It was more a case of a poorly constructed, selfish team (the Lakers), who didn't know how to play with each other losing to a Detroit team by a freakish accident. If that series was played 100 times, the Lakers would win 99, which makes Detroits' victory even more ridiculous than the Giants' victory over the Pats this year.
Absolutely not true. That Detroit team was their best team and they've been competitive every year since then. That was nothing near a fluke. And as much as the Lakers were fighting too much, they had been doing that throughout the playoffs and that didn't stop them from making the Finals. A superior team beat them. The Pistons earned that title because they were a better team than the Lakers. At that time, they were the best team in the league. They had 4 legit All Stars (only at that point, they didn't have the notoriety yet) they had a Hall of Fame coach, they had the best defense in the league (maybe as good as or better than our defense this year), they got along, they knew each other, they won convincingly, 4-1 if I'm not mistaken. Remember, they took the Spurs to 7 the following year (including a one-point overtime loss at home).
If they played that series 100 times, MAYBE the Lakers would win 30 times, but I don't think so. The Pistons just wanted it more and had been underappreciated because of the widespread belief that whoever came out of the East was just a sacrificial lamb and the Western Conference Finals was the real Finals. Sound familiar?