Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas knows as much as anyone about playing a physical brand of basketball, making him the perfect person to speak on Sunday’s altercation at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
During the second quarter of the Detroit Pistons-Minnesota Timberwolves game, rookie Ron Holland and veteran guard Donte DiVincenzo were involved in a scuffle that led to the ejection of seven people, including both coaches and players.
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Following the game, Thomas spoke during an NBA TV broadcast to share his thoughts on the altercation and whom he felt was the aggressor, pushing back on comments from Timberwolves coach Chris Finch — who criticized the Pistons’ involvement.
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“Now, the play that we just watched, where Holland made a foul going for the ball, it wasn’t a flagrant foul. Then DiVincenzo comes over, and collars him, puts his hands on him, and runs him up into the stands,” Thomas said. “And I understand that Coach Finch talks about, ‘Oh, it’s physical’ and everything else, but I see the aggressor. I’m just looking at the aggressor. Who’s the aggressor right now? The aggressor is zero in white, right? Right. He grabs the guy in blue — throw him in the stands now.
“You can’t come back and have a press conference and say, ‘Oh, the Detroit guys are so physical, and this is how they play.’ When you walk up, put your hands on somebody, and grab ‘em and run ‘em into the stands, where I’m from, you’re called the aggressor.”
It’s no secret that Thomas is a Pistons loyalist through and through, given his 13 seasons with the franchise, where he helped deliver their first two championships. It’s also well known that, as one of the legends of the “Bad Boys” era of Pistons basketball, he defends tough, physical play and hard-nosed defense — something his teams were known for.
But Thomas is no homer in this situation, as the video backs up his depiction of the events.
However, he still took the opportunity to defend the Pistons’ brand of basketball under head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who is in his first year in Detroit.
“Detroit plays a different style, and that’s what we like to see in the NBA — how every team doesn’t play the same, right? And (it’s) our style against your style, right? Our defense against your defense,” Thomas said. “What we were complaining about months ago was that every team was playing the same, and every team looked the same.
“Finally, we’ve got a team that steps up and says, ‘Well, we can’t play like Boston. We can’t shoot 50 three’s a night. We have to win a different way. We have to win playing our style of basketball.’ And consequently, that’s (where) styles make the fight.”
As of Monday afternoon, the NBA has yet to issue any disciplinary actions stemming from the incident.