Detroit Pistons

Basketball Hall of Fame Members:.
. Reserves.
. Starters. ("Hall of Honor"). Eastern on ABC. In March 2005, current players Todd Sauerbrun, Jeff Mitchell and former player Todd Steussie were linked to using steroids on a 60 Minutes report.

Game 5 is scheduled for Sunday, June 19th at The Palace of Auburn Hills at 9 P.M. First-day PSL orders totaled 41,632. The Spurs have won the first two games, and Detroit the second to, all by margins of 15 to 31 points. By the end of the first day, all 8,314 club seats sold out and all 104 luxury suites were reserved and ultimately leased. Games 3 and 4 and 5 will be played at The Palace of Auburn Hills, and games 6 and (if necessary) 7 will be in San Antonio. A remarkable 15,000 pieces of mail from first-day orders were collected. The Pistons are currently facing the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals, the first two games of which were played at the SBC Center in San Antonio. On June 3, Richardson Sports revealed its impressive plan to privately finance a 72,300-seat stadium from the sale of Permanent Seat Licenses, club seats and luxury boxes, beginning on July 1.

Lakers did so at the Sacramento Kings in 2002. On March 23, 1993, the expansion race officially resumed. In the process, the Pistons became the first team to win a game 7 on the road since the L.A. Fortunately, on January 6, 1993, the League and the players approved a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. In the conference finals, the Pistons again fell behind, three games to two, but then won the final two games to defeat the Miami Heat and become Eastern Conference Champions. However, on October 20, 1992, NFL owners decided to delay the expansion vote until the fall of 1993 because of a labor dispute between the League and the players. Seeded second in the Eastern Conference in the playoffs, they defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 4-1 and then rallied from a 2-1 deficit to finish off the Indiana Pacers 4-2. Louis, Memphis, Jacksonville and the Carolinas.

Presently, the Pistons are considered a strong contender to win a second consecutive title in 2005. At the League owners meeting on March 18, 1992, the NFL reduced the list of expansion candidate cities from eleven to seven with the Carolinas making the cut. Two months later, the NFL narrowed the list of expansion hopefuls to five communities – Baltimore, St. See also: The Malice at The Palace. Fans demonstrated their enthusiasm by selling out preseason games in Raleigh, NC in 1989, Chapel Hill, NC in 1990 and Columbia, SC in 1991. A month later, five Pacers and seven fans were charged after being involved in the "basketbrawl.". Carroll Campbell formed a blue-ribbon committee of leading citizens in both states. Other Pacers such as Jermaine O'Neal fought with fans who had walked onto the court. Jim Martin and South Carolina Gov.

This caused Artest to rush into the stands and attack some fans. Likewise, North Carolina Gov. On November 19, 2004, the Detroit Pistons were involved in a massive brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills during a losing home game against the Indiana Pacers. After fouling Pistons' Ben Wallace, Pacer Ron Artest was hit by a cup while lying down on the scorer's table. Jesse Helms of North Carolina and Ernest Hollings of South Carolina lobbied NFL owners on the Carolinas behalf. Coached by Hall of Fame inductee Larry Brown, the Pistons returned to prominence, winning the 2004 NBA championship. Sens. Under Dumars's leadership, the Pistons have since surrounded Wallace with rising stars Chauncey Billups, Richard "Rip" Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince. U.S.

One of them, Ben Wallace, would prove to be a cornerstone for the franchise's revamped roster. Across the Carolinas, support for an NFL expansion team poured in at an unprecedented rate. In the summer of 2000, Hill indicated his intentions to leave to Orlando, and Dumars – appointed the franchise's president of basketball operations that year – dealt Hill to the Magic in return for a pair of largely unheralded players. On December 15, 1989, Richardson Sports selected a site in uptown Charlotte as the future home of a privately financed NFL stadium that would seat more than 70,000 fans. Though Grant Hill emerged as a gifted player, the team was unable to win a playoff series, losing to the Orlando Magic in 1996, the Atlanta Hawks in 1997 and 1999, and the Miami Heat in 2000. Locations in North and South Carolina were considered. The franchise went through a lengthy transitional period as its key players either retired or left. One of the first orders of business was to choose a stadium site.

The team moved into the lavish Palace of Auburn Hills in 1988 and remains there today. On December 15, Richardson officially announced an NFL franchise bid for the Carolinas. With their physical style of play, and intensity with opponents, the Pistons gained the nickname "Bad Boys." Coach Chuck Daly took the team to the NBA Finals three consecutive years (1988-90) and won NBA championships in 1989 and 1990. The "dream" began on July 16, 1987 when Richardson met in Charlotte with a group of interested parties to discuss the feasibility of entering the multi-city competition for two NFL expansion franchises. The three, along with later aquisitions Joe Dumars, Rick Mahorn, and Dennis Rodman, formed the core of a team that would rise to the top of the league. "This is a dream come true for me and my partners and for the 10 million people in the Carolinas," said Carolina Panthers Owner/Founder Jerry Richardson, who became just the second former player to own an NFL team along with George Halas of the Chicago Bears. In early 1982, it acquired center Bill Laimbeer and guard Vinnie Johnson. Fireworks exploded over uptown Charlotte as jubilant fans gathered to celebrate the news.

The franchise's fortunes finally began to turn in 1981, when it drafted point guard Isiah Thomas out of Indiana University. On October 26, 1993, NFL owners unanimously selected Carolina as the 29th NFL franchise and the first expansion team since 1976. (The Silverdome was the home of the NFL's Detroit Lions at the time.). The Carolina Panthers are a National Football League team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Displeased with the team's location in downtown Detroit, Davidson moved it to the suburb of Pontiac in 1978, where it played in the mammoth Silverdome, a structure built for professional football. Panthers Huddle fan site (http://panthershuddle.com/phpportal/). In 1974, Zollner sold the team to Bill Davidson, who remains the team's owner. Panthers Frenzy Message Board (http://www.pantherfrenzy.com/).

The franchise was a consistent disappointment, struggling on both the court and the box office. The Panthers Fans Forum on the Net (http://www.panthersfanz.com/). The new Detroit Pistons played in Olympia Stadium for their first four seasons, then moved to Cobo Arena. Carolina Panthers official web site (http://www.panthers.com/). In 1957, Zollner moved the team to Detroit, a much larger city that did not have an NBA franchise; the Detroit Gems had folded after one season of existence. George Seifert (coach). Led by star forward George Yardley, the Fort Wayne Pistons were a popular franchise and appeared in the NBA Finals in 1954 and 1955, losing both times. Dom Capers (coach).

It is the oldest existing franchise in the NBA. Reggie White DL. The franchise was founded in 1941 in Fort Wayne, Indiana by Fred Zollner, owner of a General Motors subsidiary that manufactored pistons. Wesley Walls TE.
. Todd Sauerbrun P. The Detroit Pistons are a National Basketball Association team based in the Detroit, Michigan metropolitan area. Tyrone Poole CB.

Gregory Johnson. Muhsin Muhammad WR. Earl Lloyd (inducted as a contributor, not as a player or coach). Kevin Greene LB. Chuck Daly. Kerry Collins QB. Larry Brown. Blake Brockermeyer LT.

40 Bill Laimbeer. Steve Beuerlein QB. 21 Dave Bing. Sam Mills. 16 Bob Lanier. Steve Smith. 15 Vinnie Johnson. Rod Smart (a.k.a., He Hate Me).

11 Isiah Thomas. Mike Rucker. 4 Joe Dumars. Ricky Proehl. 2 Chuck Daly (never played in the NBA; represents the two NBA championship teams he coached). Julius Peppers. Jerry Stackhouse. Dan Morgan.

John Salley. Ricky Manning, Jr. Dennis Rodman. Kris Jenkins. Rick Mahorn. Nick Goings. Grant Hill. DeShaun Foster.

Adrian Dantley. Mark Fields. Chuck Daly (Inducted as Coach). Jake Delhomme. Isiah Thomas. Stephen Davis. Earl Lloyd (inducted as a contributor, not as a player or coach). Keary Colbert.

Bob Lanier. 2004: 7-9. Dave Bing. 2003: 11-5 (3-1 in playoffs). C - #31 Darko Miličić (Serbia). 2002: 7-9. F-C - #24 Antonio McDyess (Alabama). 2001: 1-15.

G - #5 Horace Jenkins (William Paterson) - restricted free agent. 2000: 7-9. G - #10 Lindsey Hunter (Jackson State). 1999: 8-8. F - #8 Darvin Ham (Texas Tech) - free agent. 1998: 4-12. F - #12 Ronald Dupree (LSU). 1997: 7-9.

G-F - #20 Carlos Delfino (Argentina). 1996: 12-4 (1-1 in playoffs). C - #41 Elden Campbell (Clemson) - free agent. 1995: 7-9. G - #30 Carlos Arroyo (Florida Int'l). PG - #1 Chauncey Billups (Colorado).

SG - #32 Richard "Rip" Hamilton (UConn). C - #3 Ben Wallace (Virginia Union). PF - #36 Rasheed Wallace (North Carolina). SF - #22 Tayshaun Prince (Kentucky).