I watched Bad Boys. This is the eighteenth installment of ESPN's 30 for 30 Vol II. An episode guide for Vol II is here.
The film follows the Detroit Pistons as the team morphs into the 1989 and 1990 NBA Champions. After drafting Isiah Thomas in the 1981 draft, the team added Bill Laimbeer. I did not realize that Laimbeer had played for the Pistons for thirteen years. The film follows the acquisition of the key players over the next few years, including: Rick Mahorn, Dennis Rodman and John Salley.
Bad Boys follows the team has it losses the in the first round to the Knicks in 1984, losses in the conference semifinals to the Celtics in 1985, losses in the first round to the Hawks in 1986 and losses in the conference finals to the Boston Celtics in 1987. The 1987 conference finals includes a back-breaking steal by Bird.
The Piston then lost to the Lakers in the 1998 finals before breaking through and winning championships against the Lakers and the Trail Blazers in 1989 and 1990, respectively.
The film also follows the team was it slides back into oblivion. By 1992-93, the team had a record of 20 wins and 62 losses.
As I have said before, it is astonishing how physical the NBA was in the late 1980's and into the 1990's. In particular, the physical play-off battles between the Celtics and the Piston are amazing.
This is a very good film. There are solid interviews with all of the key players. I am struggling with the fact that many of the 30 for 30 Volume IIs are two hours long. I am having a hard time finding a block of time to sit and watch a two hour film.
Bad Boys is also available in iTunes.
A trailer for the film is here.
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