Four-Time NBA Champion Learned The Hard Way To Stay Out Of "Bad Boys" Fights

Shandel Richardson | Mar 29, 2025

06/07/1990; Detroit, Michigan USA; Trailblazers' Kevin Duckworth and Pistons'' John Salley with the ball and Bill Laimbeer, during game two of the 1990 NBA Finals at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: William Archie, Detroit Free Press, USA Today Network / Detroit Free Press-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Content Services LLC

The Detroit Pistons were known as the "Bad Boys" because of their bruising, physical style.

The teams featured the likes of Bill Laimbeer, Joe Dumars, Isiah Thomas and Dennis Rodman. All it took was one hard foul before a fight started, in games and practices.

Former Pistons forward John Salley learned the hard way in 1986 when he tried to break up a fight between Rick Mahorn and Sidney Green.

"I never got into a fight because these are teeth I need," Salley said during a podcast appearance. "I'm in training camp. I'm a rookie. Sid Green is here and Rick Mahorn is here. And they start getting into it. So I said, `Hey man, we're all one team.'"

Salley regretted the move shortly afterward.

"Sid punched me in the jaw and Rick kicked me in the leg," Salley said. "And when I was on the ground, they were like, `Stay out of grown folks' business.' And I looked at Chuck Daly and he was like, `Get up.' ... I learned you don't walk up on people with your hands down."'

The incident is the reason Salley played the rest of his career wearing two mouthguards. It helped him survive an 11-year career with five different teams. He won two titles with the Pistons before winning one alongside Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen with the Chicago Bulls and another on the Shaquille O'Neal-Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers.

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day Hoops On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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