“I found that out real quick… they serious about the Lakers” John Salley on MAYHEM that took place in LA following Detroit Pistons 1989 Finals victory
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NBA fans are as passionate as can be and John Salley had to learn this lesson the hard way. Over years, fans have been extremely passionate about the NBA. At times, they would storm the freeways to meet their favorite players, burn jerseys if those players left the team, so on and so forth. Having this much of a competitive spirit can be damaging these days. One can only imagine how things were back in the day.
John Salley is a former Detroit Pistons player and during the 80s, they thrived like no other team on the NBA roster. They often met with the Los Angeles Lakers in the finals and those battles were headed. The Pistons managed to beat the Lakers in 1989. But what LA had in store for their competitors was something out of a movie. John Salley explained the action on the “All The Smoke” podcast.
He said, “We kicked all the windows out of the bus on the way back to the hotel. The guy just turned it all black, we kicking windows out cause there’s people following the bus and giving us the finger and we throwin sh*t out… in LA.” He continued, Rick (Mahorn) is mooning them and sh*t… and we just wildin.”
But the troll session turned into a strict lockdown explained John Salley. “We get back to the hotel… we couldn’t go anywhere, that’s another thing. Its not like we could go out. I found that out real quick… they serious about the Lakers out here.” However, the former champion fondly recalled celebrating at the hotel with Dennis Rodman and the rest of his squad.
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John Salley and his history with NBA legends
John Salley had some great times in the NBA battling against some of the greatest players ever. To begin with, he had a long history going up against the legendary Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics. The Pistons, Lakers and Celtics were the biggest teams around, and they dominated the entire decade. Until Michael Jordan began his journey to becoming the greatest ever.
Salley ended up joining the Chicago Bulls to play alongside Mike. The Bulls would get the former Pistons teammates of Salley and Rodman back together. John was part of the 72-win recording breaking roster. He would also play with his former rival team, the Lakers alongside Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. There, he won his fourth and final ring in 2000.
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Rakibul John Rodgers
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