So the other day I was bored as balls and naturally I fired up some youtube and started watching sports highlights. But, something weird happened, I had an insatiable hunger for NBA highlights, and not just any highlights but Detroit Pistons highlights. Obviously I started with the 2004 playoff intros, where the fuck else would I start, but once I got through that it became an always sunny cannibalism situation, I had an unwavering appetite for Pistons basketball for maybe the first time ever.
So I started thinking about anything exciting I could watch from my teenage/college years, aka my full fan brain years. I started with some D Rose from this year (big shoutout d rose) and it was fun, dude actually put up some fantastic stats this year, 18 & 6 or something like that? Pretty damn good for a dude who's knees are made out of old chewing gum. And then I remembered the year that Blake Griffin was legitimately in the MVP race.
Instantly looked up his highlights from that year and stumbled across this video, highly highly highly recommend giving it a watch if you've got a few minutes.
I mean, whatsup bro? Don't get me wrong I don't watch a ton of Stones basketball and that year was no exception, granted I watched a few times just for Blake, but where the fuck did some of those highlights come from?!?! It might just be me but I swear my memory of that season was Blake knocking down 3s, taking people off the dribble, and just being a dominant point forward, which still holds true. But some of those plays are crazy, after the 50 point and 1 against the 76ers and then the block and save against Harrell its crazy to think LCA is capable of reaching those levels of energy. This dude single handedly kept the lights on at LCA that year and people forget that.
My mans averaged 24.5 pts 7.5 rbs and 5.4 asts that year, which itself is absurd and deserving of a Darkhorse MVP candidate which I also remember being a big storyline, but where the fuck did those dunks come from?! I swear to god half of that highlight reel is Lob City Blake just dunking his nuts in unfortunate defenders' mouths. I completely did not realize that he was jumping over people like that just 2 years ago, my god I would kill to get that man back to full health and let him ball again.
It was a beautiful trip to the past and even though that season ended with Giannis bending us over, the fact that the Detroit Pistons had a guy like that is wild to me. So much of an anamoly that I feel like it goes so under the radar in this city. God damn it it would be cool if the Stones were good. One day, one day..... probably not though. At least not until we #TankForEmoni
P.S. Check out this fire Bad Boys shirt I made if you wanna live even further in the Pistons past.