During the NBA offseason, I often find myself with a lot of free time, as I'm no longer staying up late to watch doubleheaders or doing film breakdowns. As great as September will be with the NFL kicking off and the WNBA and MLB regular seasons wrapping up, I still find myself craving my fix of the NBA.
The best way for me to satisfy this constant itch for the NBA is by watching basketball documentaries, specifically ESPN's 30 for 30.
My favorite documentary ever is the ESPN 30 for 30 called Bad Boys. The documentary explores how the late 1980s, early 1990s "Bad Boy" Detroit Pistons were formed. It's so well done and features great interviews with all the key members of one of the NBA's toughest teams ever.
You're probably wondering how this connects to the New Orleans Pelicans. If you're unfamiliar, Pelicans President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars was part of those teams. Dumars was the steady off-guard next to Isiah Thomas and contributed to their back-to-back NBA titles in 1989 and 1990. Dumars even won Finals MVP in 1989.
About 40 minutes into this doc, the Pistons players start talking about how the entire NBA had labeled them as bad guys, and they decided to embrace it, giving themselves the nickname "Bad Boys."
While discussing this newfound identity, Dumars dropped a gem that reveals why he is the ideal leader for the Pelicans.
“Every great team needs an identity, you can’t be great in this league and have zero identity.”
Identity is something the Pelicans have been missing and Dumars is bringing it
When Dumars took over the Pelicans, they had never really had a culture or identity. That's something he has been trying to establish from day one; that's why he brought in both Jordan Poole and Kevon Looney, two guys who know what it takes to be champions.
Dumars said last week he doesn't want players in the building who don't want to be here, which is exactly the type of message the Pistons had when Joe played for them and ran them. When comparing the Bad Boy Pistons to the Chauncey Billups era Pistons, one thing is consistent: it was them against the entire world. That same idea is the one Dumars is trying to bring to this Pelicans squad.
Despite that quote about identity being from over 10 years old, Dumars' thought process in how to build a winner hasn't changed. He understands the biggest thing outside of injuries holding this team back was not having an identity, while now they do.
Coming into next season, the Pelicans are going to mean tough and one for all, all for one.