History of the Detroit Pistons
In 1941, Fred Zollner founded the Fort Wayne Pistons. They were called that at the time because they were based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. To be able to compete with other teams, Fred Zollner wanted to move to a bigger city. In 1957 they moved to Detroit (Michigan) and became the Detroit Pistons. In 1974, William Davidson bought the Pistons from founder Zollner. Within Detroit, the Pistons have played in five different arenas: from 1957 to 1961 at Olympia Stadium, from 1961 to 1978 at Cobo Arena, from 1978 to 1988 at the Pontiac Silverdome, from 1988-2017 at The Palace of Auburn Hills, and since 2017 they have played at Little Caesars Arena.
Successes and championships of the Detroit Pistons
Between 1948 and 1957, the Detroit Pistons reached the playoffs three times and even made the Finals twice. Their first year in Detroit also went well, as they reached the second round of the playoffs that year. After a poor spell, former player Ray Scott returned as coach. With the Pistons, he won 52 games in 1973-1974 and earned the title "NBA Coach of the Year". In the '80s, the Pistons were strengthened with a number of star players, along with new coach Chuck Daly. In the years he led the Pistons from the sidelines, they made the playoffs every year. The move from the Pontiac Silverdome to The Palace of Auburn Hills may well have been the best decision in club history. After the Pistons settled there, they won two NBA championships in a row, in 1989 and 1990. After a weaker period in the '90s, manager Joe Dumars wanted to build a new team in 2000, built for success. From then on, they reached the playoffs every year, and in the 2003-2004 season they captured their third title.