Adrian Dantley has always been salty about being traded from the Detroit Pistons midway through the 1988-89 NBA season.
According to Dantley, the move was orchestrated by Isiah Thomas , who wanted his good friend Mark Aguirre to join the squad instead. Zeke, however, dismissed Dantley's accusations, saying there was more to the trade than just getting Aguirre on the team.
"I'll tell you what was true. What was true was that there was a guy playing behind Adrian Dantley by the name of Dennis Rodman—who needed to play more—and who happened to be a pretty good basketball player, " Thomas said . "Adrian, at the time, did not want to be a team player. He wasn't satisfied with playing 30 minutes a night. He wanted to play 38 minutes a night. Consequently, Rodman would play only six minutes a night. Chuck Daly and Adrian butted heads over this several times in practice."
Rodman was on the rise
Dantley was the Pistons' leading scorer in the 1987-88 campaign and continued on the same path the following season before he was traded. However, his scoring dropped, with the likes of Zeke and Joe Dumars earning increased roles. When Dennis Rodman started to emerge in 1988, Adrian's minutes also began to decline.
At that point, Dantley started arguing with head coach Chuck Daly and later GM Jack McCloskey about his playing time and shot opportunities. Meanwhile, Aguirre was an equally prolific scorer as Dantley, but he was willing to sacrifice his numbers for a chance to win an NBA title. That's why the Pistons decided to do the trade.
"It was a simple solution," added Isiah. "You make the trade so Dennis Rodman can be your star. That was the whole deal. It wasn't, hey, I didn't like Adrian."
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Dantley said he was a victim of politics
The Pistons made the NBA Finals with Aguirre in 1989, while Dantley ended up on a Dallas team that did not make the playoffs. During halftime of Game 3 of the 1989 championship series, AD was interviewed about getting dealt to the Mavericks, and he called himself a victim of politics .
"I feel like I got screwed in the deal," Dantley said . "It didn't have anything to do with basketball. It had to do with a lot of politics in the game that probably a lot of people don't know about."
The Pistons went 31-6 after the trade and 29-4 after Aguirre adjusted to his new role on the team. They went on to win the NBA championship that season and repeated the year after. Rodman, meanwhile, won the Defensive Player of the Year award in 1990 and 1991 while becoming one of the greatest rebounders in the league's history. Sure, Dantley had a reason to complain. But Aguirre wasn't just Zeke's pal; he was the Pistons' missing piece.
Related: Isiah Thomas said he and Mark Aguirre tried to rig 1981 Draft to wind up in Chicago: "I know what you're doing...it ain't gonna work"
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