John Thomas Salley, born May 16, 1964 is a retired American professional basketball player, actor and talk show host. He was the first player in NBA history to play on three different championship-winning franchises.
Salley was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the 1986 NBA Draft out of Georgia Tech. After joining the Pistons, he became close friends with Adrian Dantley, who taught him proper nutrition, how to exercise, and how to conduct himself off the court. Salley, for his part, called Dantley "The Teacher." Salley would become good friends with comedian Eddie Murphy and made several appearances at comedy clubs in the off-season. In 1989 and 1990, he played on two Pistons championship teams. He is among the Pistons' all-time leaders in blocked shots.
Under the coaching of Chuck Daly, Salley was part of the Pistons era when the teams defense oriented style of play earned them the nickname of the NBA's "Bad Boys" alongside Dennis Rodman, Bill Laimbeer, James Edwards, Joe Dumars, Isiah Thomas, Rick Mahorn and Dantley. After losing the 1988 NBA Finals in 7 games to the Lakers, the Pistons turned it around to sweep the Lakers in 4 games in 1989. Salley and the Pistons repeated in 1990 defeating the Portland Trail Blazers in 5 games. The Pistons run came to an end when the Michael Jordan led Chicago Bulls swept them in 4 games in the 1991 Eastern Conference finals.
Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, Panathinaikos BC and Los Angeles Lakers. He was a long-time host of the former Fox Sports Net show The Best Damn Sports Show Period.
John Salley had a role in Bad Boys and Bad Boys II, as a thick-glassed computer hacking nerd who gets out of jail because he helps crack files for the Miami Police Department. In 1996, Salley appeared as a veteran basketball player alongside Whoopi Goldberg in the film Eddie, about a fan who takes over as coach of the New York Knicks.
