At one point, DeBusschere was the youngest player-coach in the history of the NBA. [110][109][111] Many analysts gave the Pistons little chance to win against their opponent, the Los Angeles Lakers, who had won three out of the previous four NBA championships and who fielded a star-studded lineup that included Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Gary Payton, and Karl Malone. ", "NBA Expansion Draft : Timberwolves Get Mahorn; Lakers Lose Rivers", "1989-90 Detroit Pistons Roster and Stats", "1990 NBA Eastern Conference Finals Bulls vs. Pistons", "An Historic Look At The NBA Finals' 2-3-2 Format", "From every angle, the Microwave could get hot on the court", "Pippen and Bulls first had to beat Detroit's Bad Boys", "Thomas' Injury Signals Finish of Pistons' Reign", "Why did the Pistons walk off the court without shaking hands with Jordan's Bulls? Not quite...", "Pistons Send Lakers Packing, Win Third NBA Title", "2004-05 Season Preview: Detroit Pistons", "2004-05 Detroit Pistons Roster and Stats", "Detroit finishes with a flourish in the fourth", "Pistons Retire Miller's Pacers; Move On to Face Heat", "Heat Take 3-2 Series Lead Despite Losing Wade to Injury", "Pistons Overcame Heat; Will Defend Title vs. Spurs", "Top NBA Finals moments: Robert Horry saves day for San Antonio Spurs", "Engine That Won't Quit: Pistons Force Game 7", "Spurs Dethrone Pistons To Take Third NBA Title", "The Larry Brown Circus Rolls Out of Detroit", "Pistons part ways with Brown after two seasons", "Pistons Name Flip Saunders as Head Coach", "2006-07 Season Preview: Detroit Pistons", "Five Pistons hit double figures as Detroit wins 11th straight", "Four Pistons Named as Reserves for 2006 NBA All-Star Game", "Pistons survive late rally, beat Heat for sixth straight", "Pistons rout Knicks for franchise-best 64th win", "Hamilton nets 40 as Pistons oust Bucks from playoffs", "Pistons hold Cavs to lowest point total in a game 7", "Heat dethrone Pistons, make first NBA Finals", "Wade Leads Heat to First NBA Championship", "Ben Wallace makes it official, signs with Bulls", "Pistons add Mohammed to try to fill Wallace's void", "Pistons Sign Free-Agent Forward/Center Chris Webber", "Webber gets front-row view of Pistons' overtime loss", "Home at Last: Remembering Chris Webber's brief run with the Pistons", "Billups, Pistons push past Magic, clinch 1st seed in East", "Pistons overcome poor 4th-quarter shooting to sweep Magic", "Second Round Notes: Chicago vs. Detroit", "Pistons bury turnover-prone Bulls in Round 2 opener", "Pistons pound on Bulls again for 2-0 series lead", "Billups, Prince spearhead Pistons' comeback win", "Bulls battle back vs. Pistons to avoid sweep", "Bulls one step ahead of Pistons throughout Game 5", "Pistons finally eliminate Bulls in Game 6", "Top Moments: LeBron James dominates Pistons en route to Finals", "Gibson's 31 points, James' balanced play puts Cavs in NBA Finals", "Pistons Ink Forward Antonio McDyess to Contract Extension", "Pistons to Name All-Time Team as Part of 50th Season Celebration on April 8", "Daily Dime 2007-08 Preview Edition: Detroit Pistons", "76ers limit No. [109][112] However, the Pistons won the series in dominating fashion, defeating Los Angeles in five games for the team's third NBA championship. 10", "Detroit Pistons Q&A: Rick Mahorn on the Bad Boys, Laimbeer & Barkley, the '04 champions", "Hawks Beat Pistons and Move on to Boston", "25 years ago the Pistons snatched Salley and Rodman in NBA Draft", "How the Detroit Pistons came to be known as the Bad Boys", "25 years later, remembering 'a steal by Bird, "Boston Celtics Rivalries That Defined Generations of NBA Basketball", "Edwards added a key piece to the championship runs for the Pistons", "Top NBA Finals moments: Thomas scores 25 in quarter on injured ankle", "Pat Riley Admits '88 Lakers Benefited from Phantom Foul vs. Detroit Pistons", "Twenty years in, the Palace still shines", "Dantley-for-aguirre Deal Doesn't Go Down Well in Detroit", "What's the best trade the Pistons ever made? [141], To replace Ben Wallace, the Pistons signed Nazr Mohammed. ", "Villanueva vows to make up for poor debut in Detroit", "Pistons hand Timberwolves franchise record-tying 67th loss", "Pistons fire coach John Kuester after two seasons", "Karen Davidson and Tom Gores Reach Agreement on Sale of Detroit Pistons", "Detroit Pistons Sold To Billionaire Tom Gores", "Dennis Mannion named president of Detroit Pistons, Palace Sports & Entertainment", "Detroit Pistons hire Lawrence Frank as new head coach", "Pistons show improvement, but rebuilding continues", "NBA Draft 2012: Detroit Pistons select Andre Drummond with No. Detroit Pistons. [76], Following the 1993–94 season, they were able to draft Grant Hill, a promising small forward, with the third overall pick. Talks intensified just as the Pistons were set to open their 2016–17 season, and as part of the terms of the agreement, there was discussion of a possible merger between Olympia and PS&E. Larry Bird stole the inbound pass and passed it to Dennis Johnson for the game-winning layup. Detroit Pistons: 1957–58: 1957–58: Western: 2nd: 33: 39.458: 8: Won Division Semifinals … [171] Despite his absence, the Pistons rallied from 15 down in the third quarter to win Game 4 90–89 on a field goal by Tayshaun Prince with just 8.9 seconds to play, taking a 3–1 series lead. The Detroit Pistons last made the playoffs in 2019, when they lost the Eastern Conference First Round. "[273][274], On May 16, 2017, the Pistons unveiled a new logo, which is a modernized version of the previous "Bad Boys" era logo used from 1979 to 1996. The team was founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons in 1941, a member of the National Basketball League (NBL), where it won two NBL championships: in 1944 and 1945. [130] Their 37–5 start exceeded the best start for any Detroit sports franchise in history and tied for the fourth-best start through 42 games in NBA history. The 2004 Finals was the championship round of the 2003–04 National Basketball Association season.