Multiple explanations have been given by the Pistons for what some view as a lack of sportsmanship and what others view as an overblown storyline. Hall of Fame guard Isiah Thomas pointed out that the Pistons were utilizing the same walk-off tactic that the 1988 Celtics had when Detroit got past Boston in a heated playoff series. In his view, the Pistons were simply following a protocol of sorts at the time. Beyond that, the Pistons were also angered by comments the Bulls had made before the clinching Game 4 in which Michael Jordan called Detroit "undeserving champions" in 1989 and 1990.
On the Jamie and Stoney morning show on 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit on Tuesday morning, Thomas shed more light on the situation. He explained that the Pistons were also upset with the public perception that the Bulls helped create of Detroit -- both the basketball team and the city.
That was where much of their disdain of the Bulls originated, Thomas said. The Pistons had eliminated the Bulls from the playoffs in 1988, 1989 and 1990 before Chicago broke through and went on to win six championships in eight years.
"We were the first small-market team in the NBA to really have the type of success that we had," said Thomas, a Chicago native. "San Antonio was the second. We always had to fight the larger media markets in terms of perception and propaganda. And Phil Jackson and the Chicago Bulls at that time, they were very good at what I call the labeling theory. They did an excellent job of labeling us and giving us bad, negative descriptions. I said this on the air the other day -- the racialized language that they were using around our basketball team was very insensitive. And not only did we take offense to it, but I think all of Detroit took offense to it because of the way it was being talked about. I believe that (Bill) Laimbeer, that was probably the first time in his life that he has ever been labeled a thug or been called a thug -- at any point in time. For all of us inside the locker room, it was very disheartening to be labeled that way and to be thought about in those terms."
When pressed, Thomas acknowledged that he and the Pistons did take pride in their "Bad Boys" moniker -- but only after the narrative was down the road quite a ways.
"If you remember, we had to take the label, we had to take the negative term, now we coined the phrase, but we had to take the negative labels and make them work for us as a basketball team," Thomas said. "And that's what we decided to do. And those were the mental games that you would play with teams. If you can't shake the label, then you embrace the label."
Listen to the full interview below as Thomas discusses many other Bulls-Pistons storylines.