Detroit Pistons “Mo-Town Mount Rushmore”
Many greats have rolled through the Motor City, but few have cemented their legacy the way these four did.
Every team has a past. Some teams have earned the moniker of NBA Champions, while others have not quite reached that standard. For the Detroit Pistons, that standard has been met.
Unlike most teams, the Pistons have won the NBA Championship three times. That ties them with the Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat at sixth all time.
Clearly, the Pistons have a storied legacy. From a lack of real competitiveness in the 60's and 70's, to the “Bad Boy Pistons” of the 80's, to the Grant Hill takeover of the 90's, to the prominence of the mid-2000's, the Pistons have quite the history. Every team has its own version of a “Mount Rushmore,” but most pale in comparison to Detroit’s. Once the 1980's rolled around, Detroit began to pump out some major talent.
Michigan itself has always been a hub for basketball talent. The likes of Magic Johnson, Chris Webber and Glen Rice all hail from the Great Lake State. The Pistons were pretty much irrelevant in the NBA since their days as the Fort Wayne Pistons. No real winning happened during this time period. But, the professional basketball scene really began to blossom in Detroit in the 1980's. That’s where the two members of this list come from.
The Detroit Pistons’ Mount Rushmore
Isiah Thomas and the Bad Boy Pistons (1981–1994)
First, we have Hall-of-Fame point guard Isiah Thomas. The Original IT clearly deserves his spot on this list for a number of reasons. Not only did he spend his entire career with the Pistons, but he dominated in nearly every season. Thomas was a 12-time All-Star, two-time NBA Champion and one-time NBA Finals MVP. In addition, he’s an NBA Hall-of-Famer. He had quite a career.
Thomas, among others, embodied what it meant to be a Piston in the ‘80s. While he had the help of Joe Dumars, Dennis Rodman and Bill Laimbeer, Thomas and crew proved to be one of the most dominant teams in the Eastern Conference. Bear in mind, this was an era with teams like Bird’s Celtics and Jordan’s Bulls. The Pistons had to adapt to that style of play.
How did they do it?
Well, they don’t call the 1980’s Pistons the “Bad Boy” Pistons for nothing. This team took on a more hard-nosed, physical approach to basketball. Former head coach Chuck Daly believed in getting the most out of his players. He felt that players needed to have a desire to play together as a cohesive unit. As Daly put it:
If you’re going to have to beg them to play, it’s not going to work.
Those teams were pretty stacked, to say the least. The core of Thomas, Dumars, Rodman and Laimbeer proved that tough guy basketball could work in the NBA. A team didn’t have to be full of All-Stars. The key was to play as a unit. They were a model for generations to come. You could see hints of the “Bad Boy” Pistons style of ball in teams like the 90’s Knicks, ’04 Pistons and most recently, the 2011 Dallas Mavericks. These teams won through grit.
But, with all that said, Isiah Thomas may have been the most important piece to the puzzle. Not only was he the leader of this group, but he was a consummate stat-stuffer. While not the greatest shooter out there, he still found a way to score the ball efficiently. He shot 45.2 percent from the field over his illustrious career. In addition, he was one of the best distributors the game had seen. He averaged 9.3 assists in his career. As a defender, he was one of the peskiest in the game. He averaged 1.9 steals per game and ranks 16th all time in that category.
All in all, IT maybe be the best guard the Pistons have ever had. He embodied what it takes to be a “Bad Boy” during an era filled with star-studded teams. He led by example and never let people get to him. That is why Thomas earns himself a spot on the Detroit Pistons’ Mount Rushmore.
Grant Hill: What Could’ve Been (1994–2000)
Next, we have someone who Pistons fans adored, but may have had the hardest tenure of anyone on this list. Grant Hill was by all accounts a dominant player in his heyday. He had a very fruitful college career at Duke, where he averaged 14.9 points, six rebounds and 3.6 assists over four seasons. Hill won two NCAA titles during that span and was selected third overall in the 1994 NBA Draft.
When the Pistons drafted him, he was praised as being the potential savior for a franchise that had been in a bit of a funk since winning it all just four years prior. As a result, Hill had a lot to live up to. Isiah Thomas had just retired, so Motor City needed some new oil in its engine.
Enter Grant Hill.
Hill’s career in Detroit was one of promise. During his six seasons in Mo-Town, he averaged 21.6 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game. He was pretty much the most dominant player on that team during that tenure. The issue came when building around Hill; the team could never build much of a core around Hill. There was never a solid base at head coach, either. The Pistons ran through four head coaches during Hill’s tenure in Detroit. All in all, it was a disaster.
Without much talent nor coaching, the Pistons were reduced to first round exists or missing the playoffs entirely. But, Hill did some serious work in Mo-Town. He was ahead of his time in some respects. For instance, during the tail-end of his Pistons tenure, Hill assumed the role of “point forward.” This meant he was the primary ball-handler, but defended the opposing wing.
Not many players could do this, but Hill flourished in this role. He led non-guards in assists, and at a large clip, I might add. In the 1998-99 season, Hill led his team in points, rebounds and assists for a third season. That puts Hill up there with the likes of Wilt Chamberlin and Elgin Baylor.
Unfortunately, Hill’s tenure in Detroit ended in the 2000 offseason. His contract had ended, and he elected to sign with the Orlando Magic to be paired with Tracy McGrady. A sign-and-trade allowed the Pistons to recoup some assets for Hill (Chucky Atkins and Ben Wallace). And with that, Hill was gone.
So, Grant Hill makes the list based on “what if.” His talent certainly warrants his entry on the list. Since Hill, no player has come through Detroit like him. He clearly was in a league of his own, and his style of play was ahead of its time. Unfortunately, a lack of building a true contender and instability plagued the Pistons. But, Grant Hill’s talent alone makes him worth a spot.
Joe Dumars: Player and Executive (1985-1999; 2000-2014)
Next, we have one of the more multifaceted members of the Mount Rushmore of Detroit Basketball: Joe Dumars. He fills two roles, as he was both a player and a front office executive. He has earned many accolades in his career, including a Hall-of-Fame induction, two NBA championships, one NBA Finals MVP, six All-Star appearances and an NBA Executive of the Year award. Dumars has had quite a colorful career, to say the least.
As a player, Dumars was one of the key pieces in Detroit. He played the two alongside Isiah Thomas and was a quality threat on both ends of the floor. During his tenure in Detroit, Dumars posted 16.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. Offensively, he was solid and typically got the job done. He wasn’t much of a high-volume shooter, but his jumper was solid, and he could knock them down on a regular basis.
The defense came fairly easy for Dumars. He wasn’t a lockdown defender, so to speak, but he fit Detroit’s formula. Like Rodman and Laimbeer (who would be on the list had it not been for Thomas and Dumars), he played hard. That’s what made his game work.
His physicality and tenacity to get after the opposition was unmatched. He was truly underrated as two guards come, and he helped pave the way for two-way guards in the NBA. But, the real key to his success was the camaraderie with his teammates. Everyone on the “Bad Boy” Pistons teams was held to the same standard. As Dumars himself put it:
On good teams coaches hold players accountable, on great teams players hold players accountable.
While Joe Dumars was one of the best Pistons players of all time, he was just as good in the front office. In 2000, after getting swept in the playoffs by the Miami Heat, the Pistons hired Dumars as their President of Basketball Operations. This move came with some controversy, as Dumars had retired from basketball the season prior. With no experience, Dumars was a fresh face who could look to build the program from the ground up.
In this case, he had to do so without their All-Star piece in Grant Hill. While this seems fairly daunting at first glance, Dumars salvaged the situation by acquiring Chucky Atkins and Ben Wallace in a sign-and-trade for Hill. Wallace turned out to be a very important piece in the rebuild.
I’m not going to get into too much detail as to how Dumars revamped the roster, but here’s a quick rundown. He was able to sign Chauncey Billups in free agency, trade for Richard Hamilton and draft Tayshaun Prince. All three of these pieces ultimately started for the 2004 championship team.
Then came the final piece to the puzzle: Rasheed Wallace. Wallace was acquired at the trade deadline, and the Pistons went on to win their first NBA championship since 1990. They took on the super team Los Angeles Lakers, which was stacked with Hall-of-Famers like Shaquille O’Neal, Gary Patton, Karl Malone and (soon-to-be Hall-of-Famer) Kobe Bryant.
The Pistons were not only a solid team, but they had the makings of a dynasty. In fact, the Pistons went on to make the Eastern Conference Finals for six straight seasons (2003–2008). While they only won one NBA title, they were always in the hunt, which can’t be said for most franchises. This is all thanks to the genius of one Joe Dumars. Without him, none of this would have been possible.
Chauncey Billups: Mr. Big Shot (2002-2009; 2014)
Finally, we have my personal favorite: Chauncey “Mr. Big Shot” Billups. His path to success wasn’t the smoothest. Billups started his career bouncing around from team to team. In his first five seasons, he had already played for four teams. During that time span, he was traded four times. He didn’t even play for the last team he was traded to during that span (Orlando Magic). The lack of stability definitely hurt his stock.
As a result, he signed a deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2000. During his time in Minnesota, he came off the bench and put up decent numbers. The key to his game at this point was his shooting ability, as he shot 38.2 percent from three during that time. He also dished 4.5 assists per game in those two seasons. As a result, in 2002, Joe Dumars was able to convince Billups to sign with the Detroit Pistons.
With that, the mid-2000’s Pistons were born.
Stability was key for Billups’ success going forward. After bouncing around in the NBA, it was time to seriously get to work. Detroit reaped the benefits of this mindset of Billups’. In his first season with the team, he averaged 16.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game. That season, he shot 39.2 percent from 3-point range on around five shots a game. Clearly, the expanded role worked to his benefit. The 2002-03 season also saw the Pistons making the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 1991. It signaled a serious change in Mo-Town.
His leadership was ever so present during the 2004 NBA Finals — he dominated against the Lakers. Billups averaged 21 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists during that series. Remember, they don’t call him “Mr. Big Shot” for nothing. The series embodied that moniker more than anything. He shot 47.2 percent from 3-point range. That’s almost the kind of efficiency you’d expect if you flipped a coin and called heads.
I’ll admit: of all the players on this list, Mr. Big Shot is my favorite. Growing up as a young basketball fan, he was one of those guys you knew would give 110 percent every time he stepped on the court. He carried himself with class and always had a chip on his shoulder. Nothing ever fazed him.
Chauncey Billups was one of a kind.
Now, I do think the rest of that 2004 championship team was one of a kind. They could very well have been the most recent team in NBA history to not have a “superstar” in their starting lineup and still win the Larry O’Brien trophy. Rip, Sheed, Ben and Tay all played their part, but Chauncey was the piece that brought the group together. He led by example, and that’s all you could ever ask for.
I already went into the makings of that dynamic team, but it’s still important to note the selflessness the Pistons exhibited. With Chauncey Billups at the helm, they competed at the highest level year in and year out. Considering the rocky start of his career, it goes without saying that Billups deserves his spot on the list. He’s a modern-day redemption story. After being written off and dealt so many times, it took one city to truly get the best out of him.
He did just that, and then some.
