Important reading: Jonathan Abrams' "An oral history of the Malice in the Palace."

The best part?

"Bill Laimbeer didn't seem to be particularly bothered by it. He was kind of nonplussed by the whole thing."

Of course.

Worst of the Night in Pictures:



Nationally Televised Games:


Bulls at Spurs, ESPN, 9:00pm: Derrick Rose has apologized for letting down the fans and missing a free throw Tuesday night and killing Free Big Mac Excitement. Yes, this actually happened. No, this is not satire from The Onion.

All The Other Games:

Thunder at 76ers, 7:00pm: The last time the Sixers played, they held the Pistons to 31.6% shooting. Pretty sure the Thunder could shoot better than that playing with those tiny ass rims they use at carnival basketball games to keep you from winning stuffed animals.

Magic at Wizards Generals, 7:00pm: Breaking news: Andray Blatche wore Uggs to the DMV.

Warriors at Hawks, 7:30pm: After getting pummeled Tuesday night, Mark Jackson had this to say about his Warriors: "This is not our brand of basketball." Okay then. So what IS their brand of basketball? Are they some generic knockoff brand? Are they the basketball equivalent of someone buying you a Rolecks watch?

Bucks at Celtics, 7:30pm: Just look at all the similarities! Both teams ended long losing streaks in their most recent games. And both were won on last-minute plays. And both teams kind of suck.

Bobcraps at Pistons, 7:30pm: Mother of God. The only offense is in this game will be the way it offends viewers.

Cavaliers at Knicks, 7:30pm: Linsanity is now New York City street art. Yep.

Craptors at Hornets, 8:00pm: Dwane Casey on his Toronto squad: "Basketball plays and basketball decisions have to get better." So in other words EVERYTHING has to get better. Duly noted, Coach.

Mavericks at Grizzlies, 8:00pm: Zach Randolph participated in the non-contact portion of the Grizzlies' Monday practice. Z-Bo!! Here's to hoping he comes back and entertains us again very soon.

Trail Blazers at Nuggets, 9:00pm: Portland recently signed Joel Przybilla for added depth at center. When the Vanilla Gorilla is an important signing, I am not sure what that says about your team.

Rockets at Jazz, 9:00pm: The Rockets are about to start a stretch where they play on the road 8 times in 11 games. They have only put up a 6-10 road record this year so far. Ruh roh.

Timberwolves at Lakers, 10:30pm: Kobe has a broken nose. I fully expect to see him try to play hero ball to prove it won't slow him down any.

Labels: Bawful After Dark, Bill Laimbeer

(Sorry, don't have time to do a BAD post tonight, but this picture demanded it be shared with the world)

Labels: Bill Laimbeer

thug (thuhg) 1. verb, -ged, -ging. The act of committing an unnecessarily hard foul or fouls; this includes both those that are called and those that are either missed or ignored by the referees. 2. noun. One who commits an act of thuggery.

Usage example: Long before Bruce "Lee" Bowen was roaming the hardwood, Bill Laimbeer was the undisputed master of thugging.

Word trivia: We really do love the 80s, don't we? The 2008 Playoffs have been filled with so much acrimony and so many hard fouls that somewhere out there Kurt Rambis' neck is tingling...while Kevin McHale is smiling wistfully. And David Stern -- The Iron Boot responsible for stomping out physical play in The League -- must be okay with it, because the commish has been uncharacteristically forgiving through it all, from the near death of Jannero Pargo...


...to the extra little shove Hedo Turkoglu gave Chris Bosh...


...to Kevin Garnett's throwdown with Zaza Pachulia...


...to Brendan Haywood sending LeBron into the crowd...


...to DeShawn Stevenson headhunting Lebron...


...to Darius Songaila's "accidental" punch to LeBron's mug. Update! Oops. Wrong. Songaila got suspended.


Note that three of these examples involve somebody thumping Lebron James, which is less Rambis versus McHale and more Bad Boy Pistons versus Michael Jordan. This goes way beyond hombre-ism and straight into the realm of cheap-shotery. And you know what? I love it. I never realized much I enjoyed this kind of tooth-rattling, bone-jarring it's-okay-to-hate-your-opponents intensity until -- all of a sudden, out of nowhere -- it was back. Tell the truth: Doesn't this make the playoffs way more interesting? The word you're searching for is: Yes.

Thugtastic extra: No thug post would be complete without a Bill Laimbeer mix, now would it?

Labels: Bill Laimbeer, Brendan Haywood, Bruce Bowen, DeShawn Stevenson, Kevin McHale, Kurt Rambis, Lebron James, Word of the Day

"I'm still glad that we didn't shake their hands. They were whiners and criers. Piss on them."

-"Mr. Sportsmanship" Bill Laimbeer, referring to how he and the other Detroit Pistons starters marched off the court without shaking hands or offering congratulations after being swept by the Chicago Bulls in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals. If you're wondering why the Pistons hired Celtics legend Dave Cowens as an assistant coach instead of Laimbeer -- who was named the 2003 WNBA Coach of the Year and led the Detroit Shock to two league titles -- that's probably a good reason why. That and the fact that he's pure, dag nasty evil.

Bill Laimbeer: Proud member of the All-Asshole Team

Labels: assholes, Bill Laimbeer, Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, quotables, sportsmanship