Detroit Pistons

Bad Boys of the Motor City

The Detroit Pistons are a professional basketball team from Detroit that plays in the NBA’s Eastern Conference Central Division. Their home games are held at Little Caesars Arena in Midtown Detroit. As one of the league’s eight original charter franchises, the team began in 1937 as the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons—a semi-professional company squad in Indiana. They went fully professional in 1941 as part of the National Basketball League (NBL), winning NBL titles in 1944 and 1945. In 1948, the club joined the Basketball Association of America (BAA), and when the NBL and BAA merged in 1949 to form the NBA, the Pistons came along. The franchise relocated to Detroit in 1957. Over the years, they have claimed three NBA championships: 1989, 1990, and 2004.

Quick Facts

Era of peak conflict

Late 1980s to early 1990s

Key pistons figures

Isiah Thomas
Bill Laimbeer
Dennis Rodman
Joe Dumars

Key bulls figure

Michael Jordan

Facts from the source article.

Background

The Pistons were founded as the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons in 1937. They won the World Professional Basketball Tournament in 1944 and 1945. In 1948, the team became the Fort Wayne Pistons and jumped to the BAA. In 1949, Fred Zollner brokered the formation of the NBA from the BAA and the NBL at his kitchen table.

The team moved to Detroit in 1957. The Pistons played in Olympia Stadium for their first four seasons, then moved to Cobo Arena beginning in the 1961–62 season. In 1974, Zollner sold the team to Bill Davidson. The team had a winning season in 1971, and qualified for the playoffs in four straight seasons (1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977).

In 1978, the team moved to the Silverdome in Pontiac. The franchise's fortunes turned in 1981 when they drafted Isiah Thomas. They later acquired Vinnie Johnson, Bill Laimbeer, and hired head coach Chuck Daly in 1983. The team adopted a physical, defense-oriented style earning them the nickname "Bad Boys". They won NBA championships in 1989 and 1990.

Did You Know?

The Pistons were originally a semi-professional company team sponsored by the Zollner Corporation, which manufactured pistons.
George Yardley set the NBA single-season scoring record in the Pistons' first season in Detroit, becoming the first player to score 2,000 points in a season.
The Pistons' 1979–80 team lost its last 14 games, which combined with the first 7 losses of the next season set a then-NBA record losing streak of 21 games.