NBA Champions ·
1989 Detroit Pistons
The 1988-89 Pistons won 63 games and swept the Lakers to take the first championship in franchise history. Joe Dumars was Finals MVP at 27.3 points a game, and Dennis Rodman won Defensive Player of the Year as the Bad Boys finally broke through. Detroit was the last of the NBA's original eight charter franchises to win a title.
Detroit had lost the 1988 Finals to Los Angeles in seven, and the bitterness fueled a 63-19 season, a franchise record. Chuck Daly built around defense and physicality, and the league had already given the group its name in a season-summary video: the Bad Boys.
Isiah Thomas ran the team and Bill Laimbeer set the tone inside, but the season's key roster move came in February, when Detroit traded Adrian Dantley to Dallas for Mark Aguirre. Rick Mahorn and John Salley handled the heavy work up front, and Vinnie Johnson scored in bursts off the bench.
The sweep of the Lakers was helped by injuries: Magic Johnson pulled a hamstring in Game 2 and Byron Scott had already gone down before the series. Detroit closed it 105-97 on the road in Game 4. Dumars averaged 27.3 across the four games and took Finals MVP.
The title made Detroit the last of the league's eight charter teams to win one. The Pistons had spent the decade losing to Boston, then to Los Angeles. Now they had beaten the team that beat them.
Championship roster
Featured in Ring Holders Club
| Player | Role | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Isiah Thomas | PG | 89 |
| Joe Dumars | SG | 84 |
| Mark Aguirre | SF | 78 |
| Dennis Rodman | PF | 80 |
| Bill Laimbeer | C | 81 |
| Vinnie Johnson | 6th man | 79 |
| Chuck Daly | Coach | 87 |
Ratings are year-specific curated estimates for Ring Holders Club, not official NBA stats.
Rest of the roster
| Player | Pos | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Rick Mahorn | F/C | starting power forward |
| John Salley | F/C | |
| James Edwards | C | |
| John Long | G | |
| Micheal Williams | G |