Isiah Thomas or “Zeke”, the leader of the infamous ‘Bad Boy Pistons’, was often lauded for his grittiness and his durability as a smaller guard in the most physical era of the game.
His Pistons posed the greatest threat to the legacy of Michael Jordan in the early stages of Jordan’s career and withstood the great Celtic and Laker teams of the 80’s too with their intense style of physical basketball with a focus on the team than any individual.
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Video footage that has resurfaced on Twitter reveals the nature of Zeke’s intensity. Footage shows a frustrated Isiah Thomas quite literally going at his assistant coach as a means to release his frustrations post a hard hit from former Chicago Bulls center Bill Cartright during a tussle for a rebound.
Isiah Thomas once choked his assistant coach. Don’t mess with the Detroit ‘Bad Boys’ Pistons 💀 pic.twitter.com/43E9gwec1b
— Oldskoolbball (@Oldskoolbball2) April 30, 2022
It also sheds light with respect to the stature Isiah Thomas held within his team, with fellow all-star Bill Laimbeer and the rest of the team seeking to protect their evidently disgruntled star from getting into a brawl with the opposition.
What was the legacy of the ‘Bad Boy Pistons’ led by Isiah Thomas?
The Detroit Pistons were the epitome of what one refers to as ‘old school basketball’. With a strong culture for a team approach and being the unfancied underdog, coach Chuck Daly‘s Pistons were the definition of a team one doesn’t want to face in a playoff series.
The Pistons won two championships and were a perennial contender during the mid to late 1980s and the early 1990s.
One of the best-run organizations of the time, the Pistons were a real underdog story, except one that one wouldn’t root for, such as the nature of the mentality and infamy that surrounded the great Pistons teams of the 80s.
