John Paxson and Joe Dumars really weren’t supposed to be “the guys,” the faces of two of the NBA’s top franchises, the men to put the championship pieces back together.
It was supposed to be Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas, the two pre-eminent figures in those franchises’ histories, the two players most responsible for the breakthrough success of the Bulls and the Detroit Pistons in the 1980s and ’90s.
Instead, it’s the two humble, working-class players whose imprimaturs define their teams as they open what could be a classic Eastern Conference semifinal series Saturday in Auburn Hills, Mich.
“Don’t go comparing me with Joe,” Paxson said with a laugh. “He’s a Hall of Famer. I averaged in double figures twice in my career.”
Paxson and Dumars are close as general manager colleagues. And they are similar in the way they built their teams, in how they think the game and in their roots and core beliefs. And they’re representative of their Midwest communities.
“John’s done an exceptional job,” Dumars said. “It’s clear he has high-character guys, guys whose main concern is winning, which is the most important thing in putting a team together. The fundamental things he’s done have been great for Chicago.”
No, Joe Dumars was no Bad Boy.
The league sportsmanship award Luol Deng won Thursday is named for Dumars. One of his biggest issues with Thomas in those championship years was Thomas’ belief that Dumars treated Bulls players too nicely. How about that? The league’s sportsmanship ideal comes from the team regarded by many as the least sportsmanlike ever?
“Joe was businesslike,” Paxson recalled. “Some of those Pistons guys talked all the time. Joe didn’t say much. He had a very professional approach to how he did business, and it’s carried over to now. You felt there were guys there who would take cheap shots, but you never felt that way about him.
“Michael always said Joe was the toughest guy for him to go against. And factor that in with how physical those games were. They’d foul Michael, and then foul him again after the whistle to make sure. But that’s how much respect Michael had for Joe.”
Dumars has proved himself already, building what passes for a dynasty in the Eastern Conference in this era: a Finals championship in 2004, a Finals appearance in 2005, conference finals appearances the last four years. Along the way there was an executive of the year award in 2003. It’s what Paxson aspires to for the Bulls, with the possible exception of the individual honor.
This is what distinguishes the two executives.
Though Dumars clearly was the higher-level player, neither was regarded as the star or the face of his team.
Yet Dumars was Finals MVP in 1989, and Paxson made the most significant contributions of any Bull in the title-winning games in 1991 and ’93.
Jordan and Thomas got their pictures taken with the trophies. Paxson and Dumars celebrated backstage.
“There’s a possibility you look at the game differently when you understand you weren’t the guy, you weren’t always the person the game plan was dictated toward,” Paxson said. “I have a great appreciation for guys who can play 15 or 20 minutes a game and not do the great things in the box score.”
It’s what Paxson and Dumars mean when they talk about accountability and professionalism.
They were never the biggest stars, Paxson in the shadow of brother Jim, an All-Star in Portland, Dumars at little McNeese State and a low first-round draft pick like Paxson. They share a work ethic and a value system learned from their families.
The Paxsons’ father, Jim, was an early NBA player with Minneapolis and Cincinnati who quit after two seasons to go into the family insurance business because basketball paid so little back then. Dumars’ father, Joe Jr., drove trucks 16 hours a day to put all seven of his children through college in rural Louisiana. Their lessons of work and sacrifice stuck with the kids.
“I always thought you don’t have to follow the conventional wisdom,” Dumars said. He hasn’t, stockpiling “unwanted” players who have provided the foundation for the Pistons’ run.
“First and foremost, you have to identify if winning is most important to the guy, competitiveness, if they have something to prove,” he said. “Timing was important with our guys. Chauncey Billups had played with four teams when we got him. Washington gave up on Rip Hamilton. It was the same with Ben [Wallace].
“Here were guys with good character who had something to prove, and you could see when they played they were about winning.”
It’s probably no coincidence that Bulls and Pistons players hardly fill up the All-Star teams and the ballots for individual awards.
When the Pistons won the championship in 2004, Wallace was their only All-Star that season. Their leading scorer was Hamilton, who averaged 17.4 points per game. Apparently no one was convinced. The next season they still had just one All-Star, Wallace again. The Bulls didn’t have one this season, and no one even in contention for the individual awards.
“What appealed to me first off when they won was they didn’t have one guy you could say at the time was an elite scorer,” Paxson said. “They basically did it with a team concept.
“You look at NBA history in winning championships, most of the teams have one or two superstars, someone up among the scoring leaders. Joe did it by embodying a team concept. We seem to be a bit similar in that regard.”
It’s not like either would turn down Shaquille O’Neal or Kobe Bryant.
Stars still make a difference.
But there aren’t many who can truly make a difference. And if you get one, there’s no guarantee he’ll have the characteristics that blend with success. After all, it is a team game, something the Pistons of the late 1980s exploited against the Bulls until the Bulls adopted the concept, albeit with one transcendent star.
The Bulls and Pistons truly are products of the life philosophies of their top basketball executives.
Paxson and Dumars grew up in sports feeling they always had to prove themselves. They did so with a relentless work ethic and unwavering professionalism. Because they always were surrounded by bigger names — and don’t doubt it for Dumars with Thomas, Bill Laimbeer and Dennis Rodman around — there was never a sense of entitlement. They didn’t cheat on practice, and they always stood up and took responsibility.
Sure, Dumars took a chance on Rasheed Wallace, but Wallace essentially repaired his image once he got to Detroit. The Bulls took a chance on Ben Wallace after a rough finish in Detroit last season, and he has been a strong figure. Detroit has become such a valued NBA destination that a player like Chris Webber wanted to go there for a chance to win.
Paxson says he hopes the Bulls will one day be the kind of organization where players want to come for the atmosphere and a chance for success.
“In this era of a [luxury] tax and salary cap, it’s something we aspire to,” Paxson said. “You want guys who’ll sacrifice because they want to win.”
It’s not the conventional wisdom in sports, but perhaps it should be, the Paxson and Dumars way.
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sasmith@tribune.com
