NBA Playoffs: Ranking the 5 mentally and physically toughest teams of all-time
By Robby Sabo
2. The Bad Boys
Surprised? Yeah, you have a right to be.
When discussing the most rugged teams in NBA Playoffs history, the Bad Boys usually go down as the top squad.
However, they come in at No. 2 on this list, and for a very good reason.
It’s true. These guys were probably the most physically dominating NBA team of all-time. It’s also true that they reveled in intimidation.
The ploy was a tactic. It was what defined them. It’s what also turned some NBA heads off to the Detroit Pistons during the late 1980s.
Many felt the dirtiness and cheap ways of Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman and others, granted them a better fate than what they truly deserved.
That notion is completely ridiculous. They were the best team during the ’89 and ’90 playoffs, and deserved to be crowned champions.
What has them in the No. 2 hole rather than atop the list, however, is the fact that they allowed a voice of someone else to get the better of them.
After the Pistons were finally beat-down by Jordan’s Bulls during the ’91 playoffs (in four-straight), Isiah Thomas and most of the crew walked off the floor while there was still time remaining on the clock:
Most believe it was a direct response to Jordan’s words. They didn’t especially like that MJ said his team would have to overcome the Pistons “dirtying it up.”
The “walk-off” was a classless move that will forever haunt this group. Isiah ducking past Jordan even costed him a spot on the ’92 Dream Team, most theorize.
If you’re going to revel in your style of a mentally and physically strong team, you must also be mentally strong enough to accept defeat in the most gracious of ways. This didn’t show anything that could be described as toughness. Rather, it showed a sign of weakness.
You don’t have to like that you lost, but you need to respect the game.
Regardless of that last final act, there’s no taking away the accomplishments this squad produced on the court.
The 1988-89 team, who won the first of two titles, went 63-19 and finished second in the league by only allowing 100.8 points per game.
A year later, they followed it up by only surrendering 98.3 points per game while winning 59 games, and their second-straight title.
Chuck Daly’s defensive philosophies led to a smothering effect, usually equipped with hard fouls and fights like these:
Be careful though. Do not overrate the smarts of this group. Brilliant defensive schemes and rotations led to the hush-hush “Jordan Rules”:
Next: Number 1