YouTube Gold: Bill Laimbeer, The Dirtiest Player In NBA History?

If he wasn’t we’re not sure who else it could be.

In John Feinstein’s love poem to the 1978 Duke squad called Forever’s Team, there is a great story about Scott Goetsch when Duke played Notre Dame in the Final Four.

As Feinstein relays it, Goetsch, who was an admirable backup for Mike Gminski, sat on the bench, rocking back and forth saying “Laimbeer sucks!”

When he got in the game, he took an uncharacteristic shot and pointed his finger Laimbeer’s way.

Turned out they had played each other in high school and Goetsch knew what sort of a player Laimbeer was years before most people caught on.

For people who never saw him play, it’s hard to explain how despised Bill Laimbeer was in the NBA. Larry Bird summed it up by saying that while fellow Bad Boy Rick Mahorn was physical, Laimbeer tried to hurt you.

This video underscores some of his cheap shots throughout the years, including the series where he more or less assaulted Bird. A game or two later, Bird’s Boston teammate Robert Parish paid him back, chopping him down from behind with two solid punches. People around the league cheered Parish on.

Most telling perhaps were his interactions with former teammates Mahorn, when he was with the Philadelphia 76ers, and Dennis Rodman once he left: neither gave Laimbeer any quarter whatsoever.

Laimbeer was basically a nasty piece of work. He was widely hated and remains unrepentant. The game is better off without him.