Thirty-seven years ago, Detroit basketball shoved its way into the history books. In an era that was previously dominated by the beautiful ball of the Showtime Lakers and Larry Bird Celtics, the Bad Boy Pistons earned their nickname by playing rougher, tougher, and meaner than anyone else. They made three consecutive Finals, earned two titles and, according to star center Bill Laimbeer, changed the way that the game was played.
"We brought defense to the league," Laimbeer told First Take back in 2020. "Everyone said the Pistons were destroying the game of basketball. Because we played defense, and we made it hard to score. That's how we had to win."
Over the years, that Bad Boy team has become a distant memory. The Pistons' current designated Unc, Tobias Harris, was born two years after their last title. What today's fans remember more (or try to forget) is the start of the 2020's. That marked five straight years of Detroit Basketball at the bottom of the standings, thanks to consistently terrible defenses. Laimbeer admitted that he stopped watching the NBA during that period, disappointed at how soft the league had become.
J.B. Bickerstaff came in during the summer of 2024 tasked with the job of changing the culture. In order to bring the team into the future, he went back to their past. Bickerstaff led a shocking defensive turnaround, adding 30 wins and a 15-spot leap up the defensive rankings. The old heads began to take notice.
"They are back. They have found their culture. They have found their identity. They are Bad Boys walking out," Isaiah Thomas noted on an NBA TV broadcast last year.
This year, the Pistons have doubled down on that defensive identity. They've moved up to the No. 2 defense in the league and rattled off 13 straight wins in the process heading into their Wednesday matchup against the Celtics. Only the franchise's 1990 and 2004 championship teams have won more in a row. Like their predecessors, this team has barged its way into the national landscape, sitting at first place in the East as November rolls to a close.
The Thunder's historic No. 1 defense has cast a shadow on what Detroit is doing as the runner-up. But the Pistons' relative defensive efficiency (they're 5.1 points per 100 better than league-average) would lead the league in most normal seasons. They are statistically better on that end of the floor than the Bad Boys ever were. Only Detroit's 2004 championship squad has been a more dominant era-adjusted defense in the franchise's history.
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Pistons are NBA's Nasty Boys
There will never be another Bad Boys. But here come the Nasty Boys.
"We just got a bunch of nasty dawgs in that locker room, and they love it," Bickerstaff told reporters after a short-handed, come-from-behind win in Philadelphia in early November. Bickerstaff's off-the-cuff remark spawned a nickname that the team has embraced.
"We all nasty dawgs, nasty boys, whatever you want to call it," reserve Daniss Jenkins added postgame. "That’s us. A bunch of mutts. You don’t want no mutt in your house, do you? Nobody like mutts. We nasty boys, that’s what we are."
Cerberus, the three-headed dog that guards the gates of the underworld, was one of the most feared creatures of Greek mythology. The Pistons trio of Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart, and Ausar Thompson are bringing that nightmare to life.
Duren has always been a physical specimen. At 14, he already looked like a prime Dwight Howard.
Jalen Duren was a menace at 14 years old 💀 pic.twitter.com/WSGl7sumwq
— 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔇𝔢𝔱𝔯𝔬𝔦𝔱 𝔗𝔦𝔪𝔢𝔰 📰 (@the_det_times) November 20, 2025
His tools were terrific, but the understanding of the game wasn't there early in Duren's career. He was oftentimes completely out of place on defense and a liability on that end of the floor.
He's finally figured it out in his fourth year, cutting back on the silly fouls and hopeless gambles. He now grades out as a plus paint protector, holding opponents to 1.7 percent below their season averages. It's coming at the best possible time. He's in line for a five-year, $241 million max deal from the Pistons this summer and will be in All-NBA consideration at the end of the season.
If Duren is the most well-known defender on the Pistons, then Stewart is its heart. A few years ago, he was most commonly known as the guy who tried to fight LeBron James. It took his entire team to restrain him. Blood streamed down his face as he lunged over and over, breaking tackles and clawing inch-by-inch towards LeBron.
The fiery big man has proven that he's way more than a viral highlight. That tenacity extends to his play. He can guard anyone, and he's the best defender that the casual fans haven't heard of. He should be an easy All-Defensive selection as media voters catch up to how good he is.
Thompson, who ranks third in the league in deflections per game, is the third head of the dog. He never backs down from a difficult matchup, or a fight for that matter. That toughness runs in his blood, as his twin Amen explained after Ausar got into it with Jabari Smith Jr. Earlier in the year.
"Those are both my guys," he said. "If they gotta fight, they gotta fight. Just figure it out."
Those three have helped the Pistons put a cage around the restricted area. In the rare instances when opponents do get a layup opportunity, only the Thunder and the Wemby-led Spurs force a higher percentage of misses.
These Pistons are tough, even among teammates. They yell at each other one minute, then shake hands the next.
Ausar & JD get into it…
— Pistons Jack (@pistons_jack) November 10, 2025
They all good though. Pic.twitter.com/CmIQnPCpcO
That goes to what Bickerstaff has termed "controlling the chaos." It's the motto that the team has embraced throughout their impressive start to the year and ridden to the top of the East.
"We want to create the chaos, but we want to be in control of it as well," Bickerstaff explained recently before his team took on the Hawks. "We want to push people’s buttons and make them a little emotional but be able to hold ourselves to our standard and still continue to play. The message of controlling the chaos is that we want to dictate when the chaos happens."
The Pistons play with a desperate edge that other teams simply can't replicate. Javonte Green has fought his way from Radford University to five teams in seven years. His defense goes to 100 even at the free throw line, where he wipes the ball with sweat from his forehead between shots.
Jenkins has gone from University of the Pacific to Iona to St. John's. The 24-year-old went undrafted last year and is has less guaranteed money on his contract than the 12th man from that 1989 Bad Boys team. He's turned into one of the best hidden gems this season, finding clever ways to get to the rim and defending his own position capably.
Leading it all is Cade Cunningham, perhaps the most coachable superstar in the league. He saw his team's losses mount from 59 as a rookie to 65 in his second year and 68 in Year Three. He fought back tears as the Pistons tied an NBA-record 28 straight losses. Those defeats only made him stronger.
"He could have been pissed off. He could have been frustrated. He could have blamed everyone else. But never once did you hear him do that," Bickerstaff said in Atlanta. "The only thing he ever did was put his head down and go to work and accept responsibility. I don’t know if I’ve ever coached a guy who has apologized or 'my badded' me and meant it more than Cade."
Having difficult conversations is just one of many ways in which the Pistons are comfortable being uncomfortable. In the past week alone, Bickerstaff has used the words nasty, muddy, sticky, thick, and ugly to describe the tenor of his team's games. He encourages his guys to force opponents into places that other people don't want to go. Like Laimbeer delivering a forearm shiver, these Pistons make you feel them.
"If you bash on that door hard enough, it will fall down," Laimbeer told the New York Times back in 1988.
Stewart was born eight years after Laimbeer retired. That same spirit resides in him. After the short-handed Pistons came from behind to beat the Sixers, he gave his assessment in a way that only a Nasty Boy could.
"We kept applying that pressure," Stewart stated matter-of-factly. "And they laid down for us."