10 best duos in Detroit Pistons’ history
#4: Bill Laimbeer & Rick Mahorn
The baddest of the Bad Boys, Bill Laimbeer and Rick Mahorn were the enforcers for a Pistons team that managed to win back-to-back championships. Night in and night out the Pistons took the best shot from whomever they were playing, and night in and night out they dished it right back. Neither Laimbeer nor Mahorn dominated the box score during this era. Their individual accolades were rare. And yet without them, there are no championship parades, and no telling where this franchise would be today.
Both Laimbeer and Mahorn were traded to Detroit, castoff by the teams that drafted them. One was thrown away by the Cavaliers, another by the Bullets. Both found forever homes in Detroit. Laimber came to the D in 1981 and took over the center position for the next 12 years. Mahorn arrived in 1985 for his first stint with the team, which lasted long for him to bag a championship. The highlight reels from those years are full of beautiful passing by Isiah Thomas, rainbow jumpers from Joe Dumars, and Dennis Rodman diving into the crowd, but they’re also chock full of clips of Laimbeer and Mahorn straight beating people up. Those two bullied their way to the cover of Sports Illustrated and cemented themselves in Detroit sports lore due to their sheer wills. They weren’t the most gifted athletes. They earned a reputation for being dirty. But underneath it all, they wanted to win badly and had the muscle to make it happen. Simple as that. Our blue collar fans loved them for it, and continue to to this day.