Until last year, the Pistons had turned into somewhat of a laughing stock in the hoop community. They had not won a playoff series since 2008 or been to the postseason only thrice since then. Tying the Sixers’ record for the longest losing streak in league history, with last season’s 28 straight losses didn’t help their image either. It was clear that drastic changes needed to be made.

Enter JB Bickerstaff. After Pistons fired Monty Williams last summer following the abysmal campaign, Bickerstaff took over as head coach and turned the franchise around right away. He led last season’s lowest-seeded East team to the sixth seed, ending their five-year playoff drought. Now, he is trying his best to lead them to their first Conference Semis since 2008. But this pursuit can sometimes take Bickerstaff’s passion overboard. Like it did tonight.

As the Pistons fought to avoid elimination against Jalen Brunson and Co., Bickerstaff was seen constantly getting into official Tony Brothers’ ear, likely discussing how the game was being officiated. Although every coach does this at some point, especially during the playoffs, Bickerstaff’s interaction seemed nonstop.

It got to a point where announcer Mike Breen was forced to point it out on the Knicks MSG broadcast, “JB Bickerstaff just will not stop. This is now going on live. He’s back out on the court again. This guy is a heck of a coach, and what he did this year is miraculous. This is at the end of the timeout. It was non-stop. I’ve been doing this over 30 years, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a coach argue this much non-stop from the opening tip till now.”

Although Breen commended JB’s passion, he also seemed a bit annoyed by his concerning behavior. So, he issued a stern warning to the head coach, “He’s fighting for it like the players but there comes a point when Tony Brothers is gonna say ‘Another technical, you’re gone.’ It’s non-stop, it’s continuous.”

Yes, you never know when an official will get ticked off and take strict action against you. While it’s understandable that Bickerstaff wanted the game to be officiated a certain way, constantly chirping into Brothers’ ear put him at risk of receiving a tech or maybe even getting tossed from the game, as Breen remarked. But considering JB’s past, it was unlikely that he would tone down his emotions.

Revisiting JB Bickerstaff’s passionate moments amid concerning Game 6 behavior

Of course, tonight is not the first time Bickerstaff’s passion has been on display. He has always been an animated head coach. In fact, it is one of the attributes that his players and Pistons fans love about him. During Game 4 of this series, when Josh Hart’s clear foul on Tim Hardaway Jr. was not called and led to the Pistons’ loss, a fuming Bickerstaff stormed onto the court and began yelling at the officials.

Later, even the officials admitted their mistake. “After post-game review, we observed that Hart makes body contact that is more than marginal to Hardaway Jr. and a foul should have been called,” Crew chief David Guthrie remarked.

Even last month during the regular season, Bickerstaff did not shy away from calling out the refs after the Pistons’ controversial loss to the OKC Thunder. “What you saw tonight was disgusting. It was a disgusting display of disrespect towards our guys and what we’re trying to do,” he said post-game.

The head coach added, “I coach my a– off in a passionate way, I’m into the game, our players are into the game. We understand that. But we deserve a level of respect because we’re competing our tails off and bringing something positive to this league,” as he stormed off the presser, fuming at the officials. And back in April 2022, when Bickerstaff was the HC of the Cavs, was fined $15,000 after calling out the officiating in a narrow loss to the Sixers. He believed the game was “taken from us” due to inconsistent foul calls — a claim later supported by the league’s own two-minute report, which confirmed a crucial missed call on Joel Embiid in the final moments.

So, his behavior in tonight’s crucial encounter should not come as a surprise. Just shows how passionate he is for Pistons basketball. Do you agree?