The 30 greatest NBA team rivalries in league history
12. Best NBA rivalries of all-time: Detroit Pistons vs. Los Angeles Lakers
The battles between these two stretch back farther than most NBA fans realize. From 1950 to 1962, the Los Angeles Lakers matched up with the Detroit — previously of Fort Wayne — Pistons in nine out of 13 postseasons, losing just once. Fast forward a couple of decades to the more modern adaptation of this rivalry.
During the 1980s, Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas were kings of the point guard position, but couldn’t be less alike in how they went about. Johnson was a 6-foot-9 flashy highlight reel unto himself, where Thomas stood just 6-foot-1, the quicker and more gritty of the two whose competitive personality wasn’t masked behind a smile like the maestro of Showtime.
Despite their differences, the two developed a bond, going so far as a little pre-game peck on the cheek before they tipped-off against one another. Upon meeting in the 1988 NBA Finals, their friendship was put to the test as Thomas was in a position to capture what Johnson had experienced several times before, this time at the expense of his friend.
Aside from their stark geographical distinctions, the Pistons and the Lakers brought vastly contrasting styles of play to the court. Los Angeles ruled the West Coast with its high-octane offense, while Detroit embraced its Bad Boy persona, a physically imposing style that didn’t draw many fans.
Their first NBA Finals matchup went the distance, but could have — and arguably should have– ended in six. Thomas badly sprained his ankle in a way that would’ve kept most mortals on the bench. Instead, he returned to score 11 of his team’s final 15 with 25 in the final frame overall.
If not for what Pistons fans refer to as a phantom foul call on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar by Bill Laimbeer in the final seconds, Detroit all but claims the title. Abdul-Jabbar hits both free throws to give Los Angeles the lead and ultimately the win. The Lakers would go on to win the series in seven.
This, however, wasn’t the end for the Bad Boys. They fought back the following season to face off against the purple and gold once again in the Finals. This time, it was Los Angeles that was compromised by injuries, a fact the Pistons felt no sympathy in exploiting on their way to a clean sweep and the first championship in franchise history.
The 2004 NBA Finals had a Lakers starting lineup with four future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers, while the Pistons had but a single NBA All-Star from that season. Despite the gap in talent, Detroit cruised to one of the more shocking upsets in league history with a five-game series victory with a similar brand of physicality to its teams of the past.
Thomas and Johnson’s friendship took a turn for the worst after the little brother finally earned a seat at the table. The 2004 NBA Finals ended up being Shaquille O’Neal’s final games in a Lakers jersey.
In a battle between two sides that weren’t supposed to be equals, the Pistons’ hard-fought victories altered their perception at the expense of the gold standard NBA franchise, as sweet a victory as there is for both the city and its fans.