The rest of the NBA have seen Isiah Thomas and the Detroit Pistons as menaces, but it appears that they had quite a bit of fun. In fact, in the middle of their now-famous 1991 Eastern Conference Finals series against the Boston Celtics, it was even revealed that they came up with aliases for each other for a rather odd reason, as John Salley admitted.
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During an interview previewing Game 3 of the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals, Salley and Thomas were about some of their teammates being called ‘Jimmy Hendrix, Hannibal Lecter, and Raquel Welch’. When asked about why this was the case, Salley admitted that it was for a myriad of reasons.
Some simply wished to inherit names due to looking up to those specific personalities. Others wished to be as aggressive as the fictional killer, Hannibal Lecter. And the rest just enjoyed music too much not to take artists’ names for themselves. On the matter, he said,
“Some people look at the people that they really look up to. Some people like Raquel Welch, like little guys looking up to people like that [laughs]. And some people love music, some people are into being cannibals. So, we had to pick alias names that people in Boston would call you 3-4 o’clock in the morning, try to wake you up and not think about beating their team.
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It’s no surprise that the team felt it needed to come up with aliases to motivate itself against the Boston Celtics. After all, the city’s fanbase is infamous for being a bit too intense against all opposition. And considering that the Pistons were their direct rivals at the time, the fans would’ve hardly seemed like human beings at some point.
Still, it is a bit hilarious that the team was forced to take up alter egos. And clearly, it worked too, as Detroit came away victorious in six games.
From there on, Isiah Thomas’s time at the top saw its end, as Michael Jordan and Co. saw their dynastic rise to go on to win a three-peat. However, Isiah Thomas’s incredible championship-laden run before this will never be forgotten.
