Back in the day, in their glory days, the Detroit Pistons were known as the Bad Boys.
That mostly came because of bruiser Rick Mahorn, his sidekick Bill Laimbeer, who everyone in the league considered (rightly) a dirty player and Dennis Rodman, who, even at the beginning of his career, could cause a major controversy.
Isaiah Thomas, the point guard, was an elegant player but he didn’t mind the reputation and so was part of it, if only because of things that he said.
The only starter to escape the Bad Boys tag was Thomas’s backcourt mate, Joe Dumars.