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Lists that rank the team's greatest players and coaches, now and throughout history. 

Big fan of Detroit basketball? Then check out this list of Detroit Pistons point guards with photos and seasons played with the team.&nbsp;It includes almost every point guard from throughout <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-detroit-pistons-centers/ranker-nba?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Detroit Pistons history</a>, including current point guards and past ones. Featuring some of the&nbsp;greatest <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/best-point-guards-currently-in-the-nba?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">NBA point guards</a> of all time,&nbsp;the best Pistons&nbsp;PGs include Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Chauncey Billups, and Kevin Porter.In the 2017-18 NBA season, the current Detroit Pistons starting PGs and backup PGs are Reggie Jackson, Ish Smith, and Dwight Buycks.&nbsp;Who are the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/greatest-point-guards-in-nba-history?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best point guards</a> in Detroit Pistons history? Here is every player who has ever held the position of Detroit Pistons&nbsp;point guard.

Big fan of Detroit basketball? Then check out this list of Detroit Pistons centers with photos and seasons played with the team.&nbsp;It includes almost every center from throughout Detroit Pistons history, including current centers and past ones. Featuring some of the&nbsp;<a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/greatest-centers-of-all-time?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">greatest NBA centers</a> of all time,&nbsp;the best Pistons&nbsp;Cs include Ben Wallace, Bob Lanier, Bill Laimbeer, and Rick Mahorn.In the 2017-18 NBA season, the current Detroit Pistons starting Cs and backup Cs are Andre Drummond and Boban Marjanovic.&nbsp; Who are the best centers in Detroit Pistons history? Here is every player who has ever held the position of Detroit Pistons&nbsp;center.

Coaches

In their time as an NBA franchise, the Detroit Pistons Coaches of All Time have gone through many different head coaches, all with different personalities and coaching styles. With that said, who is the best Detroit Pistons Coaches of All Time coach of all time? We want to hear your thoughts, which is why we created this poll of the top Detroit Pistons Coaches of All Time head coaches. Chuck Daly was the first Pistons coach to lead the franchise to an NBA Finals championship. Daly would achieve this twice, in back-to-back seasons, in 1989 and 1990. The Pistons would not win another championship until Larry Brown took over during the 2003-2004 season. The Pistons would win it all that same year. If you love basketball and the Detroit Pistons Coaches of All Time, then help us decide who the best Detroit Pistons Coaches of All Time coach is by voting up your top picks. You don't have to vote for the winningest Detroit Pistons Coaches of All Time coach, but it's hard to argue against solid numbers.

Basketball

Big fan of Detroit basketball? Then check out this list of Detroit Pistons shooting guards with photos and seasons played with the team.&nbsp;It includes almost every shooting guard from throughout <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-detroit-pistons-centers/ranker-nba?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Detroit Pistons history</a>, including current shooting guards and past ones. Featuring some of the&nbsp;greatest NBA shooting guards of all time,&nbsp;the best Pistons&nbsp;SGs include Joe Dumars, Jerry Stackhouse, Richard Hamilton, and Davie Bing.In the 2017-18 NBA season, the current Detroit Pistons starting SGs and backup SGs are Avery Bradley, Langston Galloway, Luke Kennard, and Luis Montero.&nbsp; Who are the best shooting guards in Detroit Pistons history? Here is every player who has ever held the position of Detroit Pistons&nbsp;shooting guard.

Big fan of Detroit basketball? Then check out this list of Detroit Pistons power forwards with photos and seasons played with the team.&nbsp;It includes almost every power forward from throughout <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-detroit-pistons-centers/ranker-nba?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Detroit Pistons history</a>, including current power forwards and past ones. Featuring some of the&nbsp;greatest <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-current-nba-power-forwards/ranker-nba?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">NBA power forwards</a> of all time,&nbsp;the best Pistons&nbsp;PFs include Rasheed Wallace, Dennis Rodman, Dave DeBusschere, and Bailey Howell.In the 2017-18 NBA season, the current Detroit Pistons starting PFs and backup PFs are Tobias Harris, Jon Leuer, Henry Ellenson, and Anthony Tolliver.&nbsp; Who are the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-greatest-power-forwards-in-nba-history?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best power forwards</a> in Detroit Pistons history? Here is every player who has ever held the position of Detroit Pistons&nbsp;power forward.

These <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-detroit-pistons-of-all-time/ranker-nba?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Detroit Pistons players</a> have all had their numbers retired. After making a big impact while playing for the team, players such as Isiah Thomas and Dennis Rodman had their jerseys retired. But not every player in the NBA gets their number retired, it is an honor bestowed upon the best players of a franchise. Which of these athletes are the greatest Detroit Pistons players? This list is only for Detroit Pistons players with retired jerseys. Coaches and managers have had their numbers retired as well but we&#39;re here to determine the best Detroit Pistons players that have had their number retired for all time.

Although these are undoubtedly great players, not all of them have been voted into the Basketball Hall of Fame despite having their numbers honored. The Detroit Pistons players that have been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame are noted below. Vote up the Detroit Pistons players with retired numbers that you think made the biggest contribution to the team.

Big fan of Detroit basketball? Then check out this list of Detroit Pistons small forwards with photos and seasons played with the team.&nbsp;It includes almost every small forward from throughout <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-detroit-pistons-centers/ranker-nba?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Detroit Pistons history</a>, including current small forwards and past ones. Featuring some of the&nbsp;greatest NBA small forwards of all time,&nbsp;the best Pistons&nbsp;SFs include Grant Hill, Tayshaun Prince, Mark Aguirre, and Adrian Dantley.In the 2017-18 NBA season, the current Detroit Pistons starting SFs and backup SFs are Tobias Harris, Reggie Bullock, and Stanley Johnson.&nbsp; Who are the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/top-10-small-forwards?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best small forwards</a> in Detroit Pistons history? Here is every player who has ever held the position of Detroit Pistons&nbsp;small forward.

Joe Dumars

A list of the best Detroit Pistons of all time. Originally based in Fort Wayne, Ind., the Pistons have been in Detroit since 1957. The team's Bad Boys moniker best represents the best players in this hard-nosed franchise's history. The Pistons have had some Hall of Famers in its early years, but nothing compared to the outstanding players that were on its dominant teams in the late '80s&nbsp;The Pistons teams of the late 1980s were some of the toughest and baddest dudes in the NBA. Led by their fearless leader Isiah Thomas, considered one of the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-top-nba-players-of-all-time">greatest basketball players ever</a>, the Pistons, nicknamed &quot;The Bad Boys,&quot; went to three consecutive NBA Finals, winning back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990. Behind Thomas, Joe Dumars and young forward name Dennis Rodman, the Pistons experienced the best years in franchise history. After Thomas, Dumars and the rest of the Bad Boys retired, the Pistons drafted a young Grant Hill, who almost singlehandedly carried Detroit on his back to multiple playoff appearances.The team had another successful run during the mid-2000s. Led by Chauncey Billups (aka Mr. Big Shot) and Ben Wallace, the team won a championship in 2004 and made the Finals in 2005. Those players are some of most revered and greatest in Pistons history. Much like the Bad Boys before them, the Pistons of the 2000s relied on tough defensive minded players and clutch players to be one of the best teams in the NBA.&nbsp;This is a list of the best Detroit Pistons of all time. If you see a player who is not on the list, fee free to add him to this list. Vote or rerank the list as you think it should look and reflect who is the greatest Detroit Pistons player in team history.

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The 25+ Best Detroit Pistons Centers of All Time, Ranked

The Best Detroit Pistons Centers of All Time

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Bob Lanier

Robert Jerry Lanier, Jr. (born September 10, 1948) is an American retired professional basketball player who played for the Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lanier was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992.
In his 14 NBA seasons, Lanier averaged 20.1 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.1 steals while shooting 51.4 percent from the field. He played in eight NBA All-Star Games, and was named Most Valuable Player of the 1974 game. He has had his #16 jersey retired by both the Pistons and the Bucks and his #31 jersey retired by St. Bonaventure University. Lanier is an NBA ambassador.

Ben Wallace

Benjamin Cameron Wallace (born September 10, 1974) is an American retired professional basketball player. A native of Alabama, Wallace attended Cuyahoga Community College and Virginia Union University and signed with the Washington Bullets (later Wizards) as an undrafted free agent in 1996. In his NBA career, Wallace played with the Washington Bullets/Wizards, Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers.
He won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award four times, a record he shares with Dikembe Mutombo. In nine seasons with the Pistons (2000–2006; 2009–2012), Wallace made two NBA Finals appearances (2004 and 2005) and won a championship with the Pistons in 2004. The Pistons retired his jersey number 3 in 2016. He was named a finalist for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019, but narrowly missed induction.

Bill Laimbeer

William Laimbeer Jr. (born May 19, 1957) is an American former basketball player and current coach of the Las Vegas Aces in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).During his National Basketball Association (NBA) career, he was known for his 11-year tenure with the Detroit Pistons. Laimbeer played at center with Hall of Fame backcourt guards Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars and small forward Dennis Rodman. He won back to back NBA Championships in 1989 and 1990 with the Pistons, and was named an NBA All-Star four times. Prior to the NBA, he played for the University of Notre Dame and Palos Verdes High School in Southern California.
After his playing career, Laimbeer served as the head coach and general manager of the Detroit Shock in the WNBA from 2002 to 2009, coaching the team to three league championships in 2003, 2006, and 2008. He was the head coach of the New York Liberty from 2013 to 2017, and has been the head coach of the Las Vegas Aces since 2018. He has twice been named the WNBA's Coach of the Year.

Andre Drummond

Andre Jamal Drummond (born August 10, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the 2012 NBA draft with the ninth overall pick. A two-time NBA All-Star, he has led the league in rebounding four times and also been named to the All-NBA Third Team.

Rasheed Wallace

Rasheed Abdul Wallace (born September 17, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player who played 16 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A native of Philadelphia, Wallace played college basketball at the University of North Carolina before moving on to the NBA in 1995.
Originally selected by the Washington Bullets (now known as the Washington Wizards) as the fourth pick in the 1995 NBA draft, Wallace was named to the All-Rookie second team following his first season. He was then traded to the Portland Trail Blazers after the season. With Portland he was a key member of the Trail Blazers team that made it to the Western Conference Finals in 1999 and 2000, and was an NBA All-Star in 2000 and 2001. Wallace averaged a career best 19.4 points per game in 2002 for the Trail Blazers.
During the 2003–04 season Portland traded him to the Atlanta Hawks where he played one game before he was traded to the Detroit Pistons. With the Pistons, Wallace won the NBA championship in 2004, but lost the NBA Finals in the following season. Individually, Wallace was an NBA All-Star in 2006 and 2008. After the 2008–09 season, Wallace left the Pistons as a free agent and signed with the Boston Celtics, where he played until retiring in 2010. He returned to sign a one-year deal to play for the New York Knicks in 2012. On April 17, 2013, Wallace announced his second retirement.
Wallace holds the single-season record for technical fouls. In the 2000–01 season, Wallace received 41 technical fouls over a span of 80 games, about one technical foul for every two games.

Rick Mahorn

Derrick Allen Mahorn (born September 21, 1958) is an American retired National Basketball Association (NBA) player who played power forward and center. He is currently a radio analyst for the Detroit Pistons  and works as a co-host/analyst on SiriusXM NBA Radio.
Mahorn was dubbed by Piston announcer George Blaha the "Baddest Bad Boy of them all." Mahorn gained a reputation for physical play, which he used to compensate for his relatively limited leaping ability. He served as a team leader of the Detroit Bad Boys teams of the late 1980s, winning his only NBA Championship in 1989 along with captain Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, and Dennis Rodman among others.

Chris Webber

Mayce Edward Christopher Webber III (born March 1, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player. He is a five-time NBA All-Star, a five-time All-NBA Team member, a former NBA Rookie of the Year, and a former number one overall NBA draftee. As a collegiate athlete, he was a first-team All-American and led the Michigan Wolverines' 1991 incoming freshman class known as the Fab Five that reached the 1992 and 1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship games as freshmen and sophomores. However, Webber was indicted by a federal grand jury and stripped of his All-American honors by the NCAA as a result of his direct involvement in the Ed Martin scandal. He is also a former National High School Basketball Player of the Year who led his high school Detroit Country Day to three Michigan State High School Basketball Championships, but never won any national championship in college or the NBA.

Bob McAdoo

Robert Allen McAdoo (born September 25, 1951) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played 14 seasons in the  National Basketball Association (NBA), where he was a five-time NBA All-Star and named the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1975. He won two NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers during their Showtime era in the 1980s. In 2000, McAdoo was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
McAdoo played at the center and power forward positions. In his 21-season playing career, he spent 14 seasons in the NBA and his final seven in the Lega Basket Serie A in Italy. McAdoo is one of the few players who have won both NBA and the FIBA European Champions Cup (EuroLeague) titles as a player. He later won three more NBA titles in 2006, 2012 and 2013 as an assistant coach with the Miami Heat.

Antonio McDyess

Antonio Keithflen McDyess (born September 7, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player. Listed at  6'9" (2.06 m) and 245 lb (111 kg), McDyess played as a power forward.

Otis Thorpe

Otis Henry Thorpe (born August 5, 1962) is an American retired professional basketball player who played for several teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was an NBA All-Star in 1992 and won an NBA championship with the Houston Rockets in 1994.

Walt Bellamy

Walter Jones Bellamy (July 24, 1939 – November 2, 2013) was an American professional basketball player. A four-time NBA All-Star, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Greg Monroe

Gregory Keith Monroe Jr. (born June 4, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for Bayern Munich of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) and the EuroLeague. In his freshman season at Georgetown University, Monroe was named Big East Rookie of the Year. He was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the 2010 NBA draft with the seventh overall pick and became the last Pistons player to wear the number 10 jersey, after the Pistons retired the number for Dennis Rodman at halftime of a game against the Chicago Bulls on April 1, 2011.

Walter Dukes

Walter F. Dukes (June 23, 1930 – March 13, 2001) was a center for the New York Knicks (1955–1956), Minneapolis Lakers (1956–1957) and Detroit Pistons (1957–1963).
Born  in Rochester, New York, Dukes played high school basketball at Seton Hall Preparatory School, and attended Seton Hall University. He graduated from New York Law School in 1960.Dukes helped the Lakers win the 1956–57 NBA Western Division in his second season.  While with the Pistons, he was named to the 1960 and 1961 NBA All-Star West Teams.  Dukes averaged double figures in rebounds in six of his eight seasons in the NBA, and had career averages of 11.3 rebounds per game and 10.4 points per game.
Dukes led the NBA in personal fouls in 1958 (311) and 1959 (332) and led the NBA in disqualifications four consecutive seasons between 1958–59 and 1961–62 — still an NBA record.  His 121 career disqualifications (in only eight seasons) rank second in the NBA to Vern Mikkelsen, and he holds the record for the highest career percentage of games fouled out (21.9%) for any player with over 400 games played.On March 14, 2001, Dukes was found dead in his apartment in Detroit, Michigan. According to a police spokesman, he had been dead for about a month when his body was found. He died of natural causes, aged 70.

Joe Strawder

Joe Tom Strawder (September 21, 1940 – August 24, 2005) was an American former professional basketball player born in Belle Glade, Florida.
A 6'10" center from Bradley University where he played with Levern Tart, Strawder played three seasons (1965–1968) in the National Basketball Association as a member of the Detroit Pistons. He averaged 8.6 and 9.9 rebounds in his career.

Bob Ferry

Robert Dean Ferry (born May 31, 1937) is an American retired basketball player and executive.
A 6'8" center from Saint Louis University, Ferry was selected by the St. Louis Hawks with the seventh pick of the 1959 NBA draft. Ferry played ten seasons in the NBA with the Hawks, Detroit Pistons and Baltimore Bullets, scoring 5,780 points and grabbing 3,343 rebounds. After his playing career ended, he became an assistant coach and later general manager for the Bullets, winning an NBA Championship in 1978 and the NBA Executive of the Year Award in 1979 and 1982. He later had a brief stint on The NBA on NBC as an "Insider" alongside Peter Vescey in the early 1990s.Ferry's son Danny had a thirteen-year NBA playing career and later was general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks.

Otto Moore

Otto George Moore (born August 27, 1946) is a retired American professional basketball player.
A 6'11" center from the University of Texas-Pan American, Moore played nine seasons (1968–1977) in the National Basketball Association as a member of the Detroit Pistons, Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets, Kansas City–Omaha Kings, and New Orleans Jazz. He averaged 8.2 points and 8.2 rebounds in his NBA career and ranked eighth in blocks per game (1.7) during the 1975–76 NBA season.

Ray Scott

John Raymond "Ray" Scott (born July 12, 1938) is a retired American basketball player and coach.

Leon Douglas

Leon Douglas (born August 26, 1954) is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the NBA and other leagues. A 6–10 ft, 230 lb center at the University of Alabama, he was a four-time All-Southeastern Conference selection, the first Alabama player to achieve this distinction since Jerry Harper earned it in 1953–1956.
Douglas was Alabama's first first round NBA Draft pick, selected fourth overall by the Detroit Pistons in 1976. Douglas played four years with the Pistons, then joined the Kansas City Kings from 1980 to 1983. Douglas was also a member of the Gold Medal 1976 United States Pan American Team that played in Mexico City. He played in the Italian league for more than a decade. Douglas' career led to his induction into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.
Douglas spent the 2004–2006 seasons as the Head Men's Basketball Coach at Stillman College, where he led the Tigers to the 2005–2006 SIAC Tournament Championship, advancing to the NCAA DII basketball tournament. Douglas led the Tuskegee University basketball program as the head men's basketball coach from 2006–2014. He led the Golden Tigers to success as his team were champions of the south region and advanced to the elite eight, the furthest an SIAC school has ever advanced in the NCAA Division II basketball tournament. Douglas resigned in August 2014. He is currently the men's basketball coach at Miles College, another SIAC institution. His SIAC Coaching Career ended April 2018 at Miles College after his 3rd season as the Men's Head Basketball Coach.

Christian Laettner

Christian Donald Laettner (, LAYT-nər; born August 17, 1969) is a retired American basketball player whose Hall of Fame career for the Duke Blue Devils is widely regarded as one of the best in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) history. He was the star player on the back-to-back National Championship teams of 1991 and 1992, and the NCAA player of the year in his senior year. He is particularly famous for his game-winning shot against Kentucky in the 1992 tournament and for the hatred he received from opposing fans.
Laettner was the only collegian selected for the elite "Dream Team" that dominated the 1992 Olympics; the team is enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was drafted third overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves, then played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for six teams. The highlight was being selected for the 1997 All-Star Game while with the Atlanta Hawks.

Olden Polynice

Olden Polynice (born November 21, 1964) is a Haitian former professional basketball player. He played center for the Seattle SuperSonics, Los Angeles Clippers, Detroit Pistons, Sacramento Kings, and Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Larry Foust

Lawrence Michael Foust (June 24, 1928 – October 27, 1984) was an American basketball player who spent 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and was an 8-time All-Star.

Mel Hutchins

Melvin R. Hutchins (November 22, 1928 – December 19, 2018) was an American basketball player. He played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1951 to 1958. Hutchins was selected by the Tri-Cities Blackhawks with the second pick in the 1951 NBA draft and was a four-time NBA All-Star.

Reggie Harding

Reginald Harding (May 4, 1942 – September 2, 1972) was an American professional basketball player. Drafted in 1962 by the Detroit Pistons, Harding is noted as the first player drafted into the NBA without having played in college. Harding spent five years in the NBA, playing for the Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls and later the Indiana Pacers. Harding also played for the Trenton Colonials, which were a part of the Continental Basketball Association.

Kent Benson

Michael Kent Benson (born December 27, 1954) is a retired American collegiate and professional basketball player. Having had a prolific career during the 1970s and 1980s, he scored a career high of 38 points, playing college basketball and later spending 11 seasons in the NBA for four teams. Benson was the No. 1 overall pick of the 1977 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks.

Joe Smith

Joseph Leynard Smith (born July 26, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player who played at power forward position for 12 teams of the NBA during his 16-year career.
Born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, Smith was the College Player of the Year at Maryland in 1995 and the No. 1 pick of that season's NBA draft, picked by the Golden State Warriors. He was named to the 1995–96 All-Rookie team. Smith was mobile throughout his career, as he was one of the most traded players in league history. In 1998, Smith was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers; he then played for the Minnesota Timberwolves (with a midway pitstop for the Detroit Pistons) until 2003. He later played for the Milwaukee Bucks, the Denver Nuggets, the 76ers again, the Chicago Bulls, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Atlanta Hawks, the New Jersey Nets, and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Big fan of Detroit basketball? Then check out this list of Detroit Pistons centers with photos and seasons played with the team.&nbsp;It includes almost every ...