Perhaps no team in the history of American sport has established a clearer, longer-lasting identity than the Detroit Pistons of the 1980s. Dubbed the ‘Bad Boys,’ this infamous basketball squad was forever enshrined into basketball lore because of their gritty, tenacious style of play that remains unmatched in NBA history.
The Bad Boys were a spectacle–while they routinely sent opposing players to the floor with tough screens, hard fouls, and the occasional right hook, there was also a method to the Pistons’ madness that made them an unstoppable force. Spurred by an elite defense, Detroit stifled opponents while their team-oriented offense hummed with a machine-like precision.