Bill Laimbeer Isn’t Backing Down on the Pistons’ Walk-Off Against the Bulls and Is Still Calling Them Names
āThe Last Danceā docuseries on ESPN, which not only features the story of the 1997-1998 Chicago Bulls but also looks back on the entire career of Michael Jordan, has given new life to so many stories that people may not have thought about in years. One such story involves Jordan and the Bulls attempting to finally get past Isiah Thomas, Bill Laimbeer, and the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference in the late ā80s and early ā90s.
That naturally led to the Bullsā sweep of the Pistons in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals and Detroitās infamous walk-off before Game 4 was over. Isiah Thomas offered up an apology on the matter earlier this week and says that things would likely go down a little differently if he had to do it over again. Bill Laimbeer is taking a different route.
Bill Laimbeer was the heart of the āBad Boysā
Bill Laimbeer began his NBA career with the Cleveland Cavaliers but heāll always be remembered for his time with the Detroit Pistons, with whom he spent 13 seasons. Traded to Detroit in 1982, Laimbeer was a four-time NBA All-Star in the 1980s and was one of the best big men on the perimeter. While mainly remembered for his physical play later in his career, Laimbeer was an underrated scorer, averaging a career-high 17.5 points in 1984-1985. He was also a great rebounder and led the league in that category in 1985-1986, pulling down 13.1 boards per game.
As his career rolled along, he became one of the leagueās most physical players and constantly frustrated his opponents, which would sometimes turn into legitimate altercations. As the Pistons became known as the NBAās āBad Boysā, Laimbeer was right there in the middle of it and helped the team to back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990.
Bill Laimbeer led the walk-off against the Chicago Bulls in 1991
You certainly know the story by now. And if you didnāt, you likely learned it while watching āThe Last Danceā this past weekend. In the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals, the Detroit Pistons were on the verge of being swept by the Chicago Bulls.
The Bulls took a 3-0 series lead and dominated Game 4 in Detroit. With 7.9 seconds remaining, Chicago was up 21 points and Michael Jordan & Co. were ready to celebrate their first trip to the NBA Finals. So Bill Laimbeer came up with the idea of simply leaving the court before the game was over. Laimbeer, Isiah Thomas, and a number of other Detroit players walked right past the Chicago bench (the look on Jordanās face was priceless) and hit the locker room. No handshakes. No hugs. They just bolted. While Isiah has said that he might do things differently today, Bill Laimbeer isnāt having any of that.
He has no regrets and thinks the Bulls are āwhinersā
Bill Laimbeer has zero regrets about what he and the Detroit Pistons did in 1991. Heās constantly defended the style of play that earned them the āBad Boysā moniker and that holds true to this day. In an interview with ESPNās Rachel Nichols earlier this week, Laimbeer defended his decision to lead the walk-off 29 years ago.
āWhy would I regret it now, today? I donāt care what the media says about me. I never did. If I did, Iād be a basket case, especially back then.
āI 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 ā and we did. At the end of the day, weāre called world champions.
āThey 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. We werenāt bad people. We were just basketball players winning, and that really stuck with me because they didnāt know who we were or what we were about as individuals and our family life.
āBut all that whining they did, I didnāt 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.ā
Bill Laimbeer
Thatās Bill Laimbeerās story and heās sticking to it. Right or wrong, you at least have to give him credit for not changing his story. The same canāt be said for Isiah Thomas.