Pedro Oliveira
We present the ranking with the 5 best Detroit Pistons players in the history of the franchise since its beginning in 1948.
The origins of the Pistons actually go back to 1937, when they were a semi-professional team located in Indiana and known as the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons. They would become professionals in 1941 when they joined the National Basket League (NBL), and after the merger of the NBL with the Basketball Association of America (BAA), they would become an official part of the NBA in 1949.
Since then, they have been one of the most iconic franchises in the Eastern Conference, even if they are currently one of the worst in the league, that doesn’t erase their long history. Therefore, we bring you the 5 most important players who have worn its uniform so far.
5.- Bill Laimbeer
An integral part of the Bad Boys, the most talented squad in franchise history, the 6-foot-11 center was one of the most hated players in the entire NBA for having an overly physical but effective game against opponents.
He was also one of the first centers in the history of the league to use the three-point shot as an inside player, something that today is more than necessary to compete at the elite level. Laimbeer is a four-time All-Star Game selection and is the all-time leader in rebounds (9430) and personal fouls (3131) with Detroit.
Winning two consecutive championships, he finished his 13-year career with the Pistons in 1994, averaging 12.9 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2 assists.
4.- Chauncey Billups
The third overall pick in the 1997 draft, Billups had a rocky start to his career, moving around five different teams during his first six years in the NBA. He proved to be a relentless and committed team player, but he would find his true home with the Detroit Pistons during free agency in 2002, signing a five-year, USD 35,000,000 million contract.
The point guard would play eight of his 17 professional seasons with them, showing his best level and achieving his greatest achievements in the blue-red uniform, with averages of 16.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1 steal in 482 games.
With four All-Star Game selections, three All-NBA teams, and two NBA Finals appearances, winning the first against the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal in five games. Billups was named Finals MVP with averages of 21 points, 5.2 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals in addition to a 50 % efficiency percentage.
3.- Ben Wallace
Considered one of the best players in history who was not selected in the NBA draft, the 6-foot-6 center had a difficult start to his career, with limited minutes with the Washington Wizards.
After being traded to the Orlando Magic, and then from the Magic to the Detroit Pistons, Wallace became a key piece in Larry Brown’s starting lineup and ended up exploding in his role as a defensive leader from the paint for the Pistons.
Big Ben averaged 6.6 points, 11.1 rebounds 1.4 steals and 2.3 blocks (he leads the franchise in blocks with 1486) through his nine campaigns with Detroit, earning four All-Detroit Defensive Player of the Year (the highest mark in history along with Dikembe Mutombo), four selections to the All-Star Game, five All-NBA quintets, five defensive quintets, and led the league in rebounds twice, and in blocks on one occasion.
Wallace was instrumental for the Pistons in their championship against the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2003-2004 season, in addition to the 2005 Finals against the San Antonio Spurs.
2.- Joe Dumars
Honored by Michael Jordan himself as the best defender he faced in his career, the shooting guard selected 18th overall in the 1985 draft by the Pistons had a successful career with the Eastern Conference organization, representing it in all 14 campaigns of his career.
Leading Detroit in the all-time categories of most games played (1018), most three-pointers made (990) and second as the team’s leading scorer (16401), Dumars was a consistent contributor on both offense and defense, finishing his career with averages of 16.1 points, 2.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 38.2% three-point efficiency.
Dumars was one of the stars on the Bad Boys team that would go on to win back-to-back NBA championships in 1989 and 1990, with Dumars being the MVP of the 1989 Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. In addition, he earned six All-Star Game selections, three All-NBA quintets and five All-Defensive quintets.
1.- Isiah Thomas
Definitely the most important player in the history of the Pistons was the point guard coming from Indiana University and selected as the second overall pick in the 1981 draft, he would be the star and leader of the well-known Bad Boys team, characterized by their tough physical play and techniques used to frustrate their opponents to the limit of their sanity.
Through 13 seasons with Detroit, Thomas averaged 19.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 9.3 assists and 1.9 steals per game over 979 games played, and leads most of the Pistons’ all-time statistical categories: points (18822), assists (9061), steals (1861), minutes played (35516), free throws (4036) and many more.
In terms of individual accolades, he was selected 12 times to the All-Star Game (all in a row), five All-NBA quintets, assists leader in 1984-1985 and two championships in his career, playing in three NBA Finals in his career. He was MVP of the 1990 Finals against Clyde Drexler’s Portland Trail Blazers.
Thomas is considered one of the most complete and important point guards in the history of basketball.
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