“Dennis Rodman gave Detroit Pistons unique flexibility”: How Adrian Dantley began sulking when The Worm supplanted his starting role on The Bad Boy Pistons

In ‘The Book of Basketball’, Bill Simmons laid down exactly how Dennis Rodman supplanted Adrian Dantley from his starting berth.

Bill Simmons is one of the most amusing writers and content creators to ever grace the reporting business. This is a man who started off as a waiter, but built a following just by releasing a weekly newsletter.

You might even go so far as to say that Simmons gets a thing or two about basketball that playing legends don’t. That’s because Simmons understands athletes on a very different level from everyone else.

The Boston sports guy once went on a misadventure to the town of Las Vegas. Here, Bill Simmons met with Isiah Thomas, who revealed what Simmons calls ‘The Secret’ to sporting success.

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Isiah Thomas told Bill Simmons why Adrian Dantley got traded – to accommodate more minutes for Dennis Rodman

Isiah Thomas believes that ‘the secret’ of basketball is that it’s not about basketball. This is what he told the Boston Sports Guy during this fabled Las Vegas encounter:

The ’87 and ’88 Pistons had practically every ingredient they needed to win any game of basketball. First and foremost, they had the smoothest scorer in the NBA – a guy named Adrian Dantley.

Adrian Dantley won 2 scoring titles during his heyday with the Utah Jazz. But the Pistons already had a bunch of great scorers – as well as great defenders. What they seemed to be missing – in the eyes of Chuck Daly and Isiah Thomas – was an element of toughness.

This is why they were willing to package Adrian Dantley away to the Dallas Mavericks for Mark Aguirre – in addition to one of their own draft picks. What they got in return was more playing time for a guy who goes by this moniker – The Worm.

Dennis Rodman stole a ton of crunch-time minutes away from Dantley during his second season on the Pistons. He was also perhaps the most tenacious defender ever to be on an NBA court. And he provided the Pistons with the additional defense that they sorely needed.

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