If you did a poll of NBA fans and asked them the dirtiest team of all time, the Detroit Pistons would likely take the top spot, though they only came in 6th in a recent list of the league’s dirtiest teams.
The Pistons have had this reputation going back to the Bad Boys days when hard fouls and occasional dustups were the norm.
Things happened in Detroit’s playoff battles with the Lakers, Celtics and Bulls that would get players suspended now but barely drew the referee’s attention back then.
The reputation of being a dirty team didn’t end with the Bad Boys, as the Pistons were then involved in the most infamous brawl of all time, the Malice in the Palace, though that was as much about the fans as the players.