Tony Campbell on the Bad Boy Pistons and Showtime Lakers Legacy | Showtime with Coop

[@inallairness]

Top Cat! Great guest.

[@AMart870]

I had all you Guys cards growing up, I have a deep respect for the 80s and early 90s NBA, shout out Coop NBA 2024 Hall of Famer!

[@Bighjr88]

Another great guest!!!!!

[@stampscapes]

Wow, I was just thinking about Campbell recently. He came to mind as I was watching a video on possible league expansion. I was thinking how loaded the league was back when, when you could go into the G-League (or whatever that league was called) mid season and bring up a really good player/instant contributor like Campbell. I think he would have had a ring if there weren't all those injuries to the starters before the finals. Lakers were down 0-3 and Tony said something like, "We're about to do what no team in history has done and win 4 in a row.".

[@vernonrobinson1685]

He does have a ring. He played in the 1988 Finals

[@stampscapes]

@@vernonrobinson1685 Ah, I forgot about that one. I guess the finals where he mentioned that quote was when they were going for the 3-Peat when Scott and Magic went down with hamstrings?

[@vernonrobinson1685]

@stampscapes yes, he came off the bench the first two games of the 89 Finals. But, in the middle of the third quarter of game 2, Magic reaggravated the hamstring he injured on February 8th , 1989 which forced him to miss the 89 All Star game. 3. Magic started game 3, but only played 5 minutes, so Top Cat played with Coop( who went the full 48). 4. He did start game 4, but, tasked with guarding the eventual Finals MVP Joe Dumars, he fouled out. 5. But, he was actually signed at the end of March 1988 in part because: a.) Jerry West did a solid for an old acquaintance, Bill Musselman, then coach of the CBA champion Albany Raptors, and b.) He spent his previous 4 years as a Detroit Piston, and West and Riley secretly thought then that the Lakers may face the Pistons in the 88 Finals ( of course they were right), and, they both felt they had someone with previous success guarding Isiah Thomas ( the ex Wisconsin Badger Wes Matthews, the 12th man). 6.Now, they needed someone that could provide intelligence on the ever moody Pistons, and especially Isiahs team leadership qualities ( Magic had been Isiahs best personal friend, but he couldn't be expected to know him in this context). 7. The upshot is that Top Cat was signed, and definitely saw action in the 5th game( Detroits bench turned out to be the best in the league, and, imo, one of the best ever), and, with James Worthy enduring foul trouble, both Top Cat and the now forgotten Kurt Rambis saw action ( interestingly, Coop was shooting terrible at this stage of the 88 Finals). 8. So, Top Cat became the first person to win a CBA and NBA title in the same season( 1988).

[@stampscapes]

​@@vernonrobinson1685 Okay, that was an awesome breakdown. Fascinating and thanks! I'm sure I knew TC played on the Pistons but I didn't know it was 4 years and didn't even think about West signing him for his intel. Really interesting. TC probably got very little PT playing behind that HOF starting backcourt and The Microwave. Man, certain memories are coming back to me reading all of your above. I remember sitting in my Jazz History class at Long Beach State and (before the class started) the teacher was talking about his favorite new Laker being TC. I seem to recall TCs first game as a Laker going 5 for 5 or something like that. I hear you about that Piston bench. They talk about how much skill/talent there is in the league these days but you don't see loaded teams like the Lakers and Detroit from those days anymore. I think the league's diluted even with the international players influx over the years. I cringe at the thought of a possible expansion of 2 more teams like they're talking about.

[@steveng8727]

'T' b 4 reeeel

[@DancingWithFools-b1y]

These interviews are heaps special hey. Much respect from Sydney Australia 🇦🇺