Fansided

Every NBA team’s best iteration ever

By Micah Wimmer

PORTLAND, OR - 1987: Head Coach Pat Riley leads Magic Johnson #32, Byron Scott #4, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar #33 during a game played circa 1987 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1987 NBAE (Photo by Brian Drake/NBAE via Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR - 1987: Head Coach Pat Riley leads Magic Johnson #32, Byron Scott #4, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar #33 during a game played circa 1987 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1987 NBAE (Photo by Brian Drake/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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SACRAMENTO, CA – 1988: Isiah Thomas #11 of the Detroit Pistons waits to resume play against the Sacramento Kings during a game played on February 23, 1988 at Arco Arena in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1988 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CA – 1988: Isiah Thomas #11 of the Detroit Pistons waits to resume play against the Sacramento Kings during a game played on February 23, 1988 at Arco Arena in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1988 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Detroit Pistons: 1988-89

Entering the 1988-89 season, the Detroit Pistons were a team with something to prove. They had made the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals before falling to Boston in seven games, and in 1988 came one Isiah Thomas ankle injury away from potentially stealing the championship away from the Lakers. Now, this was sure to be their year. They had perennial All-Star Isiah Thomas as their point guard, combining the ability to both score and create for others as well as anyone in the league. Joe Dumars was coming into his own as a scorer and Vinnie Johnson, the Microwave, was the archetypal sixth man who could put up buckets in a fury off the bench. Additionally, their front line of Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman, Rick Mahorn, and John Salley were absolutely brutal to try to score on. Laimbeer was also a stretch-5 before they had a name for it, showing an ability to knock down 3-pointers as well as be a force in the paint.

Midway through the season, the Pistons traded Adrian Dantley for Mark Aguirre, who put up less impressive numbers, but meshed much better with the team, which helped solidify them for their inevitable playoff clashes with the Celtics and the Lakers. They swept both teams, losing just two games in the entirety of the playoffs on their way to the first championship in team history. This Pistons team brought a hard-nosed style of basketball to the free flowing NBA of the 80s, coming across their title of Bad Boys honestly, if not necessarily honorably. The Pistons would repeat as champions in 1990, before being unseated by age and Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in the 1991 Conference Finals. The 1989 team was the better of the two title teams, though, with a better offense, a higher SRS, and one of the more dominant playoff runs in league history.

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