It was a different time. Back then, we celebrated our champions with caricature t-shirts, custom rap songs, and by selling trading cards of their likenesses inside a giant display at fast-food restaurants.
The 1990 Detroit Pistons were warriors on the court and icons off it. Real names were optional. If you were a youngster growing up in the region at the time, you may have known John Salley, James Edwards, Isiah Thomas, and Dennis Rodman, but you definitely knew Spider, Buddha, Zeke, and Worm.
As such, with today marking the 30th anniversary of the Detroit Pistons winning their second of back-to-back NBA titles in 1989 and 1990, we’re taking another look a the melding of pop culture and sports, this time incorporating the work of M.C. Hammer, then a hot new sensation ringing in the ’90s with the can’t-miss track “U Can’t Touch This”. I may or may not have received Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em and Vanilla Ice’s To The Extreme as a double cassette Christmas gift that winter.
Anyhow, without further ado, here’s the closing track from Detroit’s 1990 championship VHS Pure Pistons:
Shout out to former DSN writer Ryan VanDusen for putting this video on YouTube!