Bill Laimbeer

Lore & Background

Laimbeer was born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in the Chicago suburb of Clarendon Hills. He moved with his family to Palos Verdes Estates, California, where he attended Palos Verdes High School. He played college basketball for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1979 but spent his first professional season playing for Pinti Inox Brescia in Italy. He returned to play for the Cavaliers in 1980. On February 16, 1982, Laimbeer was traded to the Detroit Pistons, where he remained for the rest of his career. He was immediately installed as the Pistons starting center. Laimbeer was selected to the NBA All-Star Game on three occasions (1983, 1984, and 1985) and led the league in total rebounds in the 1985–86 season (though he did not win the official rebounding title, which went to Bill Walton). He started on the Pistons' 1989 and 1990 NBA championship teams. Laimbeer retired early in the 1993–94 season at age 36. He had his jersey number (40) retired by the Pistons in February 1995. He remains the franchise's all-time leader in career rebounds. After his playing career, Laimbeer served as the head coach and general manager of the Detroit Shock in the WNBA from 2002 to 2009, coaching the team to three league championships in 2003, 2006, and 2008. He was the head coach of the New York Liberty from 2013 to 2017 and the head coach of the Las Vegas Aces from 2018 until 2021. He has twice been named the WNBA's Coach of the Year.

In Their Own Story

The air in The Palace of Auburn Hills was thick with tension during Game 7 of the 1989 Eastern Conference Finals. As the clock wound down, Laimbeer stood tall under the rim, his eyes locked on the opposing star. He didn't just defend; he occupied space, a mountain of muscle and will that seemed to shrink the court itself. When the whistle blew for a foul, the crowd roared not in anger at the call, but in recognition of another battle won by sheer force of character.

Reader's Guide

Laimbeer was one of the top outside-shooting centers of his era, draining over 200 three-pointers for his career, and excelled at running the pick and pop with guards Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars. On the defensive end, he was one of the best rebounders in the game. He was also remarkably durable, never playing fewer than 79 regular-season games during his first 13 seasons, and playing all 82 games seven times. His streak of 685 consecutive games played (which ended due to suspension in the 1988–89 season) is the fifth longest in league history.

Did You Know?

• Laimbeer played a Sleestak on the children's TV series Land of the Lost when the show solicited the Palos Verdes High School basketball team for tall people to play the character.
• Laimbeer once famously joked, "I'm the only player in the NBA who makes less money than his father."
• Laimbeer endorsed a video game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball, a futuristic basketball game in which physical play is encouraged.