Scottie Pippen had his fair share of intense and physical on-court encounters with some of the most notorious bruisers in NBA history. Among them was Detroit Pistons bruiser Bill Laimbeer.
During his playing years, Laimbeer earned quite a reputation for playing dirty against his rivals. In one playoff game, he even infamously knocked Pippen down with a hard elbow. Despite that, Pip insisted that he never once felt intimidated by Lambs. Not before the incident, and certainly not after.
In fact, years have passed since they last faced each other on the court, but not one bit has changed in how Pippen viewed Laimbeer as an opponent.
“No, he’s not terrifying to play against at all [laughs],” the six-time champion told Slam in 2014. “Did you expect me to say, Yes, he’s terrifying?”
Pippen thinks Laimbeer was just a follower
Laimbeer may be one of the most recognizable figures of the infamous Bad Boy Pistons, but for Pippen, he was just nothing more or less than a follower. Pip believed that even though almost every member of the Bad Boys instilled fear in their opponents, they still followed one leader, and that’s none other than Isiah Thomas.
In a separate discussion, Pippen looked back at the time when the Bulls finally gained the strength to beat the Pistons in the playoffs. It was a very long time ago, but the six-time Champ still thinks that there is no other way to describe what the Pistons did when they refused to shake their hands after getting swept.
For Pippen, it was a perfect demonstration of what “classless” means in professional sports.
“We always felt that way about them,” Pippen said in 2011 via Bulls.com. “There was no love on that side of the line. We knew they would pull out all the stops to try and beat us, whether it was physically or mentally. We were ready for the challenge. What they did at the end of that series in 1991 by walking off the court, as players, we expected it. You didn’t see any players on our team trying to acknowledge them as they walked by.”
“We knew they were a classless team with a classless leader in Isiah [Thomas]. We knew that they were following their leader,” he continued.
The bad blood between the Bulls and the Pistons is real
Truth be told, Pippen’s fiery comments about Laimbeer, Thomas and the rest of the Bad Boys speak volumes about the long-standing rivalry between the Bulls and the Pistons. For sure, both squads could’ve put everything behind them, but it appears that neither of them is willing to do so.
In “The Last Dance,” it was clear that the Bulls were still mad about the way the Pistons behaved after they lost, considering they had been bullying them for years. On the other hand, the Detroit squad felt the same way about Chicago as they insisted that they had been crybabies all throughout their rivalry.
It is yet to be known whether the Bulls and the Pistons legends would ever bury the hatchet. What is clear as of now is that Pippen had never been scared to take on Laimbeer or any of the Bad Boys.