May 8, 2024 • 45 mins
Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas stops by to talk about the team's back-to-back NBA championships, his biggest gripe with the Chicago Bulls, and whether the team is the NBA’s forgotten dynasty. But first, we head inside the metaphorical locker room that once was CNN Sports Tonight, complete with 2:30 a.m. newscasts, Subway sandwiches, and Hannah’s future husband Dan Hicks. Hannah and Dan revisit the earliest days of their relationship and reminisce about how the Detroit Pistons changed East Coast basketball.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
He is red hot, tied at one seven eighteen seconds,
ten seconds ago.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
In the history of the NBA, perhaps few teams are
as underappreciated as the Detroit Pistons of the late eighties
and early nineties. Catch go, I'll the Christians win. If
you were in Detroit you loved them. Anywhere else you
love to hate them.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Hevy four a second block, go down and birds and
le Beer co at it.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
A tough as nails win at any cost. Team as
gritty as the city they called home.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
You talk closes to within seven and sixty six fifty nine.
Lamber high streeting or.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Isaiah physical, intimidating and brilliant?
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Is Isaiah Rottet.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Up off the high glass and there you gotta love
that sweet shot.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
I clocked a lot of time chronicling those Pistons. In
nineteen eighty nine, I had left Charlotte to take an
anchor job at CNN Sports. At the time, that was
ESPN's biggest rival. The cable networks competed, especially on our
nightly sports shows. I was hired to replace Dan Patrick,
(01:23):
who had just left for ESPN. Of the seventy eight
employees working at CNN Sports at the time, there were
three women, and I was the first ever to work
on air.
Speaker 5 (01:35):
This was one big, gigantic male locker room mentality, and
there literally was not a single woman other than you.
There was a couple producers maybe, but I remember you'd
be sitting in our cubic bowle writing her show or whatever,
and then I could hear Hannah on her high heels
coming down coming down the hallway through the door the hallway,
(01:58):
and she looked great. She always dressed nice. And these
other clowns were like in tennis shoes, like washing their
hair in the sink before they went on.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
That's true, yeah.
Speaker 5 (02:08):
And that's a true story. John Frickey used to do.
He probably some of you might remember the name John Friggie.
But Hannah would come in and everybody be like, there
she is. It was almost like this is such a
departure from the rest of these guys that are hanging out.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
That job helped make my career. It put me on
the national stage covering big events, and on a personal
level it was even more significant. CNN is where I
met my husband of thirty years, Dan Hicks. My mom
called and she said, somebody from Sea and Sand Sports
(02:43):
left a message I was like, sand Sports, that doesn't
make sense. So I called and it was you know,
I called like the number and it was CNN Sports.
I was like, oh cool, And you know, I kind
of got my really big break having worked in Charlotte
and getting hired as an anchor at CNN. And then
along came how much later, Dan? Month? A month later,
(03:07):
along came Dan Hicks Arizona.
Speaker 5 (03:12):
Yeah, from the small podunk town out of the desert,
going to the big city of Atlanta, going up to
the CNN Sports level at CNN Center in the big
time elevator doors open, and who other than my future
wife appears on the other side of the doors as
they open up, And I knew who she was because
(03:32):
I've been watching from Tucson, Arizona for a month before
I got to CNN. So I said hey. Hannah said hey,
and I said, I'm Dan Hicks.
Speaker 6 (03:41):
I'm the new guy.
Speaker 5 (03:42):
Oh Hi, here's the makeup room. I'll show you around.
So Hannah was my first good pal. Little did I
know what it would lead to three kids in a
history of a life together.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Dan became my best friend. Our desks we're side by side,
and we were paired together for many two thirty am
studio shows. He used to sing his favorite Frank Sinatra
to stay awake because oftentimes it felt like we worked
twenty four to seven.
Speaker 5 (04:14):
ESPN had a lot bigger budget than we had, a
lot more people, a lot more firepower, but we were
like the little engine that could, and we kind of
modeled ourselves. But I know you hand to remember this
talking with Bill mcphiale, our president of CN in sports,
who was the former CBS president for twenty years, and
we were like the sports illustrated of Cable Sports Network
(04:35):
in the early days. So we kind of had our
own little style of half hour that we kind of
modeled after that kind of hit all the sports every night.
But yeah, I mean it was the only game in town.
And when we went out of the road, we saw
all these ESPN people and with all of their cadre
of personnel that they brought with him, and we were like,
all right, how are we going to do this with
three people? But that was the CNN. Those are the
(04:57):
CNN days, and we made a lot out of not
a lot.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Just to illustrate your point, I remember at one point
you covered two Bowl games in one day, all by yourself.
Speaker 5 (05:07):
Yes, Like Dan, I was a college football beat reporter,
so my job was to cover the postseason of the
college bowl season. And so they said, yeah, we don't
need to send another person to the Citrus Bowl. Dan's
already covering the Orige Bowl. He could do both in
one day. We kind of took it as a challenge,
but that was the mentality back then of the little
(05:28):
scene in sports engine that could. So I was at
two bowl games and one day.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah, with one producer and one camera.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
We drove like a bat out at hell, from Orlando,
which is the site of the Citrus Bowl, to Miami,
and it was like NonStop chaos and live shots. But
it was we had a certain the camaraderie at CNN
I think was built up because of all those challenges
that we had and all those obstacles that we had
to overcome the produce what we did.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
In the midst of that grind, we had a great time.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
And don't forget the two thirty a m. Eastern Time
studio shows that you and I were at anchor And
at three o'clock in the morning looking for a place
to go. It'd either be a subway grinder, sandwich at
three point fifteen in the morning, or if we were
really filling up to it, a trip to our favorite hat,
the Highland tap Down in the Virginia Highlands area of Atlanta.
(06:22):
So those are the good old days at three o'clock
in the morning, CNN.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Time, CNN and subway. Name two better locations for a
budding romance, I dare you. One of the things we
had in common, of course, was our love of sports.
While we were at CNN, the Pistons were having their heyday.
You know, a lot of people obviously they know about
the Bulls and blah blah blah, but I don't think
(06:45):
they remember how hard it was for the Bulls to
break through and get past the Pistons. Yeah, they were
the roadblock for Chicago.
Speaker 7 (06:53):
Shoot two Mars against Jordan's spins in turns, fakes, lean
in shut got it?
Speaker 8 (06:58):
What a bucket bike?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (07:00):
Absolutely, I mean the Pistons. I remember looking up, you know,
in that scene in Sports Late Night's eleven o'clock show,
whether we're do that show or the two thirty show,
it seemed like every time I looked up in the playoffs,
Bill Lambert had somebody else in a choke hold. I mean,
it was like crazy stuff.
Speaker 9 (07:15):
Upset at Lambert had been for a long time.
Speaker 5 (07:20):
I mean that the Bulls were aggressive, but this was
good guys against the villains. And we say in sports
you kind of need that dynamic for the public and
the ratings to go crazy, and that's exactly what it was.
So if you were going to get to the title,
like Jordan and those guys had to do, they had
to get through the Bad Boys.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
If this was a sports movie, the Pistons would be
cast as the villains. The Pistons dominated during what many
consider the golden era of basketball. The Celtics, the Bulls,
the Showtime Lakers. They beat them all. From the NBA
(08:04):
and iHeart podcast This is NBA DNS It was Me
Hannah Store Episode five.
Speaker 7 (08:11):
The Bad Boys.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
Warm lobs the Bill Lambert outside a hand off the
Joe four seconds three down the lane to.
Speaker 10 (08:23):
The whole of.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
The Motor City. Bad Boys got their start, like most
rebels do, as a challenge to the status quo.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
The Celtics six seventy six, seventy four forty five to
play third quarter.
Speaker 8 (08:38):
Christ's Gotta be careful.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
The iconic eighties Pistons team was the brainchild of an
executive named Jack McCloskey, known league wide as Trader Jack.
His goal was to build a roster good enough to
challenge the mighty Boston Celtics. The best part he actually succeeded.
Speaker 4 (08:58):
Kelly up Top to Lambert backed, Isaiah Deep Cruden, Olborray
Williams beautiful avert.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Trader Jack became the Pistons general manager in nineteen seventy nine.
In nineteen eighty one, he would draft the nucleus of
the franchise for years to come. Isaiah Thomas, a point
guard out of Indiana, but.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
Isaiah one a the sep in the paint for the
ten footer. It drops a huge hoop for Isaiah one
O seven one oh three.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Bill Lambier came soon after McCluskey gave up valuable draft
picks for the Cavaliers to get him. He liked the
six foot eleven centers toughness and.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Hustle fakes it to Lambvier baseline height.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Turns that pick up from there. Vinnie Johnson the microwave,
became a clutch six man big man. Rick Mahorn arrived
in eighty five. Blue collar hero Joe Dumars in eighty six,
and a few years after that, seven foot power forward
(09:59):
John s Ider Sally came along.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Sally what a pint point.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
To say. By nineteen eighty nine, they were the team
to beat. During my time at CNN Sports, we did
features on the most talked about athletes of the day.
I went to Detroit to interview Isaiah Thomas.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Yes, Isaiah, let's see what we got all the way up.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
I think that you were really ahead of your time
in a way that we see manifested now. I remember
going to do a feature on you and Detroit and
it was all about basketball, and you said, I don't
even know how this came up, but you're like, yeah,
I own a paper company.
Speaker 6 (10:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
I was like, you own a paper was it called Jiffy?
Speaker 6 (10:48):
American Speedy Printing?
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Oh, Speedy printing? American Speedy Printing. And you were the
first athlete that I had met that had a whole
entire another business. And it's a thing that you know,
we see more of now. We see a lot of
people diversifying and so forth. But you literally like were
ahead of the curve that way. What was it that
(11:12):
you felt compelled to get involved in business and also
invest in a local business while you were playing.
Speaker 6 (11:19):
You know that my father and my mother and growing
up on the West Side of Chicago had such an
impact and influence on me about being independent and getting
your own and having your own And then, fortunately enough,
I had two business mentors in Detroit. One of them
name was Rick innotone who introduced me to a gentleman
(11:41):
by the name of Steve Balmer.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Oh wow, Steve Balmer. Yeah, holy cow, came home NBA owner. Yeah,
it's crazy.
Speaker 6 (11:51):
Yeah, and so American Speedy Printing. It was a franchise
business and Rick in the tone, you know, was talking
about taking technol and infusing it into old mom and
pop printing business. And you know, we did all right
in that business, and fortunately we got out of it
at the right time because there was a company that
(12:12):
came along called Kinko's. I've heard of that, yes, you know,
and so you know so and I think I was
on the cover of Forbes magazine with a laptop computer
and I was the first NBA player to be on
the cover of Forbes magazine.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Isaiah or Zeke to many fans, would later become one
of my on air partners as an analyst. When I
hosted Double and triple headers on the NBA on NBC.
Speaker 6 (12:42):
The first time about going to get pizza, I'm starving, okay,
and I'm thinking, okay, I'm gonna eat, Like she's gonna
get one piece and I'm gonna get the rest.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
No, not at all. No, I'm like, I'm.
Speaker 6 (12:59):
Like, heady, you could really eat, you could throw down.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
That's so true.
Speaker 6 (13:08):
I mean I was like all on our face and
you're like grubbing up, like all right, this is my
this is my kind of day.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
During those long shifts on NBC, Isaiah would talk about
his childhood on Chicago's West Side as the youngest of
nine children. To hear him tell it, it was a
world of uncertainty. Basketball was his constant.
Speaker 6 (13:32):
By the time I was fourteen, I had moved seven
times and had gone to one to four grade schools.
And back then they were setting you out, you know,
if you couldn't pay the rent right they would just
come and take your furniture and put it outside. So
we got set out several times, and you know, Mom
always found a way. But popcorn and candy, those are
(13:55):
the things that you that you ate. That was like dinner.
Mom would like, you know, gets some unpop popcorn, and
I still cook popcorn today. That's still like one of
my favorite foods. That's just what I ate. I just
ate candy and popcorn. That's that's how I got along.
And unfortunately, I say this now, it was easy to
kind of steal the Snickers bars because they can fit
(14:17):
easily in your frock and you can walk out of
the store with them.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Well, I remember you saying that at times, like you
were like, well, I didn't really have a bedroom because
my I just slept in the.
Speaker 6 (14:31):
Closet, slept in the closet, slept on the ironing board.
When I was smaller, I slept on the ironing board.
And we didn't have much you know there. There wasn't
a lot of beds or you know, well my sister,
my sister always had a big bed in the bedroom.
Speaker 11 (14:48):
The boys we were just kind of like, you know,
wherever you lay your head, that's where you wake up,
you know tonight. You know, it's like and and my
mom always she always would let you know, random people
come in the house.
Speaker 6 (15:04):
You know, the doors were just always open, so you
would wake up and you know one of your friends,
like you know, was down the hall, like you know,
sleeping on the floor, and you would be like, hey man,
how did you get it? It's like, oh man, you
ready to go to school. I'm like, all right, you know,
but it was it was tough times, but there was
(15:25):
a lot of love in the house. My mom always
kept us, you know, singing and listening to music. She
found a way to keep us happy and as healthy
as possible.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
And when did you become interested in basketball? How did
that come about? How old were you?
Speaker 6 (15:43):
My older brothers they all played on basketball teams, and
we didn't have babysitters, so I always had to go
with them wherever they went. You know. I was either
i would be the water boy or the ball boy,
and I'm just watching them dribble, watching them do their thing.
I would imitate them and then imitating them. I learned
(16:03):
how to play, you know. I started playing when I
was probably about like three years old. But I never
looked at it like I'm trying to get to the NBA,
because remember back then, the NBA wasn't even a television right,
you know, I just want to be like my older brothers.
And it's funny like with my with my family now,
we still sting some of my brother's old warm up songs,
(16:24):
and one of them was up on the roof, Hey,
one hundred proof, Hey, I got some bodka.
Speaker 12 (16:32):
Hey you said my locker pes, Hey Johnny Walker red.
Speaker 13 (16:40):
Right.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
So those were like the you're three years old by
the way, singing this right.
Speaker 6 (16:49):
We had one about white Port and kool aid.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Oh my gosh, man. And then so here you are, Yeah,
and it's the seventies, right, and you're in playing in
Chicago and you become this star. Where did that journey begin?
Where you went from like a little kid times tagging
along with your brothers to being like really really special.
Speaker 6 (17:15):
And it happened really kind of overnight. I went to
Saint Joseph High School and I met mister Pingutore. He
became my coach and my mentor, and he was it
was a tough minded, tough coach. And you know, I
had learned the fundamentals of the game from my brothers,
but what he was able to instill in continue teaching.
(17:38):
You know, our high school team got good and before
you know it, as you say, I was like this
this this high school sensation. But when I got back
home in the neighborhood, you know, I was still junior,
but starting to you know, elevate in the state and
then people started talking about me nationally. And you know,
(17:58):
again growing up, when you were talking about going to college,
you know, it was only if you could afford to
go to college. If you couldn't afford to go to college,
then your choices were Army, Navy, Marines. You go to military,
you know, try to make a life there, or you
you know, you find some odd job. So, you know,
(18:19):
when we started getting offers to go to college, I
had no idea what any of that meant. But you know,
in high school, yeah, I became a pretty big deal,
you know, signing autographs and stuff in school, you know,
taking pictures, and I never understood any of it. It's
like you were you were a celebrity. But then you
would go home and there's no lights, there's no food.
(18:42):
You know, you've kind of got set out again and
you you're moving to try to find another place to live.
So it was an interesting time in my life.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Isaiah was heavily recruited and ended up playing college basketball
for Bobby Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers. As a sophomore,
he left them to the nineteen eighty one NCAA championship
and became the second pick in the NBA Draft, going
to Detroit, where he would spend the entire yth of
his career.
Speaker 13 (19:11):
Thomas Fillelin worked it perfectly in the Native Chico cou.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
At the Poor Isaiah initially wanted to play in his
hometown Chicago. That team, of course, would eventually become an
arch rival. As a member of the Pistons, he battled
not only opponents, but perceptions about the team and it's players.
Speaker 6 (19:32):
The trust issues that you develop or the shield that
you have to put on because of your skin. You
get used to navigating. You're suspicious of some of the
people that you would meet. So I remember growing up
and there was this one pool that we had to
high dive, and we were kids. We wanted to go
to the pool and jump off the high dive and
(19:54):
I'll never forget. We walked about a mile and we
get to the park and they wouldn't let it sin
And the reason why they the guy told us we
couldn't come in is because we were black, right, And
you know that's stung, but you kind of got used
to that. So going to Indiana and going into the NBA,
you definitely came in a little suspicious, especially of you know,
(20:18):
some of the coverage that was happening during that period
of time. And and I don't know if you remember,
but when I came into the NBA, like women weren't
covering the NBA. You you were like one of the pioneers,
and women weren't allowed to come into the locker room,
they weren't allowed to cover the NBA. And then there
were no black reporters really covering it. Really was ninety
(20:41):
nine zero point nine white males covering the NBA, you know,
the editors, the producers, the writers. So coming from where
I came from, you definitely, like you know, was very
aware of the stereotypes and everything else that was being
talked about.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Well, I think that really rang true with the Detroit
Pistons because you were such a physical team and intimidating
but also highly skilled. Help you got this Moniker the
(21:18):
bad boys, like you were just a bunch of just
throwing your weight around all the time, you know, and
being physical and maybe not truly getting credit for the
level of skill and finesse that you possessed. Is that accurate?
Speaker 6 (21:36):
Yeah, that that's very accurate. I think the level of
intellect that we played with as a basketball team and
the level of skill that we played with coming out
of Detroit. I just don't think that they knew how
to describe us, you know, Lambiert and I laugh about
it a lot and still today, because Lambert suburban, suburban
(21:59):
white kid whose father at that time was making more
money than any NBA player. You know, he's a fortune
five hundred CEO. And Lamber all of a sudden gets
tagged with being called a thug. He had never been
called a thug in his life.
Speaker 12 (22:23):
Exactly, and so we're I was like, yeah, how does it.
Speaker 6 (22:27):
Feel, you know, So we would tease and laugh about that.
But you know, we hold the record for the most
points scored in the NBA game. At one point in time,
we were the best offensive machine in the NBA, and
then we became the best defensive team in the NBA.
Putting those two together, offense and defense allowed us to
(22:51):
become champions. And then our ability to sustain concentration and
play against some of the best teams to a play,
the Lakers, the Celtics, the seventy six ers at that time.
People still today, you know, marvel at how great those
teams were and we always like to say, well, those
are the teams that we beat.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
For years, those teams stood between Detroit and the championship.
In the eighty six eighty seven season, they lost to
the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals. The next year
they finally made it to the finals but couldn't get
past the Lakers. I mean, these are the rivalries that
made the NBA the NBA. I mean, this era that
(23:35):
you're talking about lifted the NBA to a whole another level.
And in Ada, you reached the finals against the Lakers.
What was that atmosphere for you and your team like
going into Game one? That was your first NBA Finals appearance.
Speaker 6 (23:49):
Finally we had beating the Celtics.
Speaker 7 (23:51):
Warn had sixteen points, ten rebounds, and eight assists.
Speaker 6 (23:55):
And it took us years and years to beat the Celtics.
Speaker 7 (24:00):
Time you can explode and all the Pistons.
Speaker 10 (24:02):
Are aware of that.
Speaker 6 (24:04):
And I thought, of course, I always think this way,
but in eighty eight, I thought we were the better team.
I thought we were better than the Celtics, and I
thought we were better than the Lakers. So Game one,
I don't think the Lakers were prepared for what we
was bringing, the type of force that we played with.
And when I say force, people always think I'm talking physicality. No,
(24:28):
I'm talking energy. I'm talking like.
Speaker 14 (24:30):
Just our demeanor, our posture, all our presentation. The way
we the way we presented ourselves and walked out on
the floor was like we are here and they open
up with a need.
Speaker 8 (24:43):
To nothing least.
Speaker 13 (24:44):
Do you think the Pistons have gained a little respect
from this Laker Bowl club? I think so, and maybe
some confidence as well. One oh three ninety one.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
You guys attacked. It really was is like East Coast
basketball versus West.
Speaker 6 (25:02):
They were showtime and I never forget this is what
Michael said. He said, don't be happy just to be there,
Go beat the Lakers. And this was the Celtics mentality.
The Celtics were like, okay, you beat us, but we
don't care about nobody but beating the Lakers. Go beat
the Lakers. So we show off for Game one and
(25:25):
we punched them right in the map, you know, not
not physically, but just with all way of attacking. And
we won Game one and I think they were shot.
Speaker 13 (25:35):
Yes, it's the layup and the game is over. That
the boy Pistons have done to the Lakers what they
did to the Boston Celtics. They were underdogs in both series,
and they started the two great teams on the road.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
The final score Detroit one oh.
Speaker 13 (25:49):
Five, the LA Lakers ninety.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
You take a three to two series lead, donate a
game six, and a game six you suffer, I mean
a really serious ankle sprain, and then you go on
to score an NBA record twenty five points in the
third quarter, three.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
And a half remaining in the period.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Thomas with a Loopers guard, Isaiah shooting eyes still on
Thomas off balance, basket pump at the bowel as he
goes into the first row, and he is still living.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
He is like, just take me back to that moment
and how you powered through? Is that all adrenaline?
Speaker 6 (26:23):
Adrenaline? And then something else happened. So Game six, we're rolling,
We're about to put this game away, and I sprained
my ankle. And when I sprained my ankle, I'm like,
not again, because we had had so many heartaches and
failures trying to get past Boston. There was so many
heartaches and now I'm laying on the floor and I
(26:46):
remember there was a sign that always hung in the
Boston Guard that said we will not be denied, And
that was one of the things that flashed in my mind.
But also, believe it or not, why I was laying
on the floor just my mom, like, you know, walking
back and forth to work every day. And I can
(27:08):
remember in the snowstorm, you know, I was complaining about
my I had holes in my in my shoes and
the snow was coming through and my feet were freezing.
I was complaining about my feet, you know, being cold,
and my mom was just like, baby, it's gonna be alright,
It's gonna be all right. And as I looked down
at my feet, I looked over at hers and had
(27:29):
all she had them glad plastic bags and some rubber
bands wrapped around her feet. That's all she had. But
yet she was walking every day. Oh wow, every day. Wow.
And so those type of things was going through my mind.
And I got up and I said, I gotta try it.
(27:49):
And when I tried it, the miracle happened, so to speak.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Isaiah would score forty three points in Game six, but
it wasn't enough. Kareem abdul Jabbar drew foul on Bill
Lambier with fourteen seconds left. Pistons fans have their own version.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Kareem the old Man goes up and this is the
Soffolk goes to the line with fourteen seconds to go
and a chance to give the Lakers the league bill.
A beer has filed out of the game.
Speaker 6 (28:19):
That's number six.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Here's Isaiah and Detroit native Jalen Rose, courtesy of the
NBA on ESPN.
Speaker 15 (28:27):
You know, we say we won. You know people say
we won two championships. We say we won three. Oh no,
we were the first team to really three peat because
we we.
Speaker 6 (28:38):
Really got hose. Come, we really got hose.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Kareem went to the line and the Lakers won by
a point. Game seven was also a nail bier, but
the Lakers won that to one o eight to one
oh five in the final seconds to take the series.
Speaker 7 (29:00):
Bars to Thomas, nine seconds to go, lame beer fire,
is it playing?
Speaker 3 (29:04):
And it's it man, It's one six, one oh five.
Speaker 10 (29:07):
Pistons have got to steal.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
They're not going to get a chance.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
The game ends. The Lakers have got it.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Fugain.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Nineteen eighty nine was the Pistons year. The team had
just moved to the Palace in Auburn Hills a brand
new arena, Zeke, Joe Dumars, John Sally, Dennis Rodman, and
Mark Aguire. Their defense and aggressive play earned them that
famous nickname, the Bad Boys in the East. The Pistons
(29:45):
swept the Celtics.
Speaker 8 (29:48):
Dennis Johnson has a stripped away.
Speaker 7 (29:49):
Isaiah Thomas can give the Pistons.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
A lead to Dumars.
Speaker 8 (29:55):
I'll tell you, Isaiah Thomas has been.
Speaker 7 (29:57):
Like a pack alertly knocking the ball away.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
The Celtics kind of had your number for a couple
of years there, Oh, the Pistons. You kept running up
against the Celtics. What was it that those years taught you?
And then how did you get past them to the
point where you won the back to back titles?
Speaker 6 (30:18):
Keyword you just use taught us. They were fierce competitors,
They were great teachers. Everything that we became is because
what the Celtics taught us and what we learned from
playing against them. Every time we made a mistake, they
took advantage of it and they would make you pay
(30:38):
for every single mistake. And it wasn't about your athleticism
or how fast you ran. It was all about you know,
can you sustain concentration for two and a half hours
to compete with us mentally.
Speaker 4 (30:52):
The Celtics fine six seventy sixth seventy four forty five
to play third quarter.
Speaker 8 (30:57):
Christma's got to be careful, can't dig a hole.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
Kelly up top to Lambert, back to Isaiah, deep, proud
and over right, William beautiful ver talk.
Speaker 8 (31:06):
I'll tell you what that's that's just happened.
Speaker 6 (31:08):
Larry, Kevin, Robert, you know, Danny. I still have great
relationships with them today. I mean, those were all teachers,
those were all mentors. And whenever you hear the Detroit
Pistons talk, we bow to the Celtics. I mean because
they taught us everything and gave us everything. And I
(31:29):
never forget, like when I threw the ball away that
game five, we got them beat like, but we played
the Celtics I think eighty six, eighty seven, eighty eight.
I mean we played them for like four or five
straight years. They were great trash talkers too. I remember
one year they were beating us Anna and I was
taking the last shot and Kevin McHale goes, hey, I
(31:51):
I hope you make it because that's your last shot
of the season.
Speaker 12 (31:58):
And I missed it, you know. They was so you
o head, you know, but so I throw the ball away.
In game five, you know, bird steals the ball.
Speaker 8 (32:13):
She's got it. The twitch call five seconds to go.
Thomas wants to get it in quickly dust the lambisa.
Speaker 6 (32:27):
The next day, I am crushed, I mean crushed. I
don't want to go to practice. I don't want to play.
The phone rings at my house and my wife's lands
ass the phone and and I'm telling her I don't
want to talk. I don't want to talk, and she goes,
I think you need to take this call. And so
she hands me the phone and it's Bill Russell on
(32:48):
the phone, and he goes, young man, we all make mistakes.
You got to get back on the horse and keep riding.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Get up wow from the great Yeah, whoa yeah. After
the Celtics came MJ's Chicago Bulls. Two rounds earlier, Jordan
had hit his famous shot over Craigie love alox aylox alox.
Speaker 4 (33:15):
He gives the Jordan of the circle puts the shot
of the air God.
Speaker 5 (33:19):
The game's over and the Bulls of the line.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
The Pistons beat the Bulls in six.
Speaker 9 (33:25):
Will Rodgers Art Right, Grant Hippin, and Jordan for Chicago as.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
An advance to the finals against the heavily favored Lakers.
You know you break through, and man, boy, did you
guys break through because you swept the Lakers last year.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
The Pistons had a three to two lead.
Speaker 10 (33:48):
Couldn't we one of the last two? They'll do it.
Speaker 8 (33:58):
World champs?
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Yeah, four games to nothing. Jump Dubars is the MVP.
You had a great game one, You had twenty four
points and nine assists. What was the difference that year?
You said you'd fought so hard to get past the Celtics,
you had so many tough things happen against the Lakers,
But then, man, you guys, it was just everything came
(34:23):
together in that finals.
Speaker 5 (34:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (34:25):
Every game during the regular season that year, we were
playing it and practicing like it was the NBA Finals game.
And when we finally got through the playoffs and got
to the finals to play the Lakers again, the force
that we showed up with, the energy that we walked
out on the floor with, they just they couldn't compete
(34:46):
with that line.
Speaker 5 (34:51):
Joe Dumars strikes again.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
You guys had learned how to be champions and then, yeah,
you did one of the hardest things in basketball. You
won back to back.
Speaker 7 (35:04):
Yeah, they're dancing at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Michigan,
twenty one thousand, five hundred celebrating the Detroit Pistons back
to back NBA champions You.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Came back the next year, you beat the Portland Trail Blazers.
This time you did it in five games.
Speaker 6 (35:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
So you guys only played in those two years. You
played a total of nine NBA Finals games and one
eight out of nine. I mean, what was the key
in coming back that second time and winning again and
doing against a different team.
Speaker 6 (35:37):
We were so dominant during that period of time, and
I look at from eighty six to ninety the Lakers, Celtics,
and Pistons. We were just heading shoulders, I believe above
the rest of the league. I looked at that Portland
series and I looked at, Okay, the Lakers and the
Celtics and the Pistons. The Lakers won back to back,
(36:02):
Celtics had won back to back. So I wanted all
team to at least cement itself in history by winning
back to back championships. Doing that against Portland that year,
I was the MVP of the finals. So Joe and I,
I think we're still the only backcourt that was ever
(36:23):
back to back MVP finals. We definitely left our mark.
And you know, playing against Portland Handadette, I just display
in the Portland series that I still remember to this day.
I think it was it was either game one or
game two. We were playing at the Palace and Clyde
is coming down on a.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
Fast payers two on one.
Speaker 6 (36:46):
And I stand in at the dotted line and I'm
going to take a charge. And as I go to
take the charge, I look up.
Speaker 2 (36:54):
The line that you were asking for and I.
Speaker 6 (36:57):
See these leads like chuck up on to me and
he goes over my head and he dunks it right,
and I'm like, Dan.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
I mean, Isaiah's laughing as he je.
Speaker 6 (37:09):
Takes it out of bounds right and he hands it
to me right. And so Joe and I walking up
the court, and people probably thought like we was talking about,
like what play we're gonna lie, but we were really
talking about I said, up, did you see that he goes?
I said, did he really jump.
Speaker 2 (37:25):
Over my head?
Speaker 6 (37:26):
He said, Zeke like Teddy jumped over.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
By Isaiah's pistons were Michael Jordan's kryptonite. The rivalry between
the two teams was bitter. It took years for the
Bulls to get past Detroit.
Speaker 9 (37:51):
He's throwing off the glass another history. Buy it's Rodger's cart, right,
lamp Hippin and Jordan for Chicago.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
We all know how the Bulls learn from you and
MJ learn from you, and how you guys beating them
again and again and again you knock them off in
eighty eight, eighty nine, ninety They don't break through and
beat you guys until ninety one. Yeah, I mean, what's
your perspective on that rivalry and sort of the role
(38:23):
that the Pistons played in eventually making MJ and the
Bulls understand what they needed to do to be champs.
Speaker 6 (38:30):
You know, I think we always give the Celtics credit,
and Lakers always give Celtics credit. I hate to say
it this way, but the Bulls are the only champions
that don't give nobody no credit. You know, It's kind
of like, you know, they just arrived. No one likes
to get beat and no one likes to give up
(38:51):
the throne. I wish Chicago would. How can I say
it the way we treat the Celtics, the way the
Lakers and the Celtics treat each other. I don't know
if Chicago treats any of the opponents that they beat
with any type of respect.
Speaker 10 (39:09):
I clicked greading us for the customers as pre are
head it all as time runs down. Customers based me
both time and getting out of here. Now time I
was called they left proferential on.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
The seven of our jumps.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
Second, I remember you guys left the floor at Game
five without shaking hands with that team. What did that indicate?
Speaker 8 (39:33):
And you were in.
Speaker 6 (39:34):
Studio, so you you you know now right? So, and
we've tried to let people know that Chicago was up
three to zero in the series. And Jordan did a
press conference before Game four and he really trashed us,
trashed our team, trashed the city, you know, said we
(39:56):
were undeserving champions, used all the stereo t pipes that
were being labeled against our team in the city of Detroit,
such as saying it we were dirty. Not only did
that we take offense to it, but the media inside
Detroit took offense to it, and so did the people
(40:16):
in Detroit. Now, this is how the torch normally was passed.
If you remember, Hannah, After every championship game, teams celebrated
out on the floor, and then you would go into
their opposing team's locker room, and that's where you would
shake hands, congratulate them, say good luck so forth. And
(40:38):
so there was never this really passing other torch. And
I'm going to say to you, your producers and everybody else,
find me the picture of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird
shaking hands after one of their finals contests. Find me
that picture under floor showed me. That picture didn't happen,
(41:05):
doesn't exist. And so we were the first team, unfortunately,
to be put in a light where, oh, you're supposed
to pass the torch, you're supposed to that there was
some unwritten code that the rest of the league hadn't
got the memo because we thought that we would leave
the floor and then you go in, you congratulate the
(41:28):
team inside the locker room, and you let them celebrate,
especially if they went in on your floor. Now, since
we got penalized and everybody snacked us around, everybody is
quick to go shake the hand and hug hey, good
luck to you, congratulations, you know, But it wasn't done
that way until nineteen ninety one. Those are the facts,
(41:53):
and these.
Speaker 2 (41:54):
Are the facts about those Pistons. Five consecutive Eastern Conference Finals,
three consecutive NBA Finals, back to back championships, and the physical,
no holes barred style of play that helped define Eastern
Conference basketball. How do you want to be remembered as
(42:16):
a basketball player? Obviously one of the all time greats,
but given all of the nuances and the things that
we have talked about, and especially the way that the
Pistons were portrayed back in the day, how do you
think history should look upon you and upon that team.
Speaker 6 (42:34):
So I'll start with the team first. I personally think
we were one of the best defensive teams to ever
play in the NBA, and in terms of how influence
on the NBA style of play what they call small
ball now, we were the first small ball team to
win a championship in terms of two small guards in
(42:57):
the backcourt. In terms of myself and the visually the
way the point guard position or the scoring guard position
is played today, there's only two people that played it
that way, tiny Archibowl and myself. But I'm the only
one that's won back to back championships, being the leading
(43:20):
scorer and also leading and assist. So my place in
history as a small player it's well established. But in
terms of what I've been able to do as a
small man in a big man's game, I would definitely
like to be remembered for conquering the giants and winning
a different way than most people were winning at that time.
(43:42):
Most people were winning with six ' nine Magic Johnson,
six to seven, Reggie Theis, Michael Ray Richardson. All the
point guards at that time were supersized because Magic had
such a big influence. After we won, I think the
guard position really size back down, and now everyone plays.
(44:05):
And I listen to a lot of point guards talk
and they may say their favorite player was such and
such and such and such when they grew up, but
they all kind of play like.
Speaker 2 (44:13):
Me regardless of what they say.
Speaker 6 (44:19):
I look at them. They say, yeah, my favorite point
guard was you know, you know, Magic Johnson. I'm like, well,
but you don't play like him. But they said, my
favorite player, you know was Michael Jordan. I'm like, yeah,
but you don't play like him. Most guards that are
six ' four and under. I think I've had some
influence on the game that way.
Speaker 2 (44:42):
Next time, on NBA DNA Charles Barklay and The Drinking
NBA DNA with Hannah's is a production of iHeart Podcasts,
(45:02):
the NBA and Brainstorman Productions. The show is written and
executive produced by me Hannah Storm along with Julia Weaver
and Alex French. Our lead producer and showrunner is Julia Weaver.
Our senior producers are Peter Kouder, Alex French, and Brandon Reese.
Editing and sound design by Kirk Garren and Julia Weaver.
(45:25):
The show's executive producers are Carmen Belmont, Jason English, Sean
ty Tones, Steve Weintraup, and Jason Weikelt
He is red hot, tied at one seven eighteen seconds,
ten seconds ago.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
In the history of the NBA, perhaps few teams are
as underappreciated as the Detroit Pistons of the late eighties
and early nineties. Catch go, I'll the Christians win. If
you were in Detroit you loved them. Anywhere else you
love to hate them.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Hevy four a second block, go down and birds and
le Beer co at it.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
A tough as nails win at any cost. Team as
gritty as the city they called home.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
You talk closes to within seven and sixty six fifty nine.
Lamber high streeting or.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Isaiah physical, intimidating and brilliant?
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Is Isaiah Rottet.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Up off the high glass and there you gotta love
that sweet shot.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
I clocked a lot of time chronicling those Pistons. In
nineteen eighty nine, I had left Charlotte to take an
anchor job at CNN Sports. At the time, that was
ESPN's biggest rival. The cable networks competed, especially on our
nightly sports shows. I was hired to replace Dan Patrick,
(01:23):
who had just left for ESPN. Of the seventy eight
employees working at CNN Sports at the time, there were
three women, and I was the first ever to work
on air.
Speaker 5 (01:35):
This was one big, gigantic male locker room mentality, and
there literally was not a single woman other than you.
There was a couple producers maybe, but I remember you'd
be sitting in our cubic bowle writing her show or whatever,
and then I could hear Hannah on her high heels
coming down coming down the hallway through the door the hallway,
(01:58):
and she looked great. She always dressed nice. And these
other clowns were like in tennis shoes, like washing their
hair in the sink before they went on.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
That's true, yeah.
Speaker 5 (02:08):
And that's a true story. John Frickey used to do.
He probably some of you might remember the name John Friggie.
But Hannah would come in and everybody be like, there
she is. It was almost like this is such a
departure from the rest of these guys that are hanging out.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
That job helped make my career. It put me on
the national stage covering big events, and on a personal
level it was even more significant. CNN is where I
met my husband of thirty years, Dan Hicks. My mom
called and she said, somebody from Sea and Sand Sports
(02:43):
left a message I was like, sand Sports, that doesn't
make sense. So I called and it was you know,
I called like the number and it was CNN Sports.
I was like, oh cool, And you know, I kind
of got my really big break having worked in Charlotte
and getting hired as an anchor at CNN. And then
along came how much later, Dan? Month? A month later,
(03:07):
along came Dan Hicks Arizona.
Speaker 5 (03:12):
Yeah, from the small podunk town out of the desert,
going to the big city of Atlanta, going up to
the CNN Sports level at CNN Center in the big
time elevator doors open, and who other than my future
wife appears on the other side of the doors as
they open up, And I knew who she was because
(03:32):
I've been watching from Tucson, Arizona for a month before
I got to CNN. So I said hey. Hannah said hey,
and I said, I'm Dan Hicks.
Speaker 6 (03:41):
I'm the new guy.
Speaker 5 (03:42):
Oh Hi, here's the makeup room. I'll show you around.
So Hannah was my first good pal. Little did I
know what it would lead to three kids in a
history of a life together.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Dan became my best friend. Our desks we're side by side,
and we were paired together for many two thirty am
studio shows. He used to sing his favorite Frank Sinatra
to stay awake because oftentimes it felt like we worked
twenty four to seven.
Speaker 5 (04:14):
ESPN had a lot bigger budget than we had, a
lot more people, a lot more firepower, but we were
like the little engine that could, and we kind of
modeled ourselves. But I know you hand to remember this
talking with Bill mcphiale, our president of CN in sports,
who was the former CBS president for twenty years, and
we were like the sports illustrated of Cable Sports Network
(04:35):
in the early days. So we kind of had our
own little style of half hour that we kind of
modeled after that kind of hit all the sports every night.
But yeah, I mean it was the only game in town.
And when we went out of the road, we saw
all these ESPN people and with all of their cadre
of personnel that they brought with him, and we were like,
all right, how are we going to do this with
three people? But that was the CNN. Those are the
(04:57):
CNN days, and we made a lot out of not
a lot.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Just to illustrate your point, I remember at one point
you covered two Bowl games in one day, all by yourself.
Speaker 5 (05:07):
Yes, Like Dan, I was a college football beat reporter,
so my job was to cover the postseason of the
college bowl season. And so they said, yeah, we don't
need to send another person to the Citrus Bowl. Dan's
already covering the Orige Bowl. He could do both in
one day. We kind of took it as a challenge,
but that was the mentality back then of the little
(05:28):
scene in sports engine that could. So I was at
two bowl games and one day.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah, with one producer and one camera.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
We drove like a bat out at hell, from Orlando,
which is the site of the Citrus Bowl, to Miami,
and it was like NonStop chaos and live shots. But
it was we had a certain the camaraderie at CNN
I think was built up because of all those challenges
that we had and all those obstacles that we had
to overcome the produce what we did.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
In the midst of that grind, we had a great time.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
And don't forget the two thirty a m. Eastern Time
studio shows that you and I were at anchor And
at three o'clock in the morning looking for a place
to go. It'd either be a subway grinder, sandwich at
three point fifteen in the morning, or if we were
really filling up to it, a trip to our favorite hat,
the Highland tap Down in the Virginia Highlands area of Atlanta.
(06:22):
So those are the good old days at three o'clock
in the morning, CNN.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Time, CNN and subway. Name two better locations for a
budding romance, I dare you. One of the things we
had in common, of course, was our love of sports.
While we were at CNN, the Pistons were having their heyday.
You know, a lot of people obviously they know about
the Bulls and blah blah blah, but I don't think
(06:45):
they remember how hard it was for the Bulls to
break through and get past the Pistons. Yeah, they were
the roadblock for Chicago.
Speaker 7 (06:53):
Shoot two Mars against Jordan's spins in turns, fakes, lean
in shut got it?
Speaker 8 (06:58):
What a bucket bike?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (07:00):
Absolutely, I mean the Pistons. I remember looking up, you know,
in that scene in Sports Late Night's eleven o'clock show,
whether we're do that show or the two thirty show,
it seemed like every time I looked up in the playoffs,
Bill Lambert had somebody else in a choke hold. I mean,
it was like crazy stuff.
Speaker 9 (07:15):
Upset at Lambert had been for a long time.
Speaker 5 (07:20):
I mean that the Bulls were aggressive, but this was
good guys against the villains. And we say in sports
you kind of need that dynamic for the public and
the ratings to go crazy, and that's exactly what it was.
So if you were going to get to the title,
like Jordan and those guys had to do, they had
to get through the Bad Boys.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
If this was a sports movie, the Pistons would be
cast as the villains. The Pistons dominated during what many
consider the golden era of basketball. The Celtics, the Bulls,
the Showtime Lakers. They beat them all. From the NBA
(08:04):
and iHeart podcast This is NBA DNS It was Me
Hannah Store Episode five.
Speaker 7 (08:11):
The Bad Boys.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
Warm lobs the Bill Lambert outside a hand off the
Joe four seconds three down the lane to.
Speaker 10 (08:23):
The whole of.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
The Motor City. Bad Boys got their start, like most
rebels do, as a challenge to the status quo.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
The Celtics six seventy six, seventy four forty five to
play third quarter.
Speaker 8 (08:38):
Christ's Gotta be careful.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
The iconic eighties Pistons team was the brainchild of an
executive named Jack McCloskey, known league wide as Trader Jack.
His goal was to build a roster good enough to
challenge the mighty Boston Celtics. The best part he actually succeeded.
Speaker 4 (08:58):
Kelly up Top to Lambert backed, Isaiah Deep Cruden, Olborray
Williams beautiful avert.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Trader Jack became the Pistons general manager in nineteen seventy nine.
In nineteen eighty one, he would draft the nucleus of
the franchise for years to come. Isaiah Thomas, a point
guard out of Indiana, but.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
Isaiah one a the sep in the paint for the
ten footer. It drops a huge hoop for Isaiah one
O seven one oh three.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Bill Lambier came soon after McCluskey gave up valuable draft
picks for the Cavaliers to get him. He liked the
six foot eleven centers toughness and.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Hustle fakes it to Lambvier baseline height.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Turns that pick up from there. Vinnie Johnson the microwave,
became a clutch six man big man. Rick Mahorn arrived
in eighty five. Blue collar hero Joe Dumars in eighty six,
and a few years after that, seven foot power forward
(09:59):
John s Ider Sally came along.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Sally what a pint point.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
To say. By nineteen eighty nine, they were the team
to beat. During my time at CNN Sports, we did
features on the most talked about athletes of the day.
I went to Detroit to interview Isaiah Thomas.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Yes, Isaiah, let's see what we got all the way up.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
I think that you were really ahead of your time
in a way that we see manifested now. I remember
going to do a feature on you and Detroit and
it was all about basketball, and you said, I don't
even know how this came up, but you're like, yeah,
I own a paper company.
Speaker 6 (10:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
I was like, you own a paper was it called Jiffy?
Speaker 6 (10:48):
American Speedy Printing?
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Oh, Speedy printing? American Speedy Printing. And you were the
first athlete that I had met that had a whole
entire another business. And it's a thing that you know,
we see more of now. We see a lot of
people diversifying and so forth. But you literally like were
ahead of the curve that way. What was it that
(11:12):
you felt compelled to get involved in business and also
invest in a local business while you were playing.
Speaker 6 (11:19):
You know that my father and my mother and growing
up on the West Side of Chicago had such an
impact and influence on me about being independent and getting
your own and having your own And then, fortunately enough,
I had two business mentors in Detroit. One of them
name was Rick innotone who introduced me to a gentleman
(11:41):
by the name of Steve Balmer.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Oh wow, Steve Balmer. Yeah, holy cow, came home NBA owner. Yeah,
it's crazy.
Speaker 6 (11:51):
Yeah, and so American Speedy Printing. It was a franchise
business and Rick in the tone, you know, was talking
about taking technol and infusing it into old mom and
pop printing business. And you know, we did all right
in that business, and fortunately we got out of it
at the right time because there was a company that
(12:12):
came along called Kinko's. I've heard of that, yes, you know,
and so you know so and I think I was
on the cover of Forbes magazine with a laptop computer
and I was the first NBA player to be on
the cover of Forbes magazine.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Isaiah or Zeke to many fans, would later become one
of my on air partners as an analyst. When I
hosted Double and triple headers on the NBA on NBC.
Speaker 6 (12:42):
The first time about going to get pizza, I'm starving, okay,
and I'm thinking, okay, I'm gonna eat, Like she's gonna
get one piece and I'm gonna get the rest.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
No, not at all. No, I'm like, I'm.
Speaker 6 (12:59):
Like, heady, you could really eat, you could throw down.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
That's so true.
Speaker 6 (13:08):
I mean I was like all on our face and
you're like grubbing up, like all right, this is my
this is my kind of day.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
During those long shifts on NBC, Isaiah would talk about
his childhood on Chicago's West Side as the youngest of
nine children. To hear him tell it, it was a
world of uncertainty. Basketball was his constant.
Speaker 6 (13:32):
By the time I was fourteen, I had moved seven
times and had gone to one to four grade schools.
And back then they were setting you out, you know,
if you couldn't pay the rent right they would just
come and take your furniture and put it outside. So
we got set out several times, and you know, Mom
always found a way. But popcorn and candy, those are
(13:55):
the things that you that you ate. That was like dinner.
Mom would like, you know, gets some unpop popcorn, and
I still cook popcorn today. That's still like one of
my favorite foods. That's just what I ate. I just
ate candy and popcorn. That's that's how I got along.
And unfortunately, I say this now, it was easy to
kind of steal the Snickers bars because they can fit
(14:17):
easily in your frock and you can walk out of
the store with them.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Well, I remember you saying that at times, like you
were like, well, I didn't really have a bedroom because
my I just slept in the.
Speaker 6 (14:31):
Closet, slept in the closet, slept on the ironing board.
When I was smaller, I slept on the ironing board.
And we didn't have much you know there. There wasn't
a lot of beds or you know, well my sister,
my sister always had a big bed in the bedroom.
Speaker 11 (14:48):
The boys we were just kind of like, you know,
wherever you lay your head, that's where you wake up,
you know tonight. You know, it's like and and my
mom always she always would let you know, random people
come in the house.
Speaker 6 (15:04):
You know, the doors were just always open, so you
would wake up and you know one of your friends,
like you know, was down the hall, like you know,
sleeping on the floor, and you would be like, hey man,
how did you get it? It's like, oh man, you
ready to go to school. I'm like, all right, you know,
but it was it was tough times, but there was
(15:25):
a lot of love in the house. My mom always
kept us, you know, singing and listening to music. She
found a way to keep us happy and as healthy
as possible.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
And when did you become interested in basketball? How did
that come about? How old were you?
Speaker 6 (15:43):
My older brothers they all played on basketball teams, and
we didn't have babysitters, so I always had to go
with them wherever they went. You know. I was either
i would be the water boy or the ball boy,
and I'm just watching them dribble, watching them do their thing.
I would imitate them and then imitating them. I learned
(16:03):
how to play, you know. I started playing when I
was probably about like three years old. But I never
looked at it like I'm trying to get to the NBA,
because remember back then, the NBA wasn't even a television right,
you know, I just want to be like my older brothers.
And it's funny like with my with my family now,
we still sting some of my brother's old warm up songs,
(16:24):
and one of them was up on the roof, Hey,
one hundred proof, Hey, I got some bodka.
Speaker 12 (16:32):
Hey you said my locker pes, Hey Johnny Walker red.
Speaker 13 (16:40):
Right.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
So those were like the you're three years old by
the way, singing this right.
Speaker 6 (16:49):
We had one about white Port and kool aid.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Oh my gosh, man. And then so here you are, Yeah,
and it's the seventies, right, and you're in playing in
Chicago and you become this star. Where did that journey begin?
Where you went from like a little kid times tagging
along with your brothers to being like really really special.
Speaker 6 (17:15):
And it happened really kind of overnight. I went to
Saint Joseph High School and I met mister Pingutore. He
became my coach and my mentor, and he was it
was a tough minded, tough coach. And you know, I
had learned the fundamentals of the game from my brothers,
but what he was able to instill in continue teaching.
(17:38):
You know, our high school team got good and before
you know it, as you say, I was like this
this this high school sensation. But when I got back
home in the neighborhood, you know, I was still junior,
but starting to you know, elevate in the state and
then people started talking about me nationally. And you know,
(17:58):
again growing up, when you were talking about going to college,
you know, it was only if you could afford to
go to college. If you couldn't afford to go to college,
then your choices were Army, Navy, Marines. You go to military,
you know, try to make a life there, or you
you know, you find some odd job. So, you know,
(18:19):
when we started getting offers to go to college, I
had no idea what any of that meant. But you know,
in high school, yeah, I became a pretty big deal,
you know, signing autographs and stuff in school, you know,
taking pictures, and I never understood any of it. It's
like you were you were a celebrity. But then you
would go home and there's no lights, there's no food.
(18:42):
You know, you've kind of got set out again and
you you're moving to try to find another place to live.
So it was an interesting time in my life.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Isaiah was heavily recruited and ended up playing college basketball
for Bobby Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers. As a sophomore,
he left them to the nineteen eighty one NCAA championship
and became the second pick in the NBA Draft, going
to Detroit, where he would spend the entire yth of
his career.
Speaker 13 (19:11):
Thomas Fillelin worked it perfectly in the Native Chico cou.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
At the Poor Isaiah initially wanted to play in his
hometown Chicago. That team, of course, would eventually become an
arch rival. As a member of the Pistons, he battled
not only opponents, but perceptions about the team and it's players.
Speaker 6 (19:32):
The trust issues that you develop or the shield that
you have to put on because of your skin. You
get used to navigating. You're suspicious of some of the
people that you would meet. So I remember growing up
and there was this one pool that we had to
high dive, and we were kids. We wanted to go
to the pool and jump off the high dive and
(19:54):
I'll never forget. We walked about a mile and we
get to the park and they wouldn't let it sin
And the reason why they the guy told us we
couldn't come in is because we were black, right, And
you know that's stung, but you kind of got used
to that. So going to Indiana and going into the NBA,
you definitely came in a little suspicious, especially of you know,
(20:18):
some of the coverage that was happening during that period
of time. And and I don't know if you remember,
but when I came into the NBA, like women weren't
covering the NBA. You you were like one of the pioneers,
and women weren't allowed to come into the locker room,
they weren't allowed to cover the NBA. And then there
were no black reporters really covering it. Really was ninety
(20:41):
nine zero point nine white males covering the NBA, you know,
the editors, the producers, the writers. So coming from where
I came from, you definitely, like you know, was very
aware of the stereotypes and everything else that was being
talked about.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Well, I think that really rang true with the Detroit
Pistons because you were such a physical team and intimidating
but also highly skilled. Help you got this Moniker the
(21:18):
bad boys, like you were just a bunch of just
throwing your weight around all the time, you know, and
being physical and maybe not truly getting credit for the
level of skill and finesse that you possessed. Is that accurate?
Speaker 6 (21:36):
Yeah, that that's very accurate. I think the level of
intellect that we played with as a basketball team and
the level of skill that we played with coming out
of Detroit. I just don't think that they knew how
to describe us, you know, Lambiert and I laugh about
it a lot and still today, because Lambert suburban, suburban
(21:59):
white kid whose father at that time was making more
money than any NBA player. You know, he's a fortune
five hundred CEO. And Lamber all of a sudden gets
tagged with being called a thug. He had never been
called a thug in his life.
Speaker 12 (22:23):
Exactly, and so we're I was like, yeah, how does it.
Speaker 6 (22:27):
Feel, you know, So we would tease and laugh about that.
But you know, we hold the record for the most
points scored in the NBA game. At one point in time,
we were the best offensive machine in the NBA, and
then we became the best defensive team in the NBA.
Putting those two together, offense and defense allowed us to
(22:51):
become champions. And then our ability to sustain concentration and
play against some of the best teams to a play,
the Lakers, the Celtics, the seventy six ers at that time.
People still today, you know, marvel at how great those
teams were and we always like to say, well, those
are the teams that we beat.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
For years, those teams stood between Detroit and the championship.
In the eighty six eighty seven season, they lost to
the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals. The next year
they finally made it to the finals but couldn't get
past the Lakers. I mean, these are the rivalries that
made the NBA the NBA. I mean, this era that
(23:35):
you're talking about lifted the NBA to a whole another level.
And in Ada, you reached the finals against the Lakers.
What was that atmosphere for you and your team like
going into Game one? That was your first NBA Finals appearance.
Speaker 6 (23:49):
Finally we had beating the Celtics.
Speaker 7 (23:51):
Warn had sixteen points, ten rebounds, and eight assists.
Speaker 6 (23:55):
And it took us years and years to beat the Celtics.
Speaker 7 (24:00):
Time you can explode and all the Pistons.
Speaker 10 (24:02):
Are aware of that.
Speaker 6 (24:04):
And I thought, of course, I always think this way,
but in eighty eight, I thought we were the better team.
I thought we were better than the Celtics, and I
thought we were better than the Lakers. So Game one,
I don't think the Lakers were prepared for what we
was bringing, the type of force that we played with.
And when I say force, people always think I'm talking physicality. No,
(24:28):
I'm talking energy. I'm talking like.
Speaker 14 (24:30):
Just our demeanor, our posture, all our presentation. The way
we the way we presented ourselves and walked out on
the floor was like we are here and they open
up with a need.
Speaker 8 (24:43):
To nothing least.
Speaker 13 (24:44):
Do you think the Pistons have gained a little respect
from this Laker Bowl club? I think so, and maybe
some confidence as well. One oh three ninety one.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
You guys attacked. It really was is like East Coast
basketball versus West.
Speaker 6 (25:02):
They were showtime and I never forget this is what
Michael said. He said, don't be happy just to be there,
Go beat the Lakers. And this was the Celtics mentality.
The Celtics were like, okay, you beat us, but we
don't care about nobody but beating the Lakers. Go beat
the Lakers. So we show off for Game one and
(25:25):
we punched them right in the map, you know, not
not physically, but just with all way of attacking. And
we won Game one and I think they were shot.
Speaker 13 (25:35):
Yes, it's the layup and the game is over. That
the boy Pistons have done to the Lakers what they
did to the Boston Celtics. They were underdogs in both series,
and they started the two great teams on the road.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
The final score Detroit one oh.
Speaker 13 (25:49):
Five, the LA Lakers ninety.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
You take a three to two series lead, donate a
game six, and a game six you suffer, I mean
a really serious ankle sprain, and then you go on
to score an NBA record twenty five points in the
third quarter, three.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
And a half remaining in the period.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Thomas with a Loopers guard, Isaiah shooting eyes still on
Thomas off balance, basket pump at the bowel as he
goes into the first row, and he is still living.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
He is like, just take me back to that moment
and how you powered through? Is that all adrenaline?
Speaker 6 (26:23):
Adrenaline? And then something else happened. So Game six, we're rolling,
We're about to put this game away, and I sprained
my ankle. And when I sprained my ankle, I'm like,
not again, because we had had so many heartaches and
failures trying to get past Boston. There was so many
heartaches and now I'm laying on the floor and I
(26:46):
remember there was a sign that always hung in the
Boston Guard that said we will not be denied, And
that was one of the things that flashed in my mind.
But also, believe it or not, why I was laying
on the floor just my mom, like, you know, walking
back and forth to work every day. And I can
(27:08):
remember in the snowstorm, you know, I was complaining about
my I had holes in my in my shoes and
the snow was coming through and my feet were freezing.
I was complaining about my feet, you know, being cold,
and my mom was just like, baby, it's gonna be alright,
It's gonna be all right. And as I looked down
at my feet, I looked over at hers and had
(27:29):
all she had them glad plastic bags and some rubber
bands wrapped around her feet. That's all she had. But
yet she was walking every day. Oh wow, every day. Wow.
And so those type of things was going through my mind.
And I got up and I said, I gotta try it.
(27:49):
And when I tried it, the miracle happened, so to speak.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Isaiah would score forty three points in Game six, but
it wasn't enough. Kareem abdul Jabbar drew foul on Bill
Lambier with fourteen seconds left. Pistons fans have their own version.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Kareem the old Man goes up and this is the
Soffolk goes to the line with fourteen seconds to go
and a chance to give the Lakers the league bill.
A beer has filed out of the game.
Speaker 6 (28:19):
That's number six.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Here's Isaiah and Detroit native Jalen Rose, courtesy of the
NBA on ESPN.
Speaker 15 (28:27):
You know, we say we won. You know people say
we won two championships. We say we won three. Oh no,
we were the first team to really three peat because
we we.
Speaker 6 (28:38):
Really got hose. Come, we really got hose.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Kareem went to the line and the Lakers won by
a point. Game seven was also a nail bier, but
the Lakers won that to one o eight to one
oh five in the final seconds to take the series.
Speaker 7 (29:00):
Bars to Thomas, nine seconds to go, lame beer fire,
is it playing?
Speaker 3 (29:04):
And it's it man, It's one six, one oh five.
Speaker 10 (29:07):
Pistons have got to steal.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
They're not going to get a chance.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
The game ends. The Lakers have got it.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Fugain.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Nineteen eighty nine was the Pistons year. The team had
just moved to the Palace in Auburn Hills a brand
new arena, Zeke, Joe Dumars, John Sally, Dennis Rodman, and
Mark Aguire. Their defense and aggressive play earned them that
famous nickname, the Bad Boys in the East. The Pistons
(29:45):
swept the Celtics.
Speaker 8 (29:48):
Dennis Johnson has a stripped away.
Speaker 7 (29:49):
Isaiah Thomas can give the Pistons.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
A lead to Dumars.
Speaker 8 (29:55):
I'll tell you, Isaiah Thomas has been.
Speaker 7 (29:57):
Like a pack alertly knocking the ball away.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
The Celtics kind of had your number for a couple
of years there, Oh, the Pistons. You kept running up
against the Celtics. What was it that those years taught you?
And then how did you get past them to the
point where you won the back to back titles?
Speaker 6 (30:18):
Keyword you just use taught us. They were fierce competitors,
They were great teachers. Everything that we became is because
what the Celtics taught us and what we learned from
playing against them. Every time we made a mistake, they
took advantage of it and they would make you pay
(30:38):
for every single mistake. And it wasn't about your athleticism
or how fast you ran. It was all about you know,
can you sustain concentration for two and a half hours
to compete with us mentally.
Speaker 4 (30:52):
The Celtics fine six seventy sixth seventy four forty five
to play third quarter.
Speaker 8 (30:57):
Christma's got to be careful, can't dig a hole.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
Kelly up top to Lambert, back to Isaiah, deep, proud
and over right, William beautiful ver talk.
Speaker 8 (31:06):
I'll tell you what that's that's just happened.
Speaker 6 (31:08):
Larry, Kevin, Robert, you know, Danny. I still have great
relationships with them today. I mean, those were all teachers,
those were all mentors. And whenever you hear the Detroit
Pistons talk, we bow to the Celtics. I mean because
they taught us everything and gave us everything. And I
(31:29):
never forget, like when I threw the ball away that
game five, we got them beat like, but we played
the Celtics I think eighty six, eighty seven, eighty eight.
I mean we played them for like four or five
straight years. They were great trash talkers too. I remember
one year they were beating us Anna and I was
taking the last shot and Kevin McHale goes, hey, I
(31:51):
I hope you make it because that's your last shot
of the season.
Speaker 12 (31:58):
And I missed it, you know. They was so you
o head, you know, but so I throw the ball away.
In game five, you know, bird steals the ball.
Speaker 8 (32:13):
She's got it. The twitch call five seconds to go.
Thomas wants to get it in quickly dust the lambisa.
Speaker 6 (32:27):
The next day, I am crushed, I mean crushed. I
don't want to go to practice. I don't want to play.
The phone rings at my house and my wife's lands
ass the phone and and I'm telling her I don't
want to talk. I don't want to talk, and she goes,
I think you need to take this call. And so
she hands me the phone and it's Bill Russell on
(32:48):
the phone, and he goes, young man, we all make mistakes.
You got to get back on the horse and keep riding.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Get up wow from the great Yeah, whoa yeah. After
the Celtics came MJ's Chicago Bulls. Two rounds earlier, Jordan
had hit his famous shot over Craigie love alox aylox alox.
Speaker 4 (33:15):
He gives the Jordan of the circle puts the shot
of the air God.
Speaker 5 (33:19):
The game's over and the Bulls of the line.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
The Pistons beat the Bulls in six.
Speaker 9 (33:25):
Will Rodgers Art Right, Grant Hippin, and Jordan for Chicago as.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
An advance to the finals against the heavily favored Lakers.
You know you break through, and man, boy, did you
guys break through because you swept the Lakers last year.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
The Pistons had a three to two lead.
Speaker 10 (33:48):
Couldn't we one of the last two? They'll do it.
Speaker 8 (33:58):
World champs?
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Yeah, four games to nothing. Jump Dubars is the MVP.
You had a great game one, You had twenty four
points and nine assists. What was the difference that year?
You said you'd fought so hard to get past the Celtics,
you had so many tough things happen against the Lakers,
But then, man, you guys, it was just everything came
(34:23):
together in that finals.
Speaker 5 (34:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (34:25):
Every game during the regular season that year, we were
playing it and practicing like it was the NBA Finals game.
And when we finally got through the playoffs and got
to the finals to play the Lakers again, the force
that we showed up with, the energy that we walked
out on the floor with, they just they couldn't compete
(34:46):
with that line.
Speaker 5 (34:51):
Joe Dumars strikes again.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
You guys had learned how to be champions and then, yeah,
you did one of the hardest things in basketball. You
won back to back.
Speaker 7 (35:04):
Yeah, they're dancing at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Michigan,
twenty one thousand, five hundred celebrating the Detroit Pistons back
to back NBA champions You.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Came back the next year, you beat the Portland Trail Blazers.
This time you did it in five games.
Speaker 6 (35:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
So you guys only played in those two years. You
played a total of nine NBA Finals games and one
eight out of nine. I mean, what was the key
in coming back that second time and winning again and
doing against a different team.
Speaker 6 (35:37):
We were so dominant during that period of time, and
I look at from eighty six to ninety the Lakers, Celtics,
and Pistons. We were just heading shoulders, I believe above
the rest of the league. I looked at that Portland
series and I looked at, Okay, the Lakers and the
Celtics and the Pistons. The Lakers won back to back,
(36:02):
Celtics had won back to back. So I wanted all
team to at least cement itself in history by winning
back to back championships. Doing that against Portland that year,
I was the MVP of the finals. So Joe and I,
I think we're still the only backcourt that was ever
(36:23):
back to back MVP finals. We definitely left our mark.
And you know, playing against Portland Handadette, I just display
in the Portland series that I still remember to this day.
I think it was it was either game one or
game two. We were playing at the Palace and Clyde
is coming down on a.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
Fast payers two on one.
Speaker 6 (36:46):
And I stand in at the dotted line and I'm
going to take a charge. And as I go to
take the charge, I look up.
Speaker 2 (36:54):
The line that you were asking for and I.
Speaker 6 (36:57):
See these leads like chuck up on to me and
he goes over my head and he dunks it right,
and I'm like, Dan.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
I mean, Isaiah's laughing as he je.
Speaker 6 (37:09):
Takes it out of bounds right and he hands it
to me right. And so Joe and I walking up
the court, and people probably thought like we was talking about,
like what play we're gonna lie, but we were really
talking about I said, up, did you see that he goes?
I said, did he really jump.
Speaker 2 (37:25):
Over my head?
Speaker 6 (37:26):
He said, Zeke like Teddy jumped over.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
By Isaiah's pistons were Michael Jordan's kryptonite. The rivalry between
the two teams was bitter. It took years for the
Bulls to get past Detroit.
Speaker 9 (37:51):
He's throwing off the glass another history. Buy it's Rodger's cart, right,
lamp Hippin and Jordan for Chicago.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
We all know how the Bulls learn from you and
MJ learn from you, and how you guys beating them
again and again and again you knock them off in
eighty eight, eighty nine, ninety They don't break through and
beat you guys until ninety one. Yeah, I mean, what's
your perspective on that rivalry and sort of the role
(38:23):
that the Pistons played in eventually making MJ and the
Bulls understand what they needed to do to be champs.
Speaker 6 (38:30):
You know, I think we always give the Celtics credit,
and Lakers always give Celtics credit. I hate to say
it this way, but the Bulls are the only champions
that don't give nobody no credit. You know, It's kind
of like, you know, they just arrived. No one likes
to get beat and no one likes to give up
(38:51):
the throne. I wish Chicago would. How can I say
it the way we treat the Celtics, the way the
Lakers and the Celtics treat each other. I don't know
if Chicago treats any of the opponents that they beat
with any type of respect.
Speaker 10 (39:09):
I clicked greading us for the customers as pre are
head it all as time runs down. Customers based me
both time and getting out of here. Now time I
was called they left proferential on.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
The seven of our jumps.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
Second, I remember you guys left the floor at Game
five without shaking hands with that team. What did that indicate?
Speaker 8 (39:33):
And you were in.
Speaker 6 (39:34):
Studio, so you you you know now right? So, and
we've tried to let people know that Chicago was up
three to zero in the series. And Jordan did a
press conference before Game four and he really trashed us,
trashed our team, trashed the city, you know, said we
(39:56):
were undeserving champions, used all the stereo t pipes that
were being labeled against our team in the city of Detroit,
such as saying it we were dirty. Not only did
that we take offense to it, but the media inside
Detroit took offense to it, and so did the people
(40:16):
in Detroit. Now, this is how the torch normally was passed.
If you remember, Hannah, After every championship game, teams celebrated
out on the floor, and then you would go into
their opposing team's locker room, and that's where you would
shake hands, congratulate them, say good luck so forth. And
(40:38):
so there was never this really passing other torch. And
I'm going to say to you, your producers and everybody else,
find me the picture of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird
shaking hands after one of their finals contests. Find me
that picture under floor showed me. That picture didn't happen,
(41:05):
doesn't exist. And so we were the first team, unfortunately,
to be put in a light where, oh, you're supposed
to pass the torch, you're supposed to that there was
some unwritten code that the rest of the league hadn't
got the memo because we thought that we would leave
the floor and then you go in, you congratulate the
(41:28):
team inside the locker room, and you let them celebrate,
especially if they went in on your floor. Now, since
we got penalized and everybody snacked us around, everybody is
quick to go shake the hand and hug hey, good
luck to you, congratulations, you know, But it wasn't done
that way until nineteen ninety one. Those are the facts,
(41:53):
and these.
Speaker 2 (41:54):
Are the facts about those Pistons. Five consecutive Eastern Conference Finals,
three consecutive NBA Finals, back to back championships, and the physical,
no holes barred style of play that helped define Eastern
Conference basketball. How do you want to be remembered as
(42:16):
a basketball player? Obviously one of the all time greats,
but given all of the nuances and the things that
we have talked about, and especially the way that the
Pistons were portrayed back in the day, how do you
think history should look upon you and upon that team.
Speaker 6 (42:34):
So I'll start with the team first. I personally think
we were one of the best defensive teams to ever
play in the NBA, and in terms of how influence
on the NBA style of play what they call small
ball now, we were the first small ball team to
win a championship in terms of two small guards in
(42:57):
the backcourt. In terms of myself and the visually the
way the point guard position or the scoring guard position
is played today, there's only two people that played it
that way, tiny Archibowl and myself. But I'm the only
one that's won back to back championships, being the leading
(43:20):
scorer and also leading and assist. So my place in
history as a small player it's well established. But in
terms of what I've been able to do as a
small man in a big man's game, I would definitely
like to be remembered for conquering the giants and winning
a different way than most people were winning at that time.
(43:42):
Most people were winning with six ' nine Magic Johnson,
six to seven, Reggie Theis, Michael Ray Richardson. All the
point guards at that time were supersized because Magic had
such a big influence. After we won, I think the
guard position really size back down, and now everyone plays.
(44:05):
And I listen to a lot of point guards talk
and they may say their favorite player was such and
such and such and such when they grew up, but
they all kind of play like.
Speaker 2 (44:13):
Me regardless of what they say.
Speaker 6 (44:19):
I look at them. They say, yeah, my favorite point
guard was you know, you know, Magic Johnson. I'm like, well,
but you don't play like him. But they said, my
favorite player, you know was Michael Jordan. I'm like, yeah,
but you don't play like him. Most guards that are
six ' four and under. I think I've had some
influence on the game that way.
Speaker 2 (44:42):
Next time, on NBA DNA Charles Barklay and The Drinking
NBA DNA with Hannah's is a production of iHeart Podcasts,
(45:02):
the NBA and Brainstorman Productions. The show is written and
executive produced by me Hannah Storm along with Julia Weaver
and Alex French. Our lead producer and showrunner is Julia Weaver.
Our senior producers are Peter Kouder, Alex French, and Brandon Reese.
Editing and sound design by Kirk Garren and Julia Weaver.
(45:25):
The show's executive producers are Carmen Belmont, Jason English, Sean
ty Tones, Steve Weintraup, and Jason Weikelt
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com