Latest news with #Pistons'
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'We built that:' Behind the Pistons' drastic turnaround that has been years in the making
'We built that:' Behind the Pistons' drastic turnaround that has been years in the making The boos were audible. The patience from a necessary rebuild had dissipated, replaced by frustration and a feeling: not again. It was only the Pistons' first preseason game of the season and the Milwaukee Bucks had gotten off to a quick 12-0 start, prompting a timeout from new coach J.B. Bickerstaff and those boos from a fan base that had grown tired of being the NBA's underbelly. It was like the home team was a bad act at the Apollo. New coach, new front office — same nonsense ... or so the fans thought. They had no idea the Pistons were about to embark on one of the most drastic turnarounds in NBA history. No idea they'd go on an eight-game winning streak in February, including a beatdown of the champion Boston Celtics. No idea they'd win a playoff game for the first time in 17 years, setting the stage for what will certainly be a raucous atmosphere at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday night for Game 3 of the Pistons' first-round series against the New York Knicks. There was no reason to believe something special was brewing. The franchise hadn't won a playoff game since the 2008 Eastern Conference finals, and so many years had been lost in between. It has been an unexpected development. But the roots of the revival were beginning to blossom even during the franchise depression. 'Nobody celebrates when you build a big, beautiful building, when you pour in the concrete,' former Pistons head coach Dwane Casey, who's now in the front office, told Yahoo Sports. 'Nobody's out there with pom-poms and confetti. That's boring.' What might feel like a one-year breakthrough is anything but. In a way, the Pistons, save for a disastrous one-year detour that had the franchise dancing with ignominy, are right on schedule. The offseason additions of Tobias Harris, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Malik Beasley — and, later, Dennis Schröder — have yielded positive results, the necessary veteran presence to aid a young team in desperate need of it. But the true reason for this reversal starts with the draft decisions made during the ugly rebuild. (Amy Monks/Yahoo Sports illustration) Cade Cunningham, Isaiah Stewart, Jalen Duren and Jaden Ivey are the cornerstones of this turnaround. The Pistons' draft picks from 2020-22 were all around when the team bottomed out last season, winning only 14 games and losing 28 straight. If the years of losing had broken them, the Pistons wouldn't be here with as much optimism and real hope as there's been in 20 years, when Detroit began a dominant run as an Eastern Conference power. Their basketball character led the Pistons out of the darkness and to the doorstep of prosperity — or if nothing else, respectability. The Pistons went 60-176 from the 2020-21 season to '22-23. Casey wore the losses when the necessary decision was made to pivot away from the Blake Griffin-Andre Drummond core. Griffin had dragged around his left leg during the end of the 2019 season and into the playoffs, and the Pistons were swept by the Bucks in Round 1 — not far from the best-case scenario at that time. Troy Weaver was brought in as the team's general manager during the pandemic to lead the rebuild. He'd long been acknowledged as one of the league's best talent evaluators from his days in Oklahoma City alongside Sam Presti, and he began the deconstruction of the roster. Two of his first three acquisitions on draft night were Stewart and Saddiq Bey via trade — and Killian Hayes with the seventh pick. Hayes was a disaster, but Stewart and Bey were tough ones. They battled Griffin and the other vets in practice daily. For all the protocols that were restrictive on the outside, the inside was all about ball. Cade Cunningham and Isaiah Stewart endured tough times in Detroit. (Photo by) 'We used to battle about, you know, who can get to the gym first? That's how competitive it was,' Stewart said. If you got there at 8 a.m., you were probably late. 'You ain't showing up and you saw another person's car there before you,' Stewart said. 'It all boils down to that. And obviously, that rubs off on any young player that's around, because you don't want to get looked at as like the oddball who was not working.' It's the circle of NBA life. Before proving yourself on the outside, the inside is where battles are won, real estate gained. The wins weren't coming, because they weren't supposed to. Veteran guard Derrick Rose was traded to the Knicks at the deadline and not long after, Griffin was waived and bought out. The Pistons were going lottery hunting and, for the first time, luck smiled on them. In 2021, they wound up with the first pick. They needed a star, and got one: Cade Cunningham. Upon Cunningham's arrival in Detroit, Stewart immediately saw something special about him — a magnetism, a charisma that was easy to follow. And more importantly, a maturity that belied his age, along with a want-to, a desire to do it in Detroit even as a Dallas native. 'Cade … he has a voice, and that voice takes the locker room when he speaks, and he's been doing that since a rookie,' Stewart said. 'I mean, you coming in and you're able to even voice stuff out to vets. I'm like, yeah, he's special.' 'I've never tried to impose myself on anybody, like, 'I'm your leader.' I'm not trying to force it,' Cunningham told Yahoo Sports earlier this season. 'I'm gonna be myself. I want the best for everybody in here, the best for my teammates. I think guys respect that.' But you can't add water and produce a contender. Cunningham had a solid rookie year, but surgery on his left shin ended Year 2 after just 12 games, putting a rookie Ivey in a position to play more point guard than he was ready for. Stewart, playing alongside Duren, tried to become a stretch 4 (and to be fair, shot 38 percent on nearly four 3-point attempts per game a year later in '23-24). Duren showed promise as a powerful finisher at the rim, but battled ankle injuries. 'As a young player in this league, it was kind of like, when (are) the wins gonna come? You know, everybody was talking about, 'Just be patient, man. You guys working hard,'' Stewart said. 'You know wins are gonna come, but we didn't know when it was gonna come, and we didn't know how we were supposed to feel.' Casey said he had 'contentious' moments while coaching the Pistons' youth, but insisted it was never personal. He still loved on them, just like his teams in Toronto that he took to the doorstep of glory before being fired for Nick Nurse in 2018. 'I'm sure I had moments with Cade. I was sure I had moments with Ivey, Stew and all these guys,' Casey said. But it's impossible to know what culture is being built, if a culture is being built. The turnaround was predicted to happen last year. Pistons owner Tom Gores pressed the fast forward button to hire Monty Williams after he was fired from the Phoenix Suns. It came with a record price tag, $78.5 million over six years, almost a stimulus package for all coaches who've benefited since, and Gores viewed it as a coup, considering Williams had taken the Suns to the NBA Finals in 2021. But what ensued was a disaster. The roster was ill-fitting. Weaver filled the open spots with wild cards like James Wiseman and Marvin Bagley — former No. 2 picks hoping to recapture pedigree. He kept Hayes around. He didn't see much in free agency, so he traded for veteran shooter Joe Harris, with Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks set to be the leading vets. As a young player in this league, it was kind of like, when (are) the wins gonna come?Isaiah Stewart Snake eyes were rolled on every single move. Williams believed Hayes could be redeemed, and it came at Ivey's expense. Ivey was energetic, but still in need of seasoning as a playmaker. He fell into Williams' doghouse and never got out. The 28-game losing streak wore on everyone — Williams didn't seem long for the job, and he wasn't given a roster that fit his strengths. He tried things, like hockey shift changes — all five players being substituted at once — and nothing worked. Still, perhaps shockingly, the confidence of the team's young core wasn't shaken. Cunningham and Stewart had optimistic yet tough conversations that seem clairvoyant now but appeared downright delusional in real time. 'I remember me and him, just talking in that moment, and we're just saying, 'Tables are going to turn,'' Stewart said. 'You know, that's what me and him always said to each other, 'Stay with it.'' To have a steeled approach when getting your head beat in every night says a lot about that group's togetherness amid chaos. This embedded content is not available in your region. Duren could see something forming, too. He called the culture 'something you can believe in, a symbol of togetherness. And we built that.' 'We were gym rats,' Duren said. 'We had the same mentality of wanting to get better individually that to me was something. I haven't been here long, but you've seen guys go through the motions of the NBA. But our young core was always working, bumping with each other, playing with each other.' Still, the 2023-24 season raised questions about the core four Weaver had drafted. Could Cunningham really be the guy? Could Stewart and Duren work together in a league that calls for small? Was Ivey broken, a tweener without a real position? When last season mercifully ended, it was clear change was needed. Weaver was fired, and Williams was bought out — meaning Gores had to cut some big checks. And Gores had to make sure there weren't as many conflicting voices inside the front office — something that led to tacit finger-pointing, blame and not a lot of responsibility being owned. 'I think we needed to get better, be more organized,' Gores told Yahoo Sports in October. 'We've done the things necessary. Everybody's clear on their jobs. It's part of being a good team. I do feel like we've tightened things up.' In stepped Trajan Langdon as president of basketball operations and then Bickerstaff as head coach. Cunningham was a no-brainer to stick around, fortified by a max contract the franchise didn't hesitate to give him. But the other young players, Langdon had no ties to them — he could very well have taken the wrecking ball from Day 1. 'To be honest, I didn't know much about the team itself the previous year because they were not a very good team, and I didn't see them as much,' Langdon told Yahoo Sports. 'But you start prepping for the job, and you're like, tweak this, tweak that in terms of roster, trying to put Cade in a better position.' He identified turnovers, defense and shooting as the biggest issues, thinking he could make moves around the fringes and was open to seeing how things could develop. 'We had a preseason camp out West, and the vets come in and the players are working out together and they're talking playoffs — back in September,' Langdon said. 'Who am I to say (they're wrong)? So do it. 'It's been fun to watch this group come together. They knew they had to be competitive. I think the one thing that they figured out pretty early on is we got to take our compete level and our care factor up to another level, because it wasn't good enough last year.' The Pistons finished 11th in defense this season and became a middle-of-the-pack 3-point shooting team with the new additions. Cunningham has become an All-NBA player. Stewart has evolved into one of the league's best interior defenders, as well as the anchor of their competitive, take-no-prisoners culture reminiscent of the franchise's championship past. Ausar Thompson, the team's 2023 lottery pick, has developed into a do-it-all wing who's on track to be one of the best defenders in the NBA — and many around the league believe he's the player who should be untradeable outside of Cunningham. Summer looms, when Duren is up for an extension, and so is Ivey, who's been out since Jan. 1 with a broken fibula and just began basketball activities. Their improved play will make for some hard decisions financially. But make no mistake, the future is bright. 'There were a lot of people who talked about the character of the players, great young men and they care," Langdon said. "Until you meet them and get to know them, you see them around their teammates, and they do care. 'There wasn't a sense of defeat.' Their character has continued to show throughout this season — even after their heartbreaking Game 1 loss against the Knicks. They wouldn't be broken, because they weren't broken through the toughest times they'd ever experienced. It's only up from here.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'We built that:' Behind the Pistons' drastic turnaround that has been years in the making
'We built that:' Behind the Pistons' drastic turnaround that has been years in the making The boos were audible. The patience from a necessary rebuild had dissipated, replaced by frustration and a feeling: not again. It was only the Pistons' first preseason game of the season and the Milwaukee Bucks had gotten off to a quick 12-0 start, prompting a timeout from new coach J.B. Bickerstaff and those boos from a fan base that had grown tired of being the NBA's underbelly. It was like the home team was a bad act at the Apollo. New coach, new front office — same nonsense ... or so the fans thought. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement They had no idea the Pistons were about to embark on one of the most drastic turnarounds in NBA history. No idea they'd go on an eight-game winning streak in February, including a beatdown of the champion Boston Celtics. No idea they'd win a playoff game for the first time in 17 years, setting the stage for what will certainly be a raucous atmosphere at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday night for Game 3 of the Pistons' first-round series against the New York Knicks. There was no reason to believe something special was brewing. The franchise hadn't won a playoff game since the 2008 Eastern Conference finals, and so many years had been lost in between. It has been an unexpected development. But the roots of the revival were beginning to blossom even during the franchise depression. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement 'Nobody celebrates when you build a big, beautiful building, when you pour in the concrete,' former Pistons head coach Dwane Casey, who's now in the front office, told Yahoo Sports. 'Nobody's out there with pom-poms and confetti. That's boring.' What might feel like a one-year breakthrough is anything but. In a way, the Pistons, save for a disastrous one-year detour that had the franchise dancing with ignominy, are right on schedule. The offseason additions of Tobias Harris, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Malik Beasley — and, later, Dennis Schröder — have yielded positive results, the necessary veteran presence to aid a young team in desperate need of it. But the true reason for this reversal starts with the draft decisions made during the ugly rebuild. (Amy Monks/Yahoo Sports illustration) Cade Cunningham, Isaiah Stewart, Jalen Duren and Jaden Ivey are the cornerstones of this turnaround. The Pistons' draft picks from 2020-22 were all around when the team bottomed out last season, winning only 14 games and losing 28 straight. If the years of losing had broken them, the Pistons wouldn't be here with as much optimism and real hope as there's been in 20 years, when Detroit began a dominant run as an Eastern Conference power. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Their basketball character led the Pistons out of the darkness and to the doorstep of prosperity — or if nothing else, respectability. The Pistons went 60-176 from the 2020-21 season to '22-23. Casey wore the losses when the necessary decision was made to pivot away from the Blake Griffin-Andre Drummond core. Griffin had dragged around his left leg during the end of the 2019 season and into the playoffs, and the Pistons were swept by the Bucks in Round 1 — not far from the best-case scenario at that time. Troy Weaver was brought in as the team's general manager during the pandemic to lead the rebuild. He'd long been acknowledged as one of the league's best talent evaluators from his days in Oklahoma City alongside Sam Presti, and he began the deconstruction of the roster. Two of his first three acquisitions on draft night were Stewart and Saddiq Bey via trade — and Killian Hayes with the seventh pick. Hayes was a disaster, but Stewart and Bey were tough ones. They battled Griffin and the other vets in practice daily. For all the protocols that were restrictive on the outside, the inside was all about ball. Cade Cunningham and Isaiah Stewart endured tough times in Detroit. (Photo by) 'We used to battle about, you know, who can get to the gym first? That's how competitive it was,' Stewart said. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement If you got there at 8 a.m., you were probably late. 'You ain't showing up and you saw another person's car there before you,' Stewart said. 'It all boils down to that. And obviously, that rubs off on any young player that's around, because you don't want to get looked at as like the oddball who was not working.' It's the circle of NBA life. Before proving yourself on the outside, the inside is where battles are won, real estate gained. The wins weren't coming, because they weren't supposed to. Veteran guard Derrick Rose was traded to the Knicks at the deadline and not long after, Griffin was waived and bought out. The Pistons were going lottery hunting and, for the first time, luck smiled on them. In 2021, they wound up with the first pick. They needed a star, and got one: Cade Cunningham. Upon Cunningham's arrival in Detroit, Stewart immediately saw something special about him — a magnetism, a charisma that was easy to follow. And more importantly, a maturity that belied his age, along with a want-to, a desire to do it in Detroit even as a Dallas native. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement 'Cade … he has a voice, and that voice takes the locker room when he speaks, and he's been doing that since a rookie,' Stewart said. 'I mean, you coming in and you're able to even voice stuff out to vets. I'm like, yeah, he's special.' 'I've never tried to impose myself on anybody, like, 'I'm your leader.' I'm not trying to force it,' Cunningham told Yahoo Sports earlier this season. 'I'm gonna be myself. I want the best for everybody in here, the best for my teammates. I think guys respect that.' But you can't add water and produce a contender. Cunningham had a solid rookie year, but surgery on his left shin ended Year 2 after just 12 games, putting a rookie Ivey in a position to play more point guard than he was ready for. Stewart, playing alongside Duren, tried to become a stretch 4 (and to be fair, shot 38 percent on nearly four 3-point attempts per game a year later in '23-24). Duren showed promise as a powerful finisher at the rim, but battled ankle injuries. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement 'As a young player in this league, it was kind of like, when (are) the wins gonna come? You know, everybody was talking about, 'Just be patient, man. You guys working hard,'' Stewart said. 'You know wins are gonna come, but we didn't know when it was gonna come, and we didn't know how we were supposed to feel.' Casey said he had 'contentious' moments while coaching the Pistons' youth, but insisted it was never personal. He still loved on them, just like his teams in Toronto that he took to the doorstep of glory before being fired for Nick Nurse in 2018. 'I'm sure I had moments with Cade. I was sure I had moments with Ivey, Stew and all these guys,' Casey said. But it's impossible to know what culture is being built, if a culture is being built. The turnaround was predicted to happen last year. Pistons owner Tom Gores pressed the fast forward button to hire Monty Williams after he was fired from the Phoenix Suns. It came with a record price tag, $78.5 million over six years, almost a stimulus package for all coaches who've benefited since, and Gores viewed it as a coup, considering Williams had taken the Suns to the NBA Finals in 2021. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement But what ensued was a disaster. The roster was ill-fitting. Weaver filled the open spots with wild cards like James Wiseman and Marvin Bagley — former No. 2 picks hoping to recapture pedigree. He kept Hayes around. He didn't see much in free agency, so he traded for veteran shooter Joe Harris, with Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks set to be the leading vets. As a young player in this league, it was kind of like, when (are) the wins gonna come?Isaiah Stewart Snake eyes were rolled on every single move. Williams believed Hayes could be redeemed, and it came at Ivey's expense. Ivey was energetic, but still in need of seasoning as a playmaker. He fell into Williams' doghouse and never got out. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The 28-game losing streak wore on everyone — Williams didn't seem long for the job, and he wasn't given a roster that fit his strengths. He tried things, like hockey shift changes — all five players being substituted at once — and nothing worked. Still, perhaps shockingly, the confidence of the team's young core wasn't shaken. Cunningham and Stewart had optimistic yet tough conversations that seem clairvoyant now but appeared downright delusional in real time. 'I remember me and him, just talking in that moment, and we're just saying, 'Tables are going to turn,'' Stewart said. 'You know, that's what me and him always said to each other, 'Stay with it.'' To have a steeled approach when getting your head beat in every night says a lot about that group's togetherness amid chaos. This embedded content is not available in your region. Duren could see something forming, too. He called the culture 'something you can believe in, a symbol of togetherness. And we built that.' ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement 'We were gym rats,' Duren said. 'We had the same mentality of wanting to get better individually that to me was something. I haven't been here long, but you've seen guys go through the motions of the NBA. But our young core was always working, bumping with each other, playing with each other.' Still, the 2023-24 season raised questions about the core four Weaver had drafted. Could Cunningham really be the guy? Could Stewart and Duren work together in a league that calls for small? Was Ivey broken, a tweener without a real position? When last season mercifully ended, it was clear change was needed. Weaver was fired, and Williams was bought out — meaning Gores had to cut some big checks. And Gores had to make sure there weren't as many conflicting voices inside the front office — something that led to tacit finger-pointing, blame and not a lot of responsibility being owned. 'I think we needed to get better, be more organized,' Gores told Yahoo Sports in October. 'We've done the things necessary. Everybody's clear on their jobs. It's part of being a good team. I do feel like we've tightened things up.' In stepped Trajan Langdon as president of basketball operations and then Bickerstaff as head coach. Cunningham was a no-brainer to stick around, fortified by a max contract the franchise didn't hesitate to give him. But the other young players, Langdon had no ties to them — he could very well have taken the wrecking ball from Day 1. 'To be honest, I didn't know much about the team itself the previous year because they were not a very good team, and I didn't see them as much,' Langdon told Yahoo Sports. 'But you start prepping for the job, and you're like, tweak this, tweak that in terms of roster, trying to put Cade in a better position.' He identified turnovers, defense and shooting as the biggest issues, thinking he could make moves around the fringes and was open to seeing how things could develop. 'We had a preseason camp out West, and the vets come in and the players are working out together and they're talking playoffs — back in September,' Langdon said. 'Who am I to say (they're wrong)? So do it. 'It's been fun to watch this group come together. They knew they had to be competitive. I think the one thing that they figured out pretty early on is we got to take our compete level and our care factor up to another level, because it wasn't good enough last year.' The Pistons finished 11th in defense this season and became a middle-of-the-pack 3-point shooting team with the new additions. Cunningham has become an All-NBA player. Stewart has evolved into one of the league's best interior defenders, as well as the anchor of their competitive, take-no-prisoners culture reminiscent of the franchise's championship past. Ausar Thompson, the team's 2023 lottery pick, has developed into a do-it-all wing who's on track to be one of the best defenders in the NBA — and many around the league believe he's the player who should be untradeable outside of Cunningham. Summer looms, when Duren is up for an extension, and so is Ivey, who's been out since Jan. 1 with a broken fibula and just began basketball activities. Their improved play will make for some hard decisions financially. But make no mistake, the future is bright. 'There were a lot of people who talked about the character of the players, great young men and they care," Langdon said. "Until you meet them and get to know them, you see them around their teammates, and they do care. 'There wasn't a sense of defeat.' Their character has continued to show throughout this season — even after their heartbreaking Game 1 loss against the Knicks. They wouldn't be broken, because they weren't broken through the toughest times they'd ever experienced. It's only up from here.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
"I was probably emotional and upset and directed a lot of that anger toward the team" - Hill admits he regrets how his career in Detroit ended
Grant Hill wasn't ever on the upper end of playoff success during his time with the Detroit Pistons. The 2000 NBA playoffs were no different, and it became his last and the beginning of a long and painful unraveling. Just a week before the playoffs began, the 6'8" forward sprained his left ankle in a regular-season game against the Philadelphia 76ers. Still determined to lead, he pushed through the injury and took the floor for Detroit's first-round battle with the Miami Heat. By Game 2, the pain had become too much. Hill limped off the court, unable to continue. That moment would become his final appearance in a Pistons jersey. The unraveling The Heat completed a clean sweep of Detroit, bringing the curtain down on Hill's season and, unknowingly, on his Pistons era. His worsening ankle persisted. What initially seemed like a short-term setback would end up becoming a long-term burden, casting a shadow over the next several years of his career. Advertisement "When I got hurt, I hurt my ankle; it was kind of mismanaged that last year," he said. "I was probably emotional and probably upset and directed a lot of that anger towards the team. In that moment, I started thinking, 'Man, I'm out of here.' Prior to the injury, I wasn't thinking at all about leaving Detroit." Those emotions came after years of carrying the Pistons' hopes on his shoulders. Drafted third overall by Detroit in 1994, Hill quickly became the face of the franchise and one of the NBA's brightest young stars. Over his first six seasons, the former Blue Devil racked up 9,393 points, 3,417 rebounds and 2,720 assists — an exclusive statistical feat matched only by Oscar Robertson, Larry Bird, Luka Doncic and LeBron James at that stage in a career. Advertisement But those numbers tell only part of the story. The Texas native was more than a stat machine. He was Detroit's post-Isiah Thomas era answer. This humble yet magnetic leader kept the Palace of Auburn Hills buzzing with hope. Until the ankle betrayed him. Related: "I know he's the one who pushed for me to be part of the Dream Team" - Larry Bird credited one man for convincing him to play in the Olympics in 1992 Hill's legacy interrupted Duke alumnus never envisioned leaving. He saw himself as part of the Pistons' future, not just their present. The banners from the 1989 and 1990 championship seasons still hung above the court, casting long shadows and long expectations. He wanted to be the next face of the franchise. But it never worked out. Advertisement "I never thought I'd leave Detroit, and I mean, I obviously did," Hill said. "But my intention to me — it was Isiah [Thomas]. Before every game at the Palace, I looked at his banner. That's the standard, That's what I'm chasing. That's what I want to accomplish." He believed in the city. Believed in the Pistons' legacy. And, for a while, the franchise believed in him, too. But the losing wore thin. The front office couldn't build a contender around him. And once the injury altered his trajectory and exposed deeper tensions, the bond started to fray. By the summer of 2000, the seven-time All-Star became an unrestricted free agent, and the writing was already on the wall. He intended to sign with the Orlando Magic, but on August 3, the inevitable became official. In a sign-and-trade deal that gave Detroit something rather than nothing, Hill inked a seven-year, $92.8 million deal and was sent to Orlando in exchange for Chucky Atkins and a then-unknown big man named Ben Wallace. For Hill, the move promised a fresh start. For Detroit, it signaled a retooling. And for the league, it marked the moment when one of its most promising careers took an uncertain turn. Advertisement What followed was a brutal series of injury-plagued seasons in Orlando, robbing him of his prime years. The smooth, electrifying forward who once shared All-Star ballots with Michael Jordan was limited to a few games. His most games in a season for Orlando was 67 games. Time has given Hill perspective. His later years with the Phoenix Suns brought redemption, and his legacy eventually found peace, but Detroit still lingers — not for what was achieved but for what never got the chance. Related: "Shaq's even said it before, Christian busted his a**" - Grant Hill says Christian Laettner was the greatest college player he's ever seen
New York Post
02-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Post
Malik Beasley continues making big claims even after being eliminated
Malik Beasley had a lot to say in the Pistons' first-round series against the Knicks, and it culminated in him dropping a pass out of bounds just before he had a chance to tie up Game 6. Well, even after his brutal miscue that sealed Detroit's season-ending loss in the 4-2 series against New York, he's still making some bold claims. '[Ausar Thompson] was pissed,' Beasley said postgame after the Knicks eliminated the Pistons. 'He is the best defender in the world. He felt like he should've got a stop on that last possession.' Advertisement 3 Malik Beasley mishandles a pass in the final moments of the Pistons' loss to the Knicks. Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images He then went on to toot his own horn, making an even more audacious claim. 'I'm the best shooter in the world,' Beasley said. 'I feel like I should've [gotten a shot off] on that last possession.' Advertisement Beasley's case comes from the fact that he led the league in total three-pointers through the final day of the regular season before Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards drilled seven threes on 18 attempts to surpass Beasley, 320 to 319. Beasley and Edwards were two of just five players to ever make 300 threes in a season. But Knicks fans will laugh in the face of Beasley's comments about himself as he struggled mightily with his three-point shot for much of the series. Advertisement The 28-year-old shot just 20-of-59 from deep through the six games — that 33.9% rate was down from his regular season posting of 41.6%, which was a career high. Also, there's a certain three-point sniper named Stephen Curry that may have something to say about the world's-best-shooter title. 3 Ausar Thompson was Jalen Brunson's primary defender for much of the Pistons-Knicks series. Getty Images As for Beasley's comments surrounding the 22-year-old Thompson, they hold some weight as the youngster is a defensive phenom who did a respectable job on perhaps the best point guard in the league in the series. Advertisement 'That dude was tough to play against. He's big time,' Brunson even said about Thompson's defense after the series. 'And I told him straight to his face after the series, he made me work. I've got a lot of respect for him.' But again, Knicks fans surely can't help but scoff at Beasley's comments, considering how Jalen Brunson practically shook Thompson to the Palace of Auburn Hills with the amount of separation his dribble moves created on his series-winning three-pointer. 3 Jalen Brunson used a killer move to get massive separation from Ausar Thompson for the game-winning three. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post Beasley was with Detroit this season on just a one-year deal, making him one of the greatest bang-for-your-buck signings of the season. He's shown nothing but love for Detroit and a want to return to the team moving forward, but the 'best shooter in the world' could field quite the pay day from other teams this summer.
New York Post
02-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Post
Jalen Brunson's sister trolls Pistons after Knicks win: ‘Left with a 40 piece and a W'
There's no other way to put it: Jalen Brunson and the Knicks got the last laugh over the Pistons. The pot began stirring a little extra with Malik Beasley trolling Mikal Bridges on X ahead of Game 6 — responding 'Minutes?' to a Knicks fan who posted that Bridges would '[go] for 44 Thursday.' It continued with a paid billboard in Detroit reading, 'Brunson, you're a mother flopper.' Advertisement Well, after Brunson delivered the final dagger to the Pistons' season with his series-winning three-pointer in Game 6, the script has flipped with the trolling. 'Left with a 40 piece and a W,' Brunson's sister, Erica, posted to X in response to the viral billboard. 'Next time you pay to have our name up in Detroit think twice.' Advertisement Jalen Brunson pulls up for the game-winning jumper over Ausar Thompson to clinch the Knicks' series win. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post (L-R) Jalen Brunson celebrates his game-winning three-pointer with teammates OG Anunoby and Josh Hart. AP As Knicks fans know better than anyone, Brunson thrives with this kind of target on his back — and Detroit certainly provided endless shots and ammunition. Pistons center Jalen Duren was seen chirping Brunson for his foul-baiting antics earlier in the series, saying, 'You flopping motherf–ker' after Brunson drew a foul on him. Advertisement Not only that, but Pistons fans chanted 'F–k you Brunson' constantly throughout the three games in Detroit, and even had a deafening 'Flopper!' chant late in Game 6 just before Brunson ignited a run to come back and win the game for New York. Brunson finished with 40 points, particularly thriving down the stretch in the fourth quarter to close out the inexperienced Pistons. Advertisement The NBA's Clutch Player of the Year did his job time and time again. Detroit did not win a single game at Little Caesars Arena in the series. While the Knicks escaped in six games, a different beast awaits with a matchup against the Boston Celtics sitting in Round 2. Celtics fans also have a history of being quite rowdy, but they may want to be careful with poking the bear that is Brunson.
