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Bill Laimbeer

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Bill Laimbeer
Laimbeer in 2019 as Las Vegas Aces head coach
Personal information
Born (1957-05-19) May 19, 1957 (age 67)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
High schoolPalos Verdes
(Palos Verdes, California)
CollegeNotre Dame (1975–1979)
NBA draft1979: 3rd round, 65th overall pick
Selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers
Playing career1979–1994
PositionCenter
Number41, 40
Coaching career2002–2021
Career history
As player:
1979–1980Basket Brescia
1980–1982Cleveland Cavaliers
1982–1993Detroit Pistons
As coach:
2002–2009Detroit Shock
2009–2011Minnesota Timberwolves (assistant)
2013–2017New York Liberty
2018–2021Las Vegas Aces
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As coach:

Career statistics
Points13,790 (12.9 ppg)
Rebounds10,400 (9.7 rpg)
Assists2,184 (2.0 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference

William Laimbeer Jr. (born May 19, 1957) is an American former professional basketball coach and player who spent the majority of his career with the Detroit Pistons. Known for his physical style of play, he played a big part in the Pistons earning the nickname the “Bad Boys" in the mid-1980s before helping them win back-to-back NBA championships.

In his National Basketball Association (NBA) career, Laimbeer was known for his 11-year tenure with the Detroit Pistons during their "Bad Boys" era. Although a solid shooter and rebounder, Laimbeer became notorious for his physical play and reputation for delivering hard, often flagrant fouls. Laimbeer played at center with Hall of Fame backcourt guards Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars and forward Dennis Rodman, winning back-to-back NBA Championships in 1989 and 1990 with the Pistons, and being named an NBA All-Star four times.[1][2] Prior to the NBA, he played for the University of Notre Dame and Palos Verdes High School in Southern California.

After his playing career, Laimbeer served as the head coach and general manager of the Detroit Shock in the WNBA from 2002 to 2009, coaching the team to three league championships in 2003, 2006, and 2008.[3] He was the head coach of the New York Liberty from 2013 to 2017 and the head coach of the Las Vegas Aces from 2018 until 2021. He has twice been named the WNBA's Coach of the Year.

Early life

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Laimbeer playing for Palos Verdes High School in 1975

Laimbeer was born in Boston and raised in the Chicago suburb of Clarendon Hills[4] before moving with his family to Palos Verdes Estates, California. His father, William Laimbeer Sr., was an Owens-Illinois executive who rose as high as company president.[5] The younger Laimbeer once famously joked, "I'm the only player in the NBA who makes less money than his father."[6]

Laimbeer played a Sleestak on the children's TV series Land of the Lost before attending Notre Dame.[7] He was a Palos Verdes High School student, and the Land of the Lost show solicited their basketball team for tall people to play Sleestaks.

As a senior in high school in 1975, Laimbeer led Palos Verdes to a CIF basketball title and a stunning [1] upset over 6 time defending champion Verbum Dei.

College career

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For college, Laimbeer attended Notre Dame where he played basketball, but he flunked out after his freshman year. To regain his eligibility, he spent two semesters at Owens Technical College in Toledo, Ohio. Laimbeer then re-entered Notre Dame. He spent two years playing for Notre Dame's basketball team. For his last two years of college, he averaged 7.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game while playing 20 minutes a game, primarily as a substitute. With the Fighting Irish, Laimbeer appeared in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament in 1978, and the Elite Eight in 1975

Professional career

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Brescia (1979–1980)

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Laimbeer was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1979, but spent his first professional season in Europe. He played in Italy for Pinti Inox Brescia, where he averaged 21.1 points and 12.5 rebounds.

Cleveland Cavaliers (1980–1982)

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Laimbeer returned to play for the Cavaliers in 1980.[8] He was a reserve for the entire 1980–81 season and started only 4 games for the 1981–82 team.

Detroit Pistons (1982–1993)

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On February 16, 1982, Laimbeer was traded to the Detroit Pistons, where he remained for the rest of his career. He was immediately installed as the Pistons starting center. During his playing career, Laimbeer was one of the most notorious players in the NBA. While highly popular among Piston fans, Laimbeer was despised by opposing players and fans for his disdain of his opponents, his poor sportsmanship, and his dangerous play, such as repeatedly committing violent intentional fouls. In the public eye, Laimbeer's reputation for physical play tended to overshadow his skills. His former teammate Dennis Rodman noted this in his book Bad As I Wanna Be, saying, "He [Laimbeer] was more than a thug, but that's what he'll be remembered for." In an interview for the 1990 NBA Home Video release "Pure Pistons," teammate Isiah Thomas also talked about Laimbeer's effect on opposing players, saying, "He frustrates people," but then added, "He frustrates people...because he's good."

In the ESPN 30 for 30 film Bad Boys, Laimbeer said his approach to the game was all psychological. When the Pistons would take to the court before a game, Laimbeer made it a point to lead the rest of the team out from the locker room and he always did so with a scowl on his face to show he was not intimidated by anyone.

While a serviceable and solid player for most of his career, Laimbeer knew there were better skilled players than him. However, there were not as many players who were as physical on the court as he was, and Laimbeer was able to use that to his advantage. The hard-nosed approach he used was designed to wear on opposing players to the point where they began focusing more on retaliating against him and the rest of the Pistons instead of trying to win the game; Laimbeer said if he was able to do that to an opponent during the course of a game, he had broken him down.[9] He even said the local media would play a role as his and the team's reputation preceded them: "When the Pistons came into a town, all the media would write about were the 'Bad Boys' and how rough we played. They'd be asking players if they were going to stand up to us. And once we got teams thinking like that, we had them. We already got them out of their game."[10]

Laimbeer was one of the top outside-shooting centers of his era, draining over 200 three-pointers for his career, and excelled at running the pick and pop with guards Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars. Then-head coach Chuck Daly used Laimbeer's inside-outside skills to great effect. On the defensive end, Laimbeer was one of the best rebounders in the game. On the offensive end, Daly would often have Laimbeer fade to the perimeter rather than roll to the basket, which had the additional effect of keeping the opposing team's best rebounder far from the backboard. Laimbeer was selected to the NBA All-Star Game on four occasions (1983, 1984, 1985 and 1987) and finished among the league leaders in rebounding and free throw percentage several times, winning the rebound title in the 1985–86 season. Laimbeer started on the Pistons' 1989 and 1990 NBA championship teams.

Laimbeer spent 14 seasons in the NBA, mostly with the Detroit Pistons. Laimbeer became the 19th player in league history to amass more than 10,000 points and 10,000 rebounds. Laimbeer was most effective off the defensive glass – from 1982 to 1990 no player in the league totaled more defensive rebounds. He was also remarkably durable, never playing fewer than 79 regular-season games during his first 13 seasons, and playing all 82 games seven times. His streak of 685 consecutive games played (which ended due to suspension in the 1988–89 season) is the fifth longest in league history. Laimbeer retired early in the 1993–94 season at age 36 after an incident in practice with longtime friend Isiah Thomas that led to Thomas breaking his hand. Laimbeer, upset over the fight as well as worried over the reaction of Pistons fans for injuring their team captain, decided to retire, believing the fight with Isiah was his "downfall". He announced his retirement after a meeting with Thomas and head coach Don Chaney that ended with him and Thomas teary-eyed and remaining best friends.[11] Laimbeer had his jersey number (40) retired by the Pistons in February 1995. He remains the franchise's all-time leader in career rebounds.

Laimbeer endorsed a video game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball, a futuristic basketball game in which physical play is encouraged. In a cameo in the ninth season of Cheers, Kevin McHale of the rival Celtics remarked, when presented with the X-Ray of an adult male gorilla's ankle, "...could be Laimbeer."[12]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 †  Won an NBA championship  *  Led the league

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1980–81 Cleveland 81 — 30.4 .503 — .765 8.6 2.7 .7 1.0 9.8
1981–82 Cleveland 50 4 17.9 .470 .500 .775 5.5 .9 .4 .6 6.7
1981–82 Detroit 30 30 31.2 .516 .143 .813 11.3 1.8 .6 1.1 12.8
1982–83 Detroit 82 82 35.0 .497 .154 .790 12.1 3.2 .6 1.4 13.6
1983–84 Detroit 82 82 34.9 .530 .000 .866 12.2 1.8 .6 1.0 17.3
1984–85 Detroit 82 82 35.3 .506 .222 .797 12.4 1.9 .8 .9 17.5
1985–86 Detroit 82 82 35.3 .492 .286 .834 13.1* 1.8 .7 .8 16.6
1986–87 Detroit 82 82 34.8 .501 .286 .894 11.6 1.8 .9 .8 15.4
1987–88 Detroit 82 82 35.3 .493 .333 .874 10.1 2.4 .8 1.0 13.5
1988–89† Detroit 81 81 32.6 .499 .349 .840 9.6 2.2 .6 1.2 13.7
1989–90† Detroit 81 81 33.0 .484 .361 .854 9.6 2.1 .7 1.0 12.1
1990–91 Detroit 82 81 32.5 .478 .296 .837 9.0 1.9 .5 .7 11.0
1991–92 Detroit 81 46 27.6 .470 .376 .893 5.6 2.0 .6 .7 9.7
1992–93 Detroit 79 41 24.5 .509 .370 .894 5.3 1.6 .6 .5 8.7
1993–94 Detroit 11 5 22.5 .522 .333 .846 5.1 1.3 .5 .4 9.9
Career 1,068 861 31.8 .498 .326 .837 9.7 2.0 .7 .9 12.9
All-Star 4 0 11.3 .650 — .667 2.8 .5 .5 .5 7.0

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1984 Detroit 5 0 33.0 .569 — .900 12.4 2.4 .8 .6 15.2
1985 Detroit 9 9 36.1 .449 .000 .706 10.7 1.7 .8 .8 14.7
1986 Detroit 4 4 42.0 .500 1.000 .913 14.0 .3 .5 .8 22.5
1987 Detroit 15 15 36.2 .515 .200 .625 10.4 2.5 1.0 .8 12.3
1988 Detroit 23 23 33.9 .456 .294 .889 9.6 1.9 .8 .8 11.9
1989† Detroit 17 17 29.2 .465 .357 .806 8.2 1.8 .4 .5 10.1
1990† Detroit 20 20 33.4 .457 .349 .862 10.6 1.4 1.2 .9 11.1
1991 Detroit 15 15 29.7 .446 .294 .871 8.1 1.3 .3 .8 10.9
1992 Detroit 5 4 29.0 .370 .200 1.000 6.6 1.6 .8 .2 8.2
Career 113 107 33.1 .468 .321 .819 9.7 1.7 .7 .7 12.0

Post-playing life

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In 1994, Laimbeer and his father William Sr. co-founded Laimbeer Packaging Corp., a company located in Melvindale, Michigan, a Detroit suburb, producing corrugated cardboard boxes. The company struggled through the late 1990s and closed in early 2002.[13] Laimbeer won the NBA Shooting Stars Competition at the 2007 All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas along with Chauncey Billups of the Detroit Pistons and Swin Cash of the Detroit Shock. In February 2009 he won the competition with Arron Afflalo and Katie Smith.[14] In 1999, Laimbeer was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.

Laimbeer is a former color commentator for the Pistons and was a studio analyst for ESPN in 2003.

Coaching career

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Detroit Shock (2002–2009)

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In the middle of the 2002 WNBA season, Laimbeer took over the head coaching position for the Detroit Shock. A year later, he led the franchise to its first WNBA championship and was named Coach of the Year that year. It marked the first time in WNBA history that a team other than Los Angeles or Houston won the title. On September 9, 2006, Laimbeer led the Shock to their second WNBA championship against the Sacramento Monarchs in five games. Two years later, on October 5, 2008, Laimbeer led the team to its third league championship in six years by defeating San Antonio.

Laimbeer has talked about the possibility of one day coaching in the NBA. The New York Knicks' former team president, former Piston teammate Isiah Thomas, once considered Laimbeer as a possibility.[15] The Pistons, presided by former teammate Joe Dumars, had considered the possibility of Laimbeer replacing departing coach Larry Brown, before ultimately hiring former Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Flip Saunders.

On June 15, 2009, Laimbeer resigned as head coach of the Detroit Shock, due to family reasons and the desire to become an NBA head coach.[16]

Minnesota Timberwolves (2009–2012)

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Though he was unable to secure an NBA head coaching position, that same year Laimbeer was offered, and accepted, an assistant coach position with the Minnesota Timberwolves.[17]

New York Liberty (2012–2017)

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In 2012, Laimbeer returned to the WNBA to become the head coach and general manager of the New York Liberty, replacing John Whisenant.[18] He quickly returned to his pugnacious ways, drawing a fine for saying Minnesota Lynx player Maya Moore "should get hurt" for playing late into a game in which the Lynx easily defeated the Liberty.[19]

On October 14, 2014, the Liberty parted ways with Laimbeer after two seasons,[20] but he was rehired as the Liberty head coach on January 8, 2015.[21]

Las Vegas Aces (2018–2021)

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On October 17, 2017, the then-unnamed Las Vegas Aces announced Laimbeer as head coach and President of Basketball Operations.[22] Laimbeer coached the Aces through 2021. After the 2021 season Laimbeer retired from coaching.[23]

Coaching record

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Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
DES 2002 22 9 13 .409 8th in Eastern — — — — Missed playoffs
DES 2003 34 25 9 .735 1st in Eastern 8 6 2 .750 Won WNBA Championship
DES 2004 34 17 17 .500 3rd in Eastern 3 1 2 .333 Lost in Conference semifinals
DES 2005 34 16 18 .471 4th in Eastern 2 0 2 .000 Lost in Conference semifinals
DES 2006 34 23 11 .676 2nd in Eastern 10 7 3 .700 Won WNBA Championship
DES 2007 34 24 10 .706 1st in Eastern 11 6 5 .545 Lost in WNBA Finals
DES 2008 34 22 12 .647 1st in Eastern 9 7 2 .778 Won WNBA Championship
DES 2009 4 1 3 .250 (resigned) — — — —
NYL 2013 34 11 23 .324 5th in Eastern — — — — Missed playoffs
NYL 2014 34 15 19 .441 5th in Eastern — — — — Missed playoffs
NYL 2015 34 23 11 .676 1st in Eastern 5 3 2 .600 Lost in Conference finals
NYL 2016 34 21 13 .618 1st in Eastern 1 0 1 .000 Lost in Second Round
NYL 2017 34 22 12 .647 1st in Eastern 1 0 1 .000 Lost in Second Round
LVA 2018 34 14 20 .412 6th in Western — — — — Missed playoffs
LVA 2019 34 21 13 .618 2nd in Western 5 2 3 .400 Lost in Conference finals
LVA 2020 22 18 4 .818 1st in Western 8 3 5 .375 Lost in WNBA Finals
LVA 2021 32 24 8 .750 1st in Western 5 2 3 .400 Lost in Conference finals
Career 521 306 215 .587   68 37 31 .544  
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In 1990, Nintendo ported a game called Future Basketball to their SNES console under the name Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball. The game was set in a future where Laimbeer was commissioner of a basketball league with no rules, and weapons allowed.[24]

The song "Tough Guy" off the 1994 Beastie Boys album Ill Communication deals with Laimbeer and criticizes his physically aggressive style of playing basketball.

Laimbeer is referenced by name in the 2005 song "Welcome to Tally Hall" by Michigan-based band Tally Hall.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "BILL LAIMBEER: MR. PERSONALITY » Mitch Albom". November 21, 2008. Archived from the original on March 30, 2023. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  2. ^ B, Mike. "Shining Light on Isiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons Memorable "Bad Boys" Era". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on March 30, 2023. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  3. ^ Longman, Jeré (June 5, 2007). "Aggressive, Infuriating and Successful". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on March 30, 2023. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  4. ^ 30 for 30: Bad Boys, published by ESPN on April 18, 2014. Time: 7:20.
  5. ^ "Philanthropists of the Year 2010 - Gulfshore Life - August 2010 - Naples, FL". Gulfshore Life. Archived from the original on October 12, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  6. ^ "A Crashing Success". Archived from the original on June 1, 2016. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  7. ^ "Episodes cast for Land of the Lost (1974)". IMDb.com. Archived from the original on December 17, 2009. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  8. ^ "Legends profile: Bill Laimbeer". NBA.com. National Basketball Association. Archived from the original on July 31, 2021. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  9. ^ 30 for 30 episode 64. “Bad Boys”. Premiered April 17, 2014.
  10. ^ Schmitz, Brian (November 13, 1994). "THE MAGIC OF LAIMBEER: IT WAS ALL IN FUN . . . REALLY". Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  11. ^ "'Sensitive' Laimbeer Mulled Retiring After Fighting Isiah". Chicago Tribune. November 21, 1993. Archived from the original on March 9, 2017. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
  12. ^ Burrows, James (September 27, 1990), Cheers Fouls Out, Ted Danson, Kirstie Alley, Rhea Perlman, archived from the original on April 9, 2017, retrieved December 13, 2017
  13. ^ Goldman, Leslie (June 24, 2014). "In the game with Robin Roberts: Bill Laimbeer". Espn.go.com. Archived from the original on July 1, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  14. ^ "NBA All-Star Shooting Stars Winners". NBA.com. August 24, 2017. Archived from the original on February 24, 2018.
  15. ^ Ian O'Connor (November 6, 2010). "Isiah Thomas itching for encore with New York Knicks - ESPN New York". ESPN. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
  16. ^ "Laimbeer resigns as Shock coach". ESPN. June 15, 2009. Archived from the original on June 21, 2009. Retrieved June 15, 2009.
  17. ^ "Original Old School: The Piston You Love To Hate". SLAMonline. December 11, 2010. Archived from the original on August 25, 2013. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  18. ^ Ackert, Kristie (October 25, 2012). "Liberty tabs ex-Piston Laimbeer as new coach/GM". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on December 13, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  19. ^ Youngblood, Kent (August 22, 2013). "Laimbeer fined for saying Moore "should get hurt"". StarTribune.com. Archived from the original on January 5, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  20. ^ "New York Liberty part ways with Bill Laimbeer". Espn.go.com. October 16, 2014. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  21. ^ Liberty Rename Bill Laimbeer Head Coach Archived January 9, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  22. ^ "WNBA Announces Relocation of San Antonio Stars to Las Vegas - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Archived from the original on October 18, 2017. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
  23. ^ "Ex-Ace Laimbeer: 'Not ever going to coach again'". ESPN.com. May 21, 2022. Archived from the original on November 27, 2022. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
  24. ^ "Bill Laimbeer in a Video Game." AP File Photo. September 27, 1991. The Prescott Courier.
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