Sports
Bill Laimbeer
born 1957 · basketball player and coach
Center of the Pistons' rough-and-tumble "Bad Boys" teams who won back-to-back NBA titles in 1989 and 1990, then coached the Detroit Shock to three WNBA championships.
- Born
Boston, Massachusetts
age 69- Birth name
- William J. Laimbeer Jr.
- Detroit years
- 1982–2009
- Field
- Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Traded to Detroit in February 1982, Laimbeer became the Pistons' starting center for the rest of his career, a skilled shooter and rebounder who built a reputation for hard, calculated fouls that helped define the Pistons' notorious "Bad Boys" identity of the late 1980s. Playing alongside Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars and Dennis Rodman, he started on both of Detroit's NBA championship teams in 1989 and 1990. The Pistons retired his No. 40 in 1995, and he stayed connected to Detroit afterward as a color commentator and as co-founder of a cardboard-box manufacturer in suburban Melvindale. In 2002 he took over as head coach and general manager of the Detroit Shock in the WNBA, leading the franchise to three league championships, in 2003, 2006 and 2008, before resigning in 2009. He was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.
Highlights
- Traded to Detroit in 1982; anchored the "Bad Boys" Pistons for 11 seasons
- Won back-to-back NBA championships in 1989 and 1990
- Pistons retired his No. 40 in 1995
- Coached the Detroit Shock to WNBA titles in 2003, 2006 and 2008
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Played here · 1988–1993, 2002–2009
The Palace of Auburn Hills
Demolished · 1988–2020
His home arena for his final Pistons seasons and later as the Detroit Shock's head coach; demolished in 2020.
Founded · after 1993
Laimbeer Packaging Corp.
Status being checked
A corrugated cardboard box company he co-founded in this Detroit suburb after his playing career.