The game has drastically evolved over the years. Bigs no longer bang in the post, and everybody is jacking up a bunch of 3-pointers. Interestingly, Hall of Fame point guard Isiah Thomas said the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons had been playing that type of basketball back in the 1980s.
Most NBA analysts and aficionados credit Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors for being the blueprint that almost every team in modern-day NBA followed. However, Thomas explained that the Pistons had applied the same approach to the game decades before the Dubs made it famous.
“It was a hard time, but it was a special time because what we did and how we broke through still affects the game today,” Thomas told Slam in 2014. “When I came into the League, everyone was moving towards the 6-8, 6-9 point guard a la Magic Johnson, and everyone had to have a post-up center that played around the basket.”
“When you look at the game now, the centers step out and shoot the 3-point shot a la Bill Laimbeer and most of the teams have small point guards, as opposed to 6-8 and 6-9 point guards,” he continued.
The Bad Boy Pistons’ impact is felt even off the court
Some might think that Thomas, once again, came up with another bold and outrageous claim. However, Zeke noted that whenever he watched NBA games, he couldn’t help but notice the similarities between former Pistons coach Chuck Daly’s playbook and how modern teams play nowadays.
Apart from the game itself, Thomas emphasized that the Bad Boys also set some of the most common off-the-court trends in today’s NBA. For Zeke, people could second-guess his remarks, but they were not up for argument as he was just stating facts.
“We won Championships primarily running a pick-and-roll offense, which is the way the game is played today — our schemes are still implemented and replicated,” Zeke assessed.
“We had profound changes on the game, not only on the court but off the court,” he added. “The way teams travel now and have charter planes and the upgrades in hotels, we definitely upgraded the living situation off the floor. We were the first team to experiment with shooting shirts and a third uniform and third color. The innovations and marketing we brought to the game has had a profound impact on the League and the game today.”
The Bad Boys are legends in their own right
Whether fans would agree with Thomas or not, that wouldn’t change one bit about the fact that the Bad Boys were really one-of-a-kind. With Zeke leading the charge, the Pistons dominated the league and proved that they were more than just a group of bruisers and goons.
Moreover, the Bad Boys epitomized teamwork as the team didn’t really have pure scorers. Instead, they relied on their ability to play strategic and selfless basketball.
To this day, many are still criticizing the Bad Boy Pistons for not setting a good example because of their wild antics and extreme physicality. However, they silenced their doubters when they won the NBA championship in two consecutive years (in 1989 and 1990).
All told, it’s totally understandable if people wouldn’t give Thomas and the rest of the crew the credit they deserve for being ahead of their time. Nevertheless, they were undoubtedly one of the greatest teams in NBA history, and no one can take that away.