Those who were alive to see it will tell you 80s and 90s basketball was a fiercer, more physical breed than the finesse stylings of today’s perimeter-oriented NBA. There are exceptions, of course—P.J. Tucker and Draymond Green both play with an edge while Clippers instigator Patrick Beverley delicately straddles the line between gritty and reckless. But by and large, the NBA’s blue-collar era that birthed the “Bad Boys” Pistons (a rugged group anchored by the likes of Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Bill Laimbeer and Dennis Rodman) and other, similarly hardnosed teams has largely come to pass.
Nobody embodied that aesthetic quite like Rick Mahorn, a contact-craving, low-post enforcer and one of the most imposing figures to ever step on an NBA hardwood. The 6’10” big had already left the Pistons by the time they snubbed the rival Bulls at the conclusion of the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals, famously leaving the court without shaking hands. Chicago’s four-game sweep would serve as a symbolic passing of the torch, ushering in a new NBA dynasty. The classless gesture not only reflected poorly on the Pistons’ franchise, but it was likely the reason Thomas wasn’t chosen for the United States Olympic “Dream Team” the following year.
Thirty years have passed since that incident (which was chronicled during the recent Last Dance documentary), and while history will likely remember them as sore losers, Mahorn doesn’t think Detroit owes the Bulls anything, much less an apology. “F--- them,” said a defiant Mahorn during his appearance Thursday on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz. “I don’t even shake hands when I lose a championship. Man, forget that.”
Clearly, the 62-year-old hasn’t softened much with old age. Mahorn will return to the sideline as head coach of Trilogy (led by former NBA All-Star Kenyon Martin) when Big3, a professional 3-on-3 league co-founded by Ice Cube, resumes play in New Orleans next week.
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