Fans who have watched the game for many years should know that there is such a person in the NBA field, who usually sits on the bench with nothing to do, occasionally "stretches his fists" on the court, and enjoys a high status in the locker room. Yes, this type of person is what we often call "team thugs", that is, the "stadium bodyguards" defined by the media, mainly to protect the core players of the team from aggression and hit more people than to play. I've shared the brotherhood of Charles Oakley as Michael Jordan's bodyguard before, and today we're going to talk about another famous bodyguard in NBA history: Rick Mahone.
Left: Mahon, Right: Lambier
When it comes to Rick Mahon's name, many old fans may have the impression that he is one of the members of the famous "Bad Boy Army" and the worst of the bad boys, which can be regarded as synonymous with violence. Mahone is very good at playing with his body, and he can use his strong body and frequent physical contact to compensate for his relatively limited ability to bounce. In the late 1980s, Mahone was the leader of the Pistons' Army of Bad Boys, and the bodyguard and right-hand man of bill Lambier, the "axe-wielding villain", and the relationship between them was not a good story, and could even be described as "wretched".
At the time, Mahon was recognized as the first NBA fighter, he had practiced professional boxing, and even Barkley had admitted that he could never beat Mahone in terms of fighting. Although you are the first player in the NBA, Mahon is subservient to Lambier and obedient. Once there are players on the field who come to find trouble (usually rare) or Lambier takes the initiative to provoke a conflict, Mahone will rush to confront the opponent at the first time, and even punch and kick each other. As a villain, Lambier is actually not good at fighting, he is more likely to use shady tricks to hurt people or tough fouls to cause trouble, but because of Mahone's presence, he often avoids the doom of being beaten, and Lambir can even pose a pitiful face to seek refuge from the referee after provoking the incident, so that tough guys such as Charles Buckley and Parrish look down on him.
Lambier defends Jordan
One is responsible for shading and inciting people, and the other is responsible for publicly displaying violence, mahon and Lambier show the badness of the "Bad Boy Army" to the fullest, and Jordan, "Big Bird" Bird and Buckley have not suffered their losses. In those years, many players hated Lambier, and the magician even said that you had no desire to score in front of Lambier, afraid that you would reimburse your career because of a layup. For Lambier's repeated provocations, Barkley once said, "The Pistons are only Mahun and a tough guy, if there is no Mahon, Lambier will die."
In this way, Buckley always held his anger against Lambir. In the summer of 1989, the Timberwolves picked up Mahone from the Pistons and eventually joined the 76ers, becoming teammates with Barkley. This made Buckley overjoyed at the time, and he excitedly said that Lambier was going to be unlucky, "When Lambir does not have Mahon's help, he had better wear a mask every day." So we see that Barkley chased Lambier twice in the game, and Lambier did not have the slightest ability to fight back.
Barkley chased Lambier twice
It is worth mentioning that after retiring, Lambier became the manager of the Detroit Shock Team, while Mahone served as his assistant coach. Under the diligent tutelage of these two men, the Shock Team defended fiercely, once had the title of "WNBA version of the Bad Boy Army" and won the championship many times. On July 22, 2008, during a match between the Shock Team and the Sparks, the two teams were in a fight, and Mahone was unable to control the inner flood power and went straight to the field, pulling and shoving with his left hand to make the Sparks' star Lisa Leslie fall to the ground, acting very rudely and brutally, and then Mahone was banned for two games.
Mahone pushed Leslie
To this day, even if it is a negative textbook, the relationship between Mahone and Lambier is still talked about by many fans, but more fans may remember the highlights of the Pistons Bad Boy Army and how Jordan crossed the mountain after that.
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