The NBA Dribbled Out

The Pistons! Motor City, ya’ll, or these days, a place that resembles a war zone. It’s a good thing the Pistons play in Auburn Hills, or the Malice in the Palace would have turned a lot uglier. The recession isn’t the half of it as downtown Detroit has undergone a dramatic population diaspora as residents have fled to anywhere but downtown Detroit. Abandoned buildings dot the landscape like little vestiges of a T.J. Eckleburg wasteland that hasn’t adapted to a post-industrial malaise that is contemporary Americana. The country’s economy remains relatively lethargic, and Detroit is a microcosm of what can happen to once-pround industrialized cities. But that doesn’t mean the Pistons have to be the same harbingers of despair. 

The Pistons aren’t looking as bad these days. Andre Drummond is looking like a good pick-up, and Greg Monroe was one of their lone bright spots last year. GM, Joe Dumars, sees some promise in a team that’s in the inchoate stages of rebuilding after their mid-aught brilliance ended when Joey D swapped Chauncey for the Answer in 2008.

I love Detroit, and everything it could still offer, so I believe things can—and will—turn around. Hopefully, Joey D has set the groundwork for a return to prominence for the Pistons as well. Let’s hope if they do it infects the rest of their embattled city. <3 you Detroit.

[Greg Monroe is on the left and Andre Drummond is on the right, so this caption feels a wee bit racist.]