Detroit Pistons Nation

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The Pistons' history is anchored in their origins as a company team. In 1937, Fred Zollner, owner of the Zollner Corporation which manufactured pistons for engines, sponsored the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons after his workers requested it. The team won two NBL championships in 1944 and 1945, along with three World Professional Basketball Tournament titles in 1944, 1945, and 1946. After joining the BAA in 1948, Fred Zollner brokered the formation of the NBA from the NBL and BAA at his kitchen table in 1949. The franchise faced controversy during the 1954–55 season with suggestions that players conspired to throw games, including a potential intentional loss in Game 7 of the 1955 NBA Finals against Syracuse, where George King hit a late free throw after a palming turnover by George Yardley. In Detroit, the team struggled through decades of questionable trades and coaching changes before finding stability under owner Bill Davidson, who bought the team in 1974.

In Their Own Story

The turning point arrived in 1981 with the drafting of Isiah Thomas from Indiana University, followed by key acquisitions like Vinnie Johnson and Bill Laimbeer. Head coach Chuck Daly was hired in 1983, and the roster swelled with defensive stalwarts John Salley, Dennis Rodman, and Adrian Dantley (later traded for Mark Aguirre). This group adopted a physical style that earned them the "Bad Boys" nickname. In the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals against Boston, Isiah Thomas missed inbounds after a timeout signal, leading to a Larry Bird steal and a Dennis Johnson game-winning layup in Game 5. Motivated by this loss, the Pistons won their first division title in 32 years in 1988, defeating the Celtics in six games. They then faced the Lakers in the Finals. In Game 6 at Los Angeles, Thomas scored an NBA Finals record 25 points in the third quarter while playing on a sprained ankle, but the Lakers won on a controversial foul by Bill Laimbeer and a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar free throw. The Pistons fell in Game 7, only to return in 1989 and 1990 as champions.

Reader's Guide

To understand the Pistons fan experience, one must look at their venues and moves. From playing at Olympia Stadium for four seasons after moving to Detroit in 1957, they relocated to Cobo Arena in 1961–62. In 1978, owner Bill Davidson moved the team to the suburb of Pontiac to play in the 82,000-capacity Silverdome, a football stadium built for the Detroit Lions, because he was displeased with Cobo Arena and refused to follow the Red Wings to Joe Louis Arena. In 1988, the franchise moved again to Auburn Hills to play at the Palace of Auburn Hills, the first NBA arena financed entirely with private funds. The team's identity is deeply tied to Detroit's automotive industry; Zollner kept the "Pistons" name because it made sense for the city known as the center of the automobile industry. Fans can trace the lineage from the foundry floors of Fort Wayne to the modern arena, remembering that George Yardley set the single-season scoring record in the team's first Detroit season by becoming the first player to score 2,000 points.

Did You Know?

• Fred Zollner brokered the formation of the NBA from the BAA and NBL at his kitchen table in 1949.
• The Pistons played in a football stadium, the Silverdome in Pontiac, from 1978 to 1988 because their owner disliked Cobo Arena.
• George Yardley became the first player in NBA history to score 2,000 points in a single season during the Pistons' first year in Detroit (1957–58).
• The team lost its last 14 games of the 1979–80 season and the first 8 of the 1980–81 season, setting an NBA record losing streak of 22 games.
• Isiah Thomas scored a record 25 points in the third quarter of Game 6 of the 1988 NBA Finals while playing on a severely sprained ankle.