 1990 Finals in Portland and bowed to the booing crowd just before he got to the Pistons’ bench.īack with the squad: Dumars makes rare appearance to honor COVID-19 workers Yes, they could be irritating, to opponents as well as opposing fanbases. Yes, they knocked players on their asses. It’s just easy to forget after three decades of clips highlighting the shoving, fisticuffs and hard fouling, three decades of watching Magic and Bird and Jordan falling to the ground, of watching Bill Laimbeer and Rick Mahorn sneering as they did. Some narratives are too hard to overcome the mythology was set long ago.īut, still, the Detroit Pistons of that era played gorgeous basketball. Though I doubt you’ll see that Sunday night when ESPN's “The Last Dance” details Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls’ effort to overcome the Bad Boys. View Gallery: Michael Jordan's battles with the Detroit Pistons: Our best photos
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