Over the last five years, the Detroit Pistons have been in the NBA’s basement, posting an overall record of 94-290.
Since 2009, the Pistons have posted only two playoff berths and one winning season. For a franchise that went to six straight Eastern Conference Finals, along with two NBA Finals appearances and one championship, from 2003-08, the fall on hard times has been jarring. New head coach J.B. Bickerstaff is the latest man who will try to get the Pistons back on track.
Bickerstaff led the Cleveland Cavaliers to three consecutive winning seasons and two playoff appearances before being let go following the 2023-24 campaign. His first major impact on his new team has come in the form of players’ practice wardrobes.
As Joe Vardon of The Athletic noted in a new article , Pistons players are not allowed to wear hoods during practices anymore. Sure, they can wear team-issued hoodies, but they have to keep the hoods down and their heads uncovered.
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“Just the last shred of that old-school mentality,” Bickerstaff said of his philosophy. “Just growing up with my dad, you don’t wear anything on your head during the game. You don’t wear jewelry. You practice how you play.”
Bickerstaff’s father Bernie was a longtime NBA coach, so it’s not like these methods have never been tried in the league. Whether or not they will have any effect on a team that lost 68 games, including a league-record 28 in a row, last season remains to be seen.
“You know, in school classrooms a lot of times, teachers say, ‘Take your hood off.’ So it’s all the same thing,” Pistons star Cade Cunningham said. “It’s just about being professional and being ready to play.”
The Pistons will play their final preseason game tomorrow before opening up the 2024-25 season against the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 23.
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