ESPN 30:30 Bad Boys

[Alfred_E._Neuman]

About the Detroit Pistons' championship run in the late 80's/early 90's. This was absolutely the golden age of BBall. Bird, Jordan, and Magic all playing at the same time.

Basketball was my favorite sport as a kid, and I was playing middle school ball at the height of the Boston/Detroit rivalry. Watching the Celtics is what got me involved in the game, and I can remember nearly every one of the games they played against each other in that era. Looking back you can see the mental games Detroit played with their hard style of D, but at the time I just hated those fucking thugs.

I'd still like to punch Laimbeer in the fucking face.

[Yes I Have Balls]

A little shocked that not one second was given to discussion of the point shaving that was happening with that Pistons team at the time.

[dead man walking]

I'd still like to punch Laimbeer in the fucking face.

hah. you just made laimbeer happy.

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

[Turdacious]

Missed it the first time around, but it's streaming on Netflix now. Glad they didn't try to condense it into 30 minutes, because it wouldn't have been as good. Good documentary. David Stern is the real villain here, as it should be.

[Hanglow Joe]

I hated that team. Laimbeer was an asshole. There is a fine line between hard basketball and dirty. Laimbeer wasn't even close.
Did you guys ever read the article about the deal the St. Louis Spirits cut when the ABA folded? They received TV $ from the NBA for infinity. It turned the owners into billionaires. They finally settled with the NBA after 37 years. Look it up if you have time

David Stern's credibility was about 2 notches above VInce McMahon and 1 notch above Roger Goddell. At least the NBA takes care of their players.
Goddell and McMahon are pieces of shit

[Turdacious]

Bill Laimbeer was a third round draft pick who had a team built around him and moulded in his image. Nobody else has ever done that in the NBA, either prior or since. Your continued hate is proof of his greatness, something that, of the guys on your list, only McMahon would understand how to appreciate-- heels draw money. As the documentary implies, Laimbeer was MJ's greatest mentor. Laimbeer was a champion, the mentor of champions, and should be a Hall of Famer.

[Koko, Beware]

I loved this one. I grew up a Celtics fan and came of age in the Bird era, and of course I sort of hated the Pistons back then, but I never hated them as much as I hated the Lakers. Not even close...there was always a coolness factor to Detroit for me in that they were NOT the Lakers, or the Celtics, or the Bulls but instead this weird thuggy defensive machine with some ridiculous statlines (Rodman going like 1 for 4 from the field with 28 rebounds).

My favorite part was Laimbeer talking about how cosseted his upbringing was. Well-off, never got into any fights.
Isiah came off well, I thought. Wish they'd talked a little more about Chuck Daly.