page_title: Detroit Pistons
section_title: 1957–1979: Decades of struggles
hierarchical_section_title: Detroit Pistons / Franchise history / 1957–1979: Decades of struggles
caption_attribution_description: English: Former NBA player Dave Bing while playing for the Detroit Pistons.
context_page_description: The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and plays its home games at Little Caesars Arena, located in Midtown. The team was founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons in 1941, a member of the National Basketball League where it won two NBL championships: in 1944 and 1945. The Pistons later joined the Basketball Association of America in 1948. The NBL and BAA merged to become the NBA in 1949, and the Pistons became part of the merged league. In 1957, the franchise moved to Detroit. The Pistons have won three NBA championships: in 1989, 1990 and 2004.
context_section_description: Though the Pistons enjoyed a solid local following, Fort Wayne's small size made it difficult for them to be profitable, especially as other early NBA teams based in smaller cities started folding or relocating to larger markets. After the 1956–57 season, Zollner decided that Fort Wayne was too small to support an NBA team and announced the team would be playing elsewhere in the coming season. He ultimately settled on Detroit. Although it was the fifth largest city in the United States at the time, Detroit had not seen professional basketball in a decade. They lost the Detroit Eagles due to World War II, both the Detroit Gems of the NBL (whose remnants became the Minneapolis Lakers) and the Detroit Falcons of the BAA in 1947, and the Detroit Vagabond Kings in 1949. Zollner decided to keep the Pistons name, believing it made sense given Detroit's status as the center of the automobile industry. George Yardley set the NBA single-season scoring record in the Pistons' first season in Detroit, becoming the first player to score 2,000 points in a season.
  The Pistons played in Olympia Stadium (home of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL) at the time) for their first four seasons, then moved to Cobo Arena.
  During the 1960s and 1970s, the Pistons were characterized by very strong individuals and weak teams. Some of the superstars who played for the team included Dave DeBusschere, Dave Bing, and Bob Lanier.
  At one point, DeBusschere was the youngest player-coach in the history of the NBA. A trade during the 1968–69 season sent DeBusschere to the New York Knicks for Howard Komives and Walt Bellamy, both of whom were in the later stages of their careers. DeBusschere became a key player in leading the Knicks to two NBA titles.
  In 1974, Zollner sold the team to glass magnate Bill Davidson, who remained the team's principal owner until his death in 2009.
  While the Pistons did qualify for the postseason in four straight seasons from 1974 to 1977, they never had any real sustained success.
  In 1978, Davidson became displeased with Cobo Arena, but opted not to follow the Red Wings to the under-construction Joe Louis Arena. Instead, he moved the team to the suburb of Pontiac, where they played in the 82,000 capacity Silverdome, a structure built for professional football (and the home of the Detroit Lions at the time).
caption: Dave Bing joined the team in 1966, where in his rookie year he scored 1,601 points.
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