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Building a lineup of Detroit Pistons fans’ most hated players

By Jonah Kubicek

Forward Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics sits on the bench during a game.
Forward Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics sits on the bench during a game. /
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Detroit Pistons
Forward Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics sits on the bench during a game. /

Detroit Pistons: The All-time most hated team

Small Forward: Larry Bird

From this point on, everyone will be playing their natural position. Up until fairly recently, Larry Bird was a universal top-six player in NBA history. Then Duncan, Kobe, Curry, and Shaq came along and bumped him down a few pegs in the eyes of most fans. Bird was the first great three-point shooter and a true competitor, a real winner. Detroiters respect him, feared him, and hated him.

Bird has several reasons to be considered most hated all time by the Motor City. For starters, he kept the Pistons out of the 1987 NBA Finals, which would have been their first appearance ever.

Bird also had a noted rivalry with Bill Laimbeer, in which Bird accused Laimbeer of playing dirty and headhunting. Was he right? No, absolutely not! Laimbeer was just a physical player. It should be noted that the pair run in the same circles of coaching/managing, but still don’t really talk.

The personal drama and success he had against the Bad Boys should be enough to seal Bird’s spot as one of the most hated players by Pistons fans ever, and man would be a scary sight in the lineup so far.