Sports Poets Society

Rick Mahorn with his Detroit Shock players during the first round of the playoffs.  He was named the team’s coach in June. Credit -- Allen Einstein/NBAE via Getty Images https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/26/sports/basketball/26mahorn.html By Karen Crouse Sept. 25, 2009 Rick Mahorn grabbed a padded chair in the visitors’ locker room at Madison Square Garden and lifted it with such force that he cracked a plastic light cover and lacerated a ceiling panel. It was halftime of his fifth game as coach of the Detroit Shock, and Mahorn was so mad at his players’ lackluster effort against the Liberty, he could not see straight. “I started yelling and I felt dizzy, like I was about to clock out,” he recalled this week. Mahorn’s tirade stunned his players, who knew him as a father figure, not the “bad boy” who amassed more than $11,000 in playing fines during the Detroit Pistons’ 1988-89 championship season. “His eyes were all big, and then he started sweating,” forward Cheryl Ford said. “We th...

https://biographyhost.com/p/rick-mahorn.html Dubbed as the "Baddest Bad Boy of them All" by Piston announcer George Blaha in 1989 During his NBA career, Mahorn played five seasons with the Detroit Pistons, six seasons with the Washington Wizards, four seasons with the Brooklyn Nets, and three seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers. However, he won his only NBA championship in 1989 with the Pistons. • By Yunil Tamrakar • Update : March 25, 2022 Derrick Allen Mahorn is a former professional NBA basketball player who played for the Washington Bullets, Detroit Pistons, and Philadelphia 76ers as a power forward and center. What is Rick Mahorn’s Net Worth? Derrick Allen Mahorn is a former American NBA player who has a net worth of $4 million (Celebrity Net Worth) as of 2022. He has amassed this wealth through his professional basketball playing and coaching careers. In addition, he is also a radio show host and sports expert. Mahorn was born on 21 September 1958 in Hartford, Connectic...

  Rick Mahorn fills his role as enforcer during the 1989 NBA Finals against Michael Cooper and the Lakers. https://www.vintagedetroit.com/day-pistons-lost-rick-mahorn-expansion-championship-parade/ by Nathan Bierma on November 10, 2017   Jack McCloskey was standing on a float in the Pistons’ championship parade, and he was on the phone. The year was 1989, and mobile phones were still the approximate size and weight of cement blocks, so the sight was an oddity. Still, if anyone noticed it, they probably thought the Pistons’ general manager was accepting congratulations, or describing the jubilant scene for a friend. He wasn’t. Even as he swatted confetti out of his face, McCloskey was frantically trying to prevent the fracturing of the Pistons’ dynasty. The NBA’s expansion draft was that afternoon. The league was launching two new franchises in Orlando and Minnesota, and they weren’t going to wait around just because the Pistons were having a parade. So McCloskey faced an ago...

https://hoopshd.com/2020/11/13/happy-draft-iversary-hoopshd-interviews-former-hampton-star-rick-mahorn/ Posted on November 13, 2020 by Jon Teitel With the 2020 NBA draft taking place next week we will spend the days ahead taking a walk down memory lane with a choice collection of players who are celebrating an awesome anniversary this year. From the 1st player in NBA history to score 2000 PTS in a season (70th anniversary) through the 2000 Pac-10 POY (20th anniversary), these stars have all seen their dreams come true in past drafts. We continue our series with Rick Mahorn. He led all of D-2 in RPG in 1980, was a 3-time All-American, and won an NBA title with Detroit in 1989. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Rick about the 40th anniversary of getting drafted. - You averaged 6 PPG/6 RPG as a freshman at Hampton, then averaged 22+ PPG/12+ RPG over your next 3 seasons: what changed after your freshman year that allowed you to become a star?  I just learned how to play basketbal...

https://vault.si.com/vault/1982/12/13/a-tough-man-in-a-scramble THE BULLETS HAVE FLIPPED OVER 6'11" JEFF RULAND, WHO'S BETTER THAN HE WAS CRACKED UP TO BE BRUCE NEWMAN Sports Illustrated - December 13, 1982 Ruland's arms look so short and thick that it seems as if they're trying to retract into his body . Arms don't dangle gracefully at Ruland's sides; they hang from his shoulders like meat on a hook . In every way that arms are capable of being remarkable, these are not. And yet what makes Ruland's arms the kind that any NBA team would be happy to have hanging around is precisely what makes them appear so small to begin with—they are attached to the rest of Ruland. Since joining the Washington Bullets as a rookie last season, the 6'11", 260-pound center/power forward has used his size and strength to become one of the NBA's best sixth men (although he's lately been starting in place of injured Forward Spencer Haywood) and one of the...

https://eu.detroitnews.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2023/06/17/nothing-but-love-rick-mahorn-not-a-bad-boy-when-it-comes-to-family/70273221007/ Mike Curtis  - The Detroit News Detroit — If you ask Rick Mahorn's children to describe their father, they won't hesitate. Derrick II calls him a hero . Jordan nearly tears up at the thought of how giving her dad is. Blake says he's inspiring, supportive and hilarious. Others know Mahorn know as a straight-shooter — someone who doesn't mince words — and that includes his intention of spending Father's Day, like many dads, being left alone to enjoy the day. But his intentions are rooted in love. It's a special bond that Mahorn has with his six children, and none of them sees their father as the popular radio analyst who shares his basketball knowledge during Pistons games. Nor do they view him as the legendary Bad Boy who helped lead the Pistons to their first championship in franchise history in 1989. Some people even r...

https://vasportshof.com/inductee/rick-mahorn/ Rick Mahorn played college basketball for Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) from 1976 to 1980, where he owns 18-school records and earned NAIA All-American honors.  Mahorn also earned All-CIAA honors in 1977-78, 1978-79, and 1979-80, as well as being named the 1978-79 CIAA Player of the Year.  Among his school records at Hampton, Mahorn is the all-time leader in career points with 2,418, career rebounds with 1,465, career scoring average with 20.3, most points in a single game with 48, and most points in a single season with 855.  After his senior year, Mahorn was drafted by the Washington Bullets with the 35th overall pick in the 1980 draft.   His most memorable years came with the Detroit Pistons after being trad ed in 1985. There he joined Isaiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Bill Laimbeer, and Dennis Rodman.  The team’s physical and intimidating play led them to become known as the “Bad Boys”, with Piston announc...

https://hamptonpirates.com/honors/hampton-athletics-hall-of-fame/derrick-rick-mahorn/4 Hampton Athletics Hall of Fame Choose a Hall Of Fame Member: DERRICK "RICK" MAHORN CLASS INDUCTION 2009 SPORT(S) Men's Basketball One of the most noted names to ever grace the court in either college or professional basketball, Derrick “Rick” Mahorn is a true legend of the game. From 1976-80, he evolved into one of the nation’s premiere college hoopsters while matriculating as an Education major at Hampton University. A three-time All-American, Mahorn scored an amazing 2,418 points while playing for the Pirates, averaging 20.3 points per contest as a collegian. Both his points total and scoring average remain an all-time career best at HU. Following a modest freshman year in 1976-77 that saw him average 5.7 points, he surged as a sophomore while averaging 24.0 points in 1977-78 and followed that season by posting averages of 22.8 points a game as a junior in 1978-79 and 27.6 points a ...

https://www.nba.com/wizards/news/beef-brothers-the-story-behind-jeff-ruland-and-rick-mahorns-unbreakable-bond Luke Askew  ●  @luk3askew March 14, 2023 - 3:04 PM EDT The Washington Wizards franchise has a rich history of individual and team success. As the Wizards celebrate the 25th anniversary of the nickname ‘Wizards’ (formerly the ‘Bullets’), the franchise is honoring a variety of alumni ranging from former players like Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler, and Gilbert Arenas to former broadcast duo Phil Chenier (also a retired player) and Steve Buckhantz.  Now, teaming up with Mitchell & Ness, the Wizards are honoring two franchise greats from the 1980s, Rick Mahorn and Jeff Ruland , with a nostalgic shirt paying homage to their friendship and iconic nickname, “The Beef Brothers.” Jeff Ruland was drafted out of Iona College in 1980 by the Golden State Warriors . His draft rights were later traded to the Washington Bullets, but before joining the NBA, Ruland opted to play o...

https://vault.si.com/vault/1989/04/10/a-master-of-intimidation-rick-mahorn-who-this-season-has-shelled-out-11000-in-fines-for-rough-play-is-the-baddest-of-the-bad-boys-in-detroit TABLE OF CONTENTS ORIGINAL LAYOUT by RALPH WILEY Sports Illustrated - April 10, 1989 No, the Detroit Pistons aren't to be confused with Welcome Wagon. And their power forward, Rick Mahorn, isn't Gandhi. This noted, let us go back to an important Central Division game in Cleveland on Feb. 28 between the Cavaliers and the Pistons , the teams with the two best records in the NBA. Mark Price, Cleveland's All-Star point guard, was fighting past a pick Mahorn had set near the top of the three-point arc. Mahorn, who's not much for manners on the court, unloaded an elbow to Price's head. Price went to the floor, got up, stayed in the game for a short while and then headed for the bench . He had suffered a concussion that would sideline him for two games, including a rematch between the Cavs and Pis...