Detroit Pistons

Bad Boys of the Motor City

The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Little Caesars Arena, located in Midtown Detroit.

Quick Facts

Conference: Eastern Conference

Lore & Background

The Pistons were founded as the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, a semi-professional company basketball team based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1937. The club turned professional in 1941 as a member of the National Basketball League (NBL), where they won two NBL championships (1944 and 1945). The Pistons later joined the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1948. The NBL and BAA merged to become the NBA in 1949, and the Pistons became part of the merged league. In 1957, the franchise moved to Detroit. The Pistons have won three NBA championships: in 1989, 1990 and 2004.

Reader's Guide

The Pistons played in Olympia Stadium for their first four seasons in Detroit, then moved to Cobo Arena beginning in the 1961–62 season. In 1978, the team moved to the Silverdome in Pontiac. The franchise's fortunes turned in 1981 when they drafted Isiah Thomas. Key acquisitions included Vinnie Johnson, Bill Laimbeer, and Joe Dumars. The team adopted a physical, defense-oriented style in the late 1980s, earning the nickname 'Bad Boys', and won NBA championships in 1989 and 1990.

Did You Know?

The Pistons were originally a semi-professional company team sponsored by the Zollner Corporation, a foundry that 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 team's 1979–80 season included a then-NBA record losing streak of 21 games.