Detroit Pistons – Page 2 – From Way Downtown

Reggie Harding: A New Kind of Piston, 1964

Harding still retains some of his arrogance, but it’s not offensive. Sure, he said, he misses playing basketball. “It’s part of me,” he said. But he added: “I’ve still got the ability, and they can’t take that away from me.”

Sam Jones: Cha-Ching, 1966

Sam is 32 years old now, but there was no indication last year that his speed was diminishing, while his skills and confidence rose to new heights.

Rick Mahorn’s Roman Holiday, 1992

Mahorn goes on, attending daily practices, playing one game a week, cultivating the mystery that has always been his calling card, Big Man, Big Mouth, yet with an underlying kindness that keeps you coming back to him, because you’re sure there’s a decent guy underneath all that bluster.

Adrian Dantley’s Inferno, 1992

“Guess we got to wait,” Dantley says. And we sit in the bleachers, behind a green net. There are two baskets, and one rim seems bent, I point at it. Dantley shrugs. It’s a long way from the NBA.

Dick and Tom Van Arsdale: Two of a Kind, 1971

The only major difference between them on the court now is that Tom plays forward and Dick is a guard.

Dave Bing: Going Through Changes, 1970

Pain has become a constant in Dave Bing’s basketball life. Even in the 1968-69 season—his third NBA campaign in which he went through multiple changes—bodily ache remained a verity of his working hours.

David Greenwood: A Teammate for All Seasons, 1980, 1984, 1990

David Greenwood would find it funny he’s getting backslaps and handshakes for his five rebound performance Sunday afternoon. As far as he’s concerned, he should have had eight.

Don Ohl: For Ohl Lang Syne, 1962

Now, Don’s confidence has returned. Understandably cautious early in the 1964-65 season, his first in Baltimore, he finished with a rush and was named the Bullets’ most valuable player.

Bernard King Takes New York, 1985

King has forged a good life for himself back home and, in the process, given New York basketball the transfusion it desperately needed.

Bill Laimbeer: The Interview, 1991

He’s easily the most-despised player in the NBA, and one of the most-hated athletes ever to play professional sports. That is, when he’s not performing in front of the home crowd.