From my HOOPSWORLD courtside blog:
Over in the other locker room, Isiah Thomas spoke a little bit about the loud ovation he received from the Detroit fans. “It is always kind of embarrassing to live with because we always looked at ourselves as a team and as a Pistons family. Anything that I ever did is because of the team. I’m thankful and I’m grateful and very appreciative of the way that I’m treated here.”
Isiah addressed the crowd before the game and joked that he didn’t know who would win between the old school Bad Boys and today’s Pistons. Rasheed, though, was less bashful. “I think we could have got them. It would be a hell of a game. I’ll tell you that. I’m not sure who would win – of course I’m going to say us – but damn, it would be a hell of a game. A hell of a game.”
For posterity’s sake, the All-Time Team included: Mark Aguirre, Chauncey Billups, Dave Bing, Adrian Dantley, Dave DeBusschere, Joe Dumars, James Edwards, Chris Ford, Richard Hamilton, Grant Hill, Bailey Howell, Lindsey Hunter, Vinnie Johnson, Bill Laimbeer, Bob Lanier, John Long, Rick Mahorn, Tayshaun Prince, Dennis Rodman, John Salley, Ray Scott, Gene Shue, Jerry Stackhouse, Isiah Thomas, Kelly Tripucka, Terry Tyler, Jimmy Walker, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace and George Yardley.
I missed this, but A. Sherrod Blakely writes that an all-time starting five was also named: Isiah, Bing, Hill, Rodman and Lanier.
The players credit Bill Davidson for the organization’s success. From Chris McCosky:
To everybody else, it was a celebration of 50 years of Pistons basketball. To the members of the all-time Pistons team, it was a celebration of the man who made it all happen — owner Bill Davidson.
“How ironic is it that we are having this the day after Mr. Davidson was elected to the Hall of Fame,” Dave Bing said. “We all thought he was going to get in last year and that was very disappointing. But to see Adrian (Dantley) and Dick Vitale and Mr. D all get in, it’s come at a nice time for the whole organization.”
Good stuff from Pistons.com:
Text of pre-game speeches from Dave Bing, Isiah Thomas and Chauncey Billups
Pre-game autograph session video
Keith Langlois: Oh, What a Night
The All-Time Team in pictures
Update: If you weren’t lucky enough to attend the game, Need4Sheed has a nice recap of what the television broadcast missed. (Also, if you weren’t lucky enough to even watch the ceremony on TV, well, Need4Sheed has you covered there, too.
Imagine a 7 game series with Laimbeer and Sheed guarding eachother. That would be downright NASTY. More heart that you can possibly fit into a power forward…
I wasnt old enough or even following the NBA at that point bit hard living in the bush in Australia), but damn did I get goosebumps watching that!
* (
My all-time Pistons starting five, with backups (after the comma)…
PG - Isiah, Chauncey
SG - Dumars, Rip
SF - Hill, Tay
PF - Sheed, Rodman
C - Lanier, Laimbeer
…I know the older players were probably great too but I don’t know all that much about them. Lanier I know because I’ve been hearing about him since I was a kid, my older brother went to St. Bonaventure where Lanier is a legend.
That was so much fun to watch. Best hour in television in a long, long time. And after seeing Buddha bald and clean-shaven? I think I’m going to have to finally buy one of those DBB Buddha t-shirts.
By the time his career is over, assuming no career ending injury, Amir will make the top 10 Pistons players of all time list.
I remember a couple years ago, Dumars was asked who would win between the Bad Boys and this team. He said that the way the game is called now they would have had a lot of trouble with the current team. But if it was called the way it was back then, “we would’ve put some hands on ‘em.”
I always loved that line.
Darshan, that’s very true. The game is different now… it’s like comparing apples and oranges. I liked the rules back in the day. It was a very physical game.
can I admit as a grown ass man that I had a bit of a creeper well up in the corner of both eyes as I watched that… The team was never the same after Mahorn got picked up by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the expansion draft, even though they won it in 1990 also. It was cool to see all of them back together, true bad boys that lived up to their hype and their names.
A couple of notes about the ceremony and the game:
-Hands down, the best Pistons game I have ever went to, (even in a lost).
-Isiah and Blaha are great speakers, not so much Chauncey.
-Chauncey if you are going to talk your junk at the end of the ceremony, at least make sure your team brings their “A Game”!!! I know he was just joking around but knowing Isiah and his “old school” mentality he took that as a challenge. And in result he had his team (which is one of the worst teams in the league) lay an ass-whooping on the team Chauncey claims would beat Isiah’s and Joe’s Badboys. Good showing!
- Chauncey didn’t have a too bad of game but I know he could of played better and the same goes for the rest of the starting five.
- Even with more than half the crowd missing from action, with less than 2 minutes left, the Palace was still rocking…literally.
- And if it wasn’t for that miracle shot by Collins with less than 10 seconds in the game. Rodney Stuckey, with out a doubt, would of sent this thing into Overtime. -That guy is amazing-
Also, after watching the video Matt put up, it doesn’t seem like the crowd is that loud but I think it’s only because of the “Final Countdown” being so loud. But believe me, that crowd was eruptive through-out the entire player introductions.
That was just too awesome… I was pretty much too young to grow up a Bad Boys era fan but it’s impossible to not appreciate that kind of history.