Then Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson and Michael Jordan had to plan how to deal with the Detroit Pistons BAD BOY'S HIT SQUAD

The NBA's Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars was a member of the Detroit Pistons BAD BOYS HIT SQUAD. He attacked Michael Jordan! - (NBA - photo)

Off the court Dennis Rodman was always trying to find himself LIONEL MESSI THINKS PINK

NBA Hall of Fame player Bob Pettit was as tough as they come. Not only could he score but he demanded respect in the lane and a blast from his cast could make you a believer. There was no SISSY BALL during the Pettit era - (The Sporting News Archives - photo) NBA's NEW SISSY BALL ERA

Los Angeles Lakers Magic Johnson and Boston Celtics Larry Bird in Game two of the 1985 NBA Finals at Boston Garden Date 30 May 1985 - Steve Lipofsky www.Basketballphoto.com ALL TIME NBA 1st TEAM - BREAKING IT DOWN

7'2" Dikembe Mutombo guarded the paint. LeBron James found out the hard way with a fractured face in Mutombo-LAND - ( Keith Allison photo)

Dikembe Mutombo didn't say excuse me as he drove on Bad Boy Dennis the Rod Man... ON THE JOB

SPORTS NOTES - MICHAEL JORDAN'S TOUGHEST OPPONENT

James Loving/National Radio Text Service

As they say… life goes on and so did Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman and Joe Dumars. What was to follow and their links... read on - OUTTA POCKET - THIS DAY IN THE NBA - NBA's ALL TIME BEST PLAYERS 1st and 2nd TEAMS

Sunday November 24, 2024

Joe Dumars Feeling FINES = Outta Pocket

Here's the drift… two of my key questions to athletes I've interviewed is, life after (their sport) and who was your toughest opponent. It's that latter question that matters now.

I've interviewed Michael Jordan several times and in this case I asked him again several interviews later of who his toughest opponent was. His answer was the same… JOE DUMARS.

For those that don't know Dumars was a member of the NBA's HIT SQUAD... aka Detroit Pistons or more importantly… THE BAD BOYS. That was back in the day when basketball was basketball and not today' sissy ball. It was prior to it becoming an entertainment entity or side show to the game itself.

It was when the game was being tough or players having to MAN UP if they wanted to be an NBA player. Jordan tormented them with his talent. At some point the Pistons decided to be extra tough on Jordan. If the raging Bull wanted to drive inside or go down the lane they would bust him up… it was as simple as that.

Being the competitor that he is, Jordan decided to man up and take on the attitude of… if that's the way they wanna play let's get it on.

Jordan would drive inside despite what the pesky Pistons applied to what was referred to a THE JORDAN RULES and take on the challenge. They would hit him knock him to the ground and occasionally taunt him. This is no secret there are videos on You Tube for the world to see.

Dumars was a guard for the Pistons and basically was head to head with Jordan who played like a guard/forward. This was before the Bulls with Jordan had won an NBA title. It was the NBA turning point after the Lakers success of winning five titles in the 80's. It was PISTON TIME that won back to back titles in 1988-89 and 1989-90.

In a strange way the beat downs were good for Jordan as it apparently toughened him up. It was a Bulls team that was not coached by Phil Jackson. The two came together for the 1990-91 season when they won their first title as a Jordan led team.

Jackson opined that prior to winning the titles Jordan was trying to do too much and take over the team. He appraised his progress when they started their winning ways. He felt that Jordan started to rely more on his teammates therefore they functioned as a winning unit.

My opinion is that Jordan wanted to share the beat downs with his teammates and give them the ball more.

Dumars' teammates included Dennis Rodman, Rick Mahorn, Isiah Thomas, Bill Lambeer, Mark Aguirre and Vinnie Johnson for their first title. It changed the following season when Mahorn was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Here's the twist, the NBA was so physical then that seldom were players fined. The Bulls were the dominate team of the 90's winning six titles. Rodman was despised by Jordan from the physicality he dished out as a member of the BAD BOYS HIT SQUAD.

The shocker was when the Bulls signed Rodman to the Bulls. This wasn't a case of kiss and make up it was a mature mans reality a go along to get along and be mature men about the situation and go to work.

To paraphrase, Jordan said regardless of how Rodman lived his personal life that he showed up when it was game time and played his heart out and was a true professional. They won the last three of the six titles together.

But here's the biggest twist Dumars, being Jordan's toughest opponent must have been extremely physical and tough on the raging Bull. This was a slant that I did not pursue with Jordan. I simply let him state his piece and let it go.

But here's the deal… in reality since that the BAD BOYS were all of the Pistons on those teams that Dumars in today's NBA world would be FINED TO DEATH or GIVEN THE NBA DEATH PENALTY and suspended without pay for a lengthy period of time.

Given that this was 1989 and 1990 Dumars was given a reprieve for aggressive actions on the court or also known as fouling the hell out of Jordan.

Now…. WOULD YOU BELIEVE who's in charge of handing out fines for the NBA… our BAD BOY JOE DUMARS. His title is: the Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations.

The proof is in the pudding as they say, as noted below, Dumars was handing our fines on the 17th as if it were Halloween candy. Read-em and weep.

As they say… life goes on and so did Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman and Joe Dumars.

NBA HALL of FAME PLAYER DIKEMBE MUTOMBO PASSED AWAY

I was sad to hear that former Hall of Fame NBA center Dikembe Mutombo passed away from a brain tumor at the age of only 58. Mutombo was one of my favorite players to interview. He had an upbeat positive attitude and a glowing smile and was humorous.

Mutombo, ranks second with 3,289 career blocked shots, became well known for the playful wag of his right index finger after those blocks.

Mutombo played 18 NBA seasons for the Denver Nuggets, Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers as well as the then-New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks and Houston Rockets before retiring after the 2008-09 season.

The 7-foot-2 native of the Congo was the league's top defensive player four times, earned three All-NBA selections and played in eight All-Star Games. He ranks 20th in rebounds (12,359) and finished with 3,289 blocks, second to Hakeem Olajuwon (3,830).

Mutombo was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015 after averaging 9.8 points and 10.3 rebounds for his career. His No. 55 jersey is retired by the Nuggets and the Hawks.

Mutombo related to his signature finger wagging gesture: "Any time I would block shots, people would still be coming and trying to put a little bit on me. Then I used to shake my head every time I would block the shot," he explained. "Then I said, man, f--- this. Those guys are not listening to me. Maybe if I start giving them the finger wag. And I tell you what; I lost a lot of money because of that finger wag, man. I got so many technical fouls, but no referee would kick me out of the game."

LeBron James said Mutombo fractured his face as he was elbowed by the Hall of Famer when he drove down the lane as a Cleveland Cavalier. That is against Mutombo Law and James had a lesson learned.

Mutombo spoke nine languages and founded the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation in 1997. It concentrated on improving health, education and quality of life for the people in Congo. His foundation led the building of a 170-bed hospital in Kinshasa, the capital city, and that facility has treated nearly half a million people regardless of their ability to pay for care.

RIP DIKEMBE

Outta Pocket

Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards fined

November 17, 2024 NEW YORK

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards has been fined $35,000 for making an obscene gesture on the playing court, it was announced today by Joe Dumars, Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations. The incident occurred with 3:15 remaining in the first quarter of the Timberwolves’ 130-126 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Nov. 15 at Golden 1 Center.

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Hornets’ LaMelo Ball fined

November 17, 2024 NEW YORK

Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball has been fined $100,000 for making an offensive and derogatory comment in a postgame interview, it was announced today by Joe Dumars, Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations. Ball’s comments occurred following the Hornets’ 115-114 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Nov. 16 at Spectrum Center.

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Bucks’ Doc Rivers fined Official Release

November 17, 2024 NEW YORK

Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers has been fined $25,000 for public criticism of the officiating, it was announced today by Joe Dumars, Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations. Rivers’ comments took place during the post-game press conference following the team’s 115-114 loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Nov. 16 at Spectrum Center

Key Dates

" Dec. 3: Emirates NBA Cup Group Stage concludes

" Dec. 10-11: Emirates NBA Cup Quarterfinals

" Dec. 12: World Basketball Day

" Dec. 14: Emirates NBA Cup Semifinals (Las Vegas, NV)

" Dec. 17: Emirates NBA Cup Championship (Las Vegas, NV)

" Dec. 19-22: NBA G League Winter Showcase

" Dec. 25: Christmas Day (12 p.m. ET: Spurs at Knicks, ESPN; 2:30 p.m. ET: Timberwolves at Mavericks, ABC/ESPN; 5 p.m. ET: Sixers at Celtics, ABC/ESPN; 8 p.m. ET: Lakers at Warriors, ABC/ESPN; 10:30 p.m. ET: Nuggets at Suns, ESPN) "

Dec. 27: NBA G League 34-game regular season begins

THIS DAY IN THE NBA

November 24, 1938 Oscar Robertson is born in Charlotte, Tennessee.

November 24, 1949 Don Otten of the Tri-Cities Blackhawks set an NBA record by committing eight personal fouls in a 120-113 loss to Sheboygan.

November 24, 1949 The Syracuse Nationals defeated the Anderson Packers 125-123 in five overtimes, at that time the longest game in NBA history. The record was broken a little over a year later when Rochester and Indianapolis played a six-overtime contest on January 6, 1951.

November 24, 1960 Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors grabbed an NBA record 55 rebounds in a 132-129 loss to Boston. Chamberlain went on to collect 2,149 rebounds in 79 games during the 1960-61 season, averaging 27.2 rpg, both NBA records that still stand.

November 24, 1986 Maurice Podoloff, the first chief executive of the NBA, died at the age of 95. Podoloff held the title of NBA President (title changed to Commissioner in 1967) from 1946 through his retirement in 1963.

November 24, 1996 With a pair of free throws in the third quarter of Houston’s 90-85 road win over the Lakers, Clyde Drexler became the 24th player in NBA history to reach 20,000 points.

November 24, 1999 A.C. Green of the Los Angeles Lakers ties former ABA and NBA star Ron Boone for the longest consecutive games played streak in professional basketball history by playing in his 1,041st game when the Lakers host the Utah Jazz at Staples Center. Green became the NBA's all-time iron man when he played his 907th consecutive game while a member of the Dallas Mavericks on November 20, 1997, passing Randy Smith, who played in 906 consecutive games for Buffalo, San Diego, Cleveland and New York.

November 24, 1999 Pat Riley of the Miami Heat collects his 200th win with the team after a 93-91 win over Atlanta, giving him 200 wins with three teams (Lakers, New York, Miami). He joins Lenny Wilkens and Bill Fitch as the only coaches to accomplish that feat.

November 24, 2001 With three assists in a 99-94 loss to Minnesota, Terry Porter of the San Antonio Spurs became the only player in NBA history to record 15,000 points, 7,000 assists, 1,000 steals and 1,000 three-pointers.