I find it pretty annoying how Laimbeer is often categorized as JUST being a bruiser. He was one of the earliest stretch bigs.
he had a rebounding title too. he was clearly one of the top bigs in the East not wearing a Celtics or Sixers uniform, but he was maybe the dirtiest player ever.
As a huge Laimbeer fan there’s never been anyone dirtier. IIRC he bit a dude’s hand with the full bite and shake on a rebound and gave him stitches.
Old heads be like back in the day that was a common foul
Kermit Washington literally almost killed a man on the court.
That was during a fight, which is not the same as being a dirty player. Kermit was pretty much the complete opposite of a dirty player throughout his career.
Unfortunately your antics will always overshadow how good you are in the court.
Draymond is probably in that category as well
Probably?
Maybe, He does have a DPOY tho, whereas Laimbeer doesn’t have any major awards. And has been part of more iconic moments.
just like Draymond Green, people act like he wasn’t and elite two player
Not just antics, it’s also about the reputation you cultivate. And Laimbeer absolutely wanted everyone to know he was going to try to hurt you.
The first to make the archetype stick in the NBA. Sabas was in his timeline and maybe they were the only bigs around trying to bang threes like it was last call.
Jack Sikma turned into a stretch 5 at the end of his career in Milwaukee and shot 35% from 3 the last 3 years on pretty heavy (for the era) volume.
For real though, Laimbeer was shooting threes at a decent clip when most bigs wouldn’t even look at the arc. Sabonis had the vision and touch too, but Laimbeer got the green light way before it was cool.
Listen, when they make an snes game about how you beat the shit out of people on the basketball court, it kinda overshadows your other qualities
Yeah there’s a reason they didn’t go with “Bill Laimbeer’s Stretch Big Basketball” as the title
The thing is every Eastern Conference contender during that time had the same play style. It was an extremely physical game. The Pistons just took it a little too far but they were far from the only “Dirty” team. Laimbeer was a hell of a player and dirty both things can be true.
For real, the Celtics were dirty af, especially in the early 80s.
Lol, I vaguely remember something like this. I looked it up to find Bill Laimbeer’s Combat Basketball.
I do enjoy the part where you can cut your opponents down by throwing what looks like a circular saw blade. Also, the game supposedly takes place in 2030, so this is what the NBA will look like in 4 years.
A hilariously terrible game no less
And he also had great BBIQ and leadership as evidenced by him being one of the GOAT WNBA coaches with multiple rings and COTY accolades during his coaching career.
Yeah people really sleep on his basketball mind. The fact that he went from being that guy on the court to arguably the best coach in WNBA history says a lot about how much he actually understood the game beyond just being physical.
I’m sure the players catching Lambeers elbows to the head also found it annoying too
lol fair point. Dude was legit a good shooter for his era though, hard to find centers who could step out and hit 15 footers consistently back then. The elbows just kinda overshadow everything else.
The Pistons were elite, but somehow their rep became only “dirty and physical”.
If you watch their games, Zeke had the best handles of that era. Dumars and Aguirre were buckets.
but somehow their rep became
It’s a mystery that a team called the Bad Boys would have such a rep.
“somehow”
You don’t become back to back champs amonst the late 80s Lakers, Celtics, and Bulls without being damn good.
Eh, the late 80s Celtics were kinda washed by the time the Pistons ascended to championship level.
I don’t fade em for being dirty because their opponents were dirty. Boston and Philly were nasty defense teams(those Boston teams literally clotheslined Kurt Rambis off his feet). Charles Barkley was a mean, dirty player whom just happened to be really good. The Pistons used to get their ass whooped until they decided to just be dirtier than everyone else.
He was a hell of a player, but he was also a thug. And he’ll rightly remembered for being a dirty player before being a good one.
Averaging 12-9 doesn’t make up for him being a massive asshole who tried to injure other players, he was so hated his own teammate punched him in the face…
Steve Kerr was also punched in the face by a teammate.
a teammate
I don’t think His Airness was ever called a “teammate” before..
He definitely had some ball skills but like others have said because of his reputation as a dirty player that’s what will always be remembered more.
If you grew up in Chicago as a Bulls fan or watched any basketball with Bill Laimbeer you don’t care about the title of “stretch big”, you care about how he tried to put your home team players on stretchers from 1 - 5. Seeing him do that shit against Mike and even Larry Bird just showed that he was a hack.
I’m so glad they got their asses swept in 91.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Laimbeer categorized as JUST a bruiser unless by bruiser you mean one the dirtiest players to play the game. He intentionally injured other players. It’s not like he was an enforcer. He was dirty.
It always blows me away how much slower the game was when we go back and see clips from this era.
Despite all the old heads who constantly romanticize the 80s and 90s I really think the game is a lot better today.
Jack Sikma, also.
But he was notoriously dirty. I think he was even proud of it.
He still is. He wasn’t in the friends-making business during his career.
None of the Pistons really give af, except Isiah who rightfully assumes it lead to him being excluded from the Dream Team and hurt his legacy.
I’d feel bad for Isiah if he didn’t destroy the Knicks.
I was too young watching the Pistons win those 2 titles, but I remember thinking that Laimbeer had a nice, smooth jumpshot. In today’s game he would be hoisting them from 3.
Should easily be in the Hall of Fame by the way, 2 time NBA champ, 3 time WNBA champ.
Surprised he isn’t already.
This that 80s defense LeBron wouldn’t survive?
Its 2026 no one is categorizing Laimbeer that often
Imagine seeing an NBA court today not plastered with ads everywhere
I find Laimbeer being dirty is like the current day flopping - the players are exploiting the insufficiency in the rules and/or officiating. Before 90-91, flagrant foul on a scorer is practically no difference to a normal foul, so Detroit/Laimbeer used that to their advantage. It’s unethical, ruined the game and shouldn’t be supported. That’s also why NBA changed the flagrant foul rule (free throw + retain possession).
Any non-basketball actions to exploit the rules should be penalized and have the rules changed accordingly. Hopefully NBA can fix the rules on flopping as well.
All that was from just one game. Dude was hitting face-up jumpers, pick n pops and hitting shots from areas where centers just weren’t operating much back then. It doesn’t suddenly turn him into some forgotten offensive genius, but it does make you realize the “Laimbeer = human wrecking ball” narrative got simplified over time. The dirty stuff became his legacy, but the guy had more skill and offensive versatility than people give him credit for.
He was a human piece of shit. A rich boy
Lots of utility bigs could make the 15-18 footer in the 80s and 90s, from AC Green to later PJ Brown.
I wouldn’t say he was one of the earliest stretch bigs. Bob Pettit was a stretch big in the 1950s, and there were quite a few others before Laimbeer.
And his contemporaries were real sick and tired of his shit when it comes to playing dirty
I think many people do acknowledge Laimbeer was a good player, but he was also one of the dirtiest motherfuckers in the league
You’re remembered for what you’re best at.
He is also one of the dirtiest player of all time too
Second clip, dude at top of key travels
wait he actually shot threes that much back then
Jordan’s media.
This is like saying Hitler was bad but he did make some decent paintings.
Nah. It’s like saying you’re mad he doesn’t get more recognition for his good paintings. Pointing out the fact that he did make some good paintings is what you just did i.e. trivial.
I mean he’s lucky that today’s NBA viewers even consider him a bruiser still.
That was every white guy under 7’ back in the 80’s and 90’s.
Nah. Laimbeer was not a stretch big. Plenty of bigs had a decent midddy and chucked a random 3 once in a while. Perkins was probably the first true stretch big.