The ‘Bad Boys’ moniker was given to the Detroit Pistons for their, harsh defensive tactics. However, if you asked Adrian Dantley, he might blame the title on the team’s leader, Isiah Thomas. In 2014, the 1976 Rookie of the Year shared his true feelings towards Zeke when he appeared on the Detroit Sports 105.1 radio show.
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Interestingly, it was also the 25th anniversary of the Bad Boys Pistons’ first NBA championship when the former small forward spoke about Thomas.
During Dantley’s third season in Detroit, the forward was traded to Dallas for Mark Aguirre, a childhood friend of Isiah Thomas. Dantley viewed it as a non-basketball move, believing that he was clearly the better of the two forwards and that Thomas had secretly orchestrated the move to get rid of him.
“Con man. He has a way of tricking people, and he tricked a lot of people… I’ll bet you one thing, if I was kissing Isiah’s a*s, I would have never got traded, ” the two-time scoring champion stated.
For Dantley, the trade would be even more of a sore spot after the Pistons immediately won back-t0-back championships after trading him. But to properly understand what went down in Detroit, let’s break down what happened in the build-up to the trade.
Dantley could not take a back seat
Dantley joined a stacked Pistons squad after he had already carried his team in Utah. The reduced touches and attention drove a wedge between the player and the team’s de facto leader, Thomas.
“Everybody loves Isiah, and he controls things. I had to make some adjustments, play team ball, and try to play defense,” Dantley said.
Even though his points average fell from 29.8 to 21.5, the forward still led the Pistons in scoring that season. However, AD recorded his lowest point total in a decade during his second season with the Pistons.
That’s when Dantley spoke to the media about how coach Chuck Daly was prioritizing Zeke over himself. There was a clear sense that he felt undermined by the point guard. This all came to a head in 1988, when the Pistons faced the Lakers in the NBA Finals.
With the series still in the balance, AD, who was leading the team in points, openly taunted the six-time All-Star in the media.
“I think, like I said all year, I should get the ball… But that’s not going to happen here. This is Isiah’s team.”
After the Pistons lost in 7, it was Dantley’s only NBA Finals appearance as the team traded him the next season.
