The Bulls vs Pistons may be on well-enough terms today, but they used to have a nasty rivalry in the 90s.
Thanks to the “Bad Boys” and their aggressive strategies against Jordan and the Bulls, they have always been considered their biggest competitors. Things boiled over in the aftermath of the 1991 Finals when Pistons starters who were already on the bench walked off the court without shaking hands with the Bulls.
On ESPN’s The Jump, Bill Laimbeer denied ever regretting that decision, and called the Bulls a “bunch of whiners.”
“Why would I regret it now today?” Laimbeer asked. “I don’t care what the media says about me. I never did. If I did, I’d be a basket case, especially back then.
“I was about winning basketball games and winning championships and did whatever I had to do to get the most out of my ability and our team — and we did. At the end of the day, we’re called world champions.”
“They whined and cried for a year and a half about how bad we were for the game, but more importantly, they said we were bad people,” Laimbeer said. “We weren’t bad people. We were just basketball players winning, and that really stuck with me because they didn’t know who we were or what we were about as individuals and our family life.
“But all that whining they did, I didn’t want to shake their hand. They were just whiners. They won the series. Give him credit: we got old, they got past us. But OK, move on.”
It’s true that the Pistons’ strategies were often highly criticized. They were seen as villains by most in the community.
But they have their own perspective on things and, in their mind, they were just trying to win games. It’s safe to assume they’ll never agree on that point.
