If you have been watching “The Last Dance” docuseries which has been airing on ESPN over the past three Sundays, you have gotten the opportunity to see just how much Michael Jordan despised the “Bad Boys” Detroit Pistons teams, and especially how much he disliked (and still seems to dislike) Pistons legend, Isiah Thomas.
Jordan talked about how weak and disrespectful it was for the Pistons to walk off the court without shaking hands before the final game of the 1991 Eastern Conference concluded. Thomas argued that the Boston Celtics did the same thing a few years earlier and that is just how things were done back then.
There has also been plenty of speculation that it was Jordan who kept Thomas off the 1992 Olympic “Dream Team”.
Jordan says he was not responsible for being left off (though he seemed happy to take credit for it) and Thomas admitted that though he had heard others say it was Jordan who blocked him, he really did not know for sure.
The docuseries has also spent plenty of time pointing out how the Pistons created “The Jordan Rules” because Chuck Daly knew that was the only way to slow Jordan down. Those rules worked perfectly and it was a hell of a lot of fun to watch (if you were a fan of the Pistons).
That being said, in a recent column posted in The Detroit News, titled “‘Last Dance’ docuseries takes hard dip with Pistons’ legacy,” Rod Beard bashed the docuseries, while at the same time, making excuses and showing sympathy for the “Bad Boys.”
I am sorry, Rod, but with all due respect, the Detroit “Bad Boys” do not need, nor want your excuses and sympathy. Those Pistons teams were built on physical and mental toughness and your column does not highlight those traits at all.
Anyone who watched those “Bad Boys” teams play knows exactly what they brought to the table each and every night. They were a team that excelled on the defensive end of the court but at the same time were efficient on offense.
The “Bad Boys” were a team that did not make excuses and took pride in that. In fact, Detroit Pistons fans took pride in that.
So, please, do not make excuses for them.
