DETROIT PISTONS FRANCHISE HISTORY
Previous Franchise Names: Fort Wayne Pistons
Principal Owner: Tom Gores
CEO: Dennis Mannion
President of Basketball Operations/Head Coach: Stan Van Gundy
Best Season: 2005-06 (64-18, .780)
Playoff Appearances: 40
NBA Championships: 3 (1988-90, 2003-04)
#23 of the Chicago Bulls during an NBA basketball game circa 1992 at Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Illinois. Thomas played for the Pistons from 1981-94. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)After seven seasons and two championships in the National Basketball League, the Fort Wayne Pistons jumped to the Basketball Association of America in 1948 along with the Minneapolis Lakers and Rochester Royals.
The Pistons—known then as the Zollner Pistons (team owner Fred Zollner owned the Zollner Piston Company)—made the playoffs in 14 of their first 15 seasons after the move, but lost in the NBA Finals in both 1955 and 1956.
The franchise moved to Detroit in 1957 and endured mostly hard times until the 1980s, when the arrival of Isiah Thomas and coach Chuck Daly rocketed the franchise to new heights.
The Pistons made the NBA Finals in 1988, pushing the Los Angeles Lakers to seven games before falling, and returned to sweep the Lakers for the franchise’s first title in 1989. Detroit repeated in 1990, beating the Portland Trail Blazers in five games, before age and Daly’s departure took their toll on the Pistons.
Detroit won its third title in 2004, upsetting the Los Angeles Lakers behind NBA Finals MVP Chauncey Billups, as part of a run of six straight seasons in which the Pistons reached at the Eastern Conference Finals.
But save for a seven-game loss to the San Antonio Spurs in the Finals in 2005, Detroit was unable to get back to the big series at the end, losing in the conference finals three consecutive times from 2006-08.
The Pistons have had a record 35 different coaches in their 68 years since leaving the NBL, with Daly far and away the most successful. In nine seasons from 1983-84 through 1991-92, the Pistons were 467-271 in the regular-season under Daly and posted a 71-42 record in the playoffs.
Detroit Pistons Career Leaders (as of 3/9/2016)
- Games, Joe Dumars, 1018
- Points, Isiah Thomas, 18822
- Rebounds, Bill Laimbeer, 9430
- Assists, Isiah Thomas, 9061
- Steals, Isiah Thomas, 1861
- Blocks, Ben Wallace, 1486
(R) holds the MVP trophy after beating the Los Angeles Lakers in game five of the NBA Finals to win the championship 15 June, 2004 at The Palace in Auburn Hills, MI. The Pistons won the game 100-87 to win the best-of-seven game series 4-1. AFP PHOTO/Jeff HAYNES (Photo credit should read JEFF HAYNES/AFP/Getty Images)Detroit Pistons Retired Numbers
- 1, Chauncey Billups
- 2, Chuck Daly
- 3, Ben Wallace
- 4, Joe Dumars
- 10, Dennis Rodman
- 11, Isiah Thomas
- 15, Vinnie Johnson
- 16, Bob Lanier
- 21, Dave Bing
- 40, Bill Laimbeer
- JM, Jack McCloskey
- WD, William Davidson
Detroit Pistons Official Links
Official Team Site: nba.com/pistons
Official Twitter Handle: @detroitpistons
Official Facebook Page: Detroit Pistons
Official Instagram Page: Detroit Pistons
Official Arena Page: The Palace of Auburn Hills
Detroit Pistons Beat Writers
- Terry Foster, Detroit News, @terryfoster971
- Vince Ellis, Detroit Free Press, @vincent_ellis56
- Dave Pemberton, Oakland Press, @drpemberton
- David Mayo, MLive Media Group, @david_mayo
Related Detroit Pistons Blogs and Links
Detroit Pistons Logo History, courtesy of Chris Creamer’s Sportslogos.net
Salary Page: Detroit Pistons Salaries at Spotrac
FanSided Detroit Pistons: Piston Powered
SB Nation Detroit Pistons: Detroit Bad Boys
HoopsHabit Detroit Pistons Archive: Detroit Pistons
Bleacher Report Detroit Pistons Team Stream: Detroit Pistons
RealGM Detroit Pistons Page: Detroit Pistons
Stats and retired number information courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com
