Two-Time NBA Champion Was Left Bloodied By Enforcer During Preseason Game

NBA great Bill Laimbeer was a member of the "Bad Boys" Detroit Pistons. One day, he met a badder boy during a preseason game against Seattle Supersonics. It was enforcer Olden Polynice, who never shied from a physical confrontation.

The players got into a tussle that left Laimbeer with a bloodied face.

"I broke Laimbeer's face," Polynice said on Byron Scott's "Fast Break" podcast. "It's a preseason game at Michigan State against the Pistons. I'm in Seattle. I just made a basket. Laimbeer, he grabs it out of the net to go out of bounds to take it out. He pops me. As he hits me, I just walked up and threw the shoulder right at him. Cracked him dead in the face. All you see is blood splatter."

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Polynice was ejected from the game for his actions but the league saw it differently after looking at the video tape. Polynice was later viewed as a hero because fans were happy to see Laimbeer get a taste of his medicine. He was widely known as one of the NBA's biggest goons during the 1980s.

"The league ended up rescinding the fine," Polynice said. "The referee thought I threw a punch. They never saw a punch ... Let me tell you something, I ain't never received more cards and flowers in my life. The (Sonics) office called me and was like, `Yo, you've got to come get all of this stuff."'

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