CLEVELAND, OH – APRIL 20: LeBron James
With the Detroit Pistons bringing back fan favorite Anthony Tolliver, we take a look back at the most popular Pistons bench players of the last 17 years.
There has always been something special about a good Pistons bench player. The ‘Bad Boys’ had legends like Mark Aguirre, Dennis Rodman, John Salley, Vinnie ‘The Microwave’ Johnson, and James Edwards riding the pine.
That ‘Boy Boys’ roster managed to bring two NBA championships to Detroit, but the franchise faced a decline after being swept by the Chicago Bulls in the ’91 Eastern Conference Finals. Starting in the ’91-’92 season, the franchise failed to make it past the first round of the playoffs for the next 10 seasons. Much of this time was composed of the often maligned “Teal Era.”
In the year 2000, Detroit switched their jerseys back to their classic blue and red, and the following year they hired Rick Carlisle as head coach. That season, 2001-2002, the Pistons finally managed to make it past the first round of the playoffs, defeating the Toronto Raptors. This is where we will start our list of iconic Detroit bench players, right after some honorable mentions….