Joe Dumars

Joe Dumars was the quiet assassin of the Bad Boy Pistons — a two-way guard whose defensive excellence and clutch scoring anchored Detroit's back-to-back championships in 1989 and 1990. His 1989 Finals MVP performance — averaging 27.3 points per game while guarding Magic Johnson — was the finest individual Finals series by a defensive specialist in NBA history. He shut down Magic while simultaneously being the best offensive player in the series.

Dumars's defensive reputation was earned through years of guarding the opponent's best perimeter player, night after night, with a discipline and technique that never wavered. He made the All-Defensive First Team four times and was widely considered the toughest assignment for opposing guards in the Eastern Conference throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The NBA's sportsmanship award bears Dumars's name — the Joe Dumars Trophy — a fitting tribute to a player who combined fierce competitiveness with impeccable character. On a Pistons team known for its physical, borderline-dirty style of play, Dumars was the gentleman who happened to be one of the toughest competitors in the building. Two rings, a Finals MVP, and the respect of every player who faced him.