Detroit Pistons: 4 thoughts about the kids and Blake Griffin’s future

4. Everybody hates Isaiah Stewart, a true Bad Boy

Say what you will about Pistons general manager Troy Weaver’s trades this offseason, but one of them was for the right to draft Isaiah Stewart, and that’s a home run all by itself. Stewart is a center who plays like he wants to destroy everyone and everything in front of him. In the tradition of hyper-energetic undersized centers like Ben Wallace, he is a wrecking ball of chaos on the boards.

He’s particularly dynamic on the offensive boards where he’s fifth in offensive rebounds per 36 minutes among players who have been on the floor for more than 100 minutes.

As you can see above, the touch might not be there yet on the offensive end, but he’s a ball of energy and effort that never stops battling.

When you play with this kind of overachieving spirit, you’re going to piss some people off. That’s been the case for Isaiah Stewart, a man who got ejected in his first preseason game against the New York Knicks. He also earned Giannis Antetokounmpo’s ire in their last game against the Milwaukee Bucks, where his teammate Blake Griffin and coach Sean Sweeney stepped in before something bad happened to the two-time defending MVP.

Everybody outside of Detroit might hate him, but that just makes Piston fans love him more. If you want to build a Bad Boy mentality, you start with an Isaiah Stewart.