Fans of Detroit Pistons Won’t Be Quick To Return Post NBA Lockout

There are talks of a charity exhibition game possibly on its way to Auburn Hills, Michigan or some radius closely intertwined with Detroit Pistons territory.

How many people knew that?

The Detroit Pistons have missed eight preseason games and will miss their fourth regular season game, two away games and two home games, Wednesday night. It was set to be a match in Golden State territory where after a slew of preseason matchups and little bit of regular season game play, we would see an emergence of Detroit’s Brandon Knight. He would have a great display against the Warriors and continue to give Pistons’ fans a renewed sense of hope in Detroit’s professional basketball organization.

The problem is that with the loss of so many games there is a loss of passion for a franchise, especially one that is not even stationed in the city it represents. The positioning of the Pistons’ home arena outside of the city of Detroit has always created a bit of a side stir, but the little things mean so much more now than ever.

The other professional sports franchises in the Detroit are emerging as postseason contenders and the Pistons are stuck twiddling their thumbs watching a revolution that they cannot take part in.

The NBA lockout is the worst thing to ever happen to the Pistons, if you discount John Kuester’s cancerous coaching stint in the lockerroom and on the sidelines. Coming off of a season that was plagued with so much turmoil and discontent, Pistons’ fans were forced to turn a blind eye.

The struggles became a little too hard to watch and the final straw may have been the Charlie Villanueva combustion in a short-lived altercation during a game against a Cleveland Cavaliers’ player. It signified so much more than just an on court squabble between men in tormented franchises. It showed the frustration of a city with a growing lack of patience for a once thriving organization.

The Detroit Pistons were once the pride of the city. But, the Detroit Lions are quickly and substantially taking over that light that once belong to an astonishing group of men under Joe Dumars that may not have always won at the highest level, but always had a chance.

The fans are starting to see a pattern in the Pistons that is making it far too easy to push the team into the depths of their mind.

The NBA lockout is handing off a distorted view of management and roster personnel that is not only discouraging to the common fan but just plain annoying. When talks first began breaking down throughout the summer and all team activities were continuously cancelled it struck a chord.

Fans would not be able to see the aftershocks of the NBA draft. There is a new head coach and a new owner in place and we were all at least kind of sort of excited to see a change in the overall attitude of everyone involved. The black cloud had been lifted and it was almost refreshing.

Now, a lot of people just don’t care anymore. The NFL season is underway and the parity has apparently wiped out much concern for the NBA. Why wouldn’t this happen? Why wasn’t this predicted? The NFL had a monumental growth spurt of rising stars added to many lineups and the swirling attention on Cam Newton in Charlotte alone is enough to distract any fan.

There are so many things happening in football that the curiosity of whether or not LeBron James and the Miami Heat will win a championship this year is dwindling in priority.  If people are starting to not care about LeBron, why would they continue to care about Richard Hamilton’s struggles and Rodney Stuckey’s deal on the table in China?

The Pistons are a franchise that primarily succeeds in relevance when they succeed on the court. Without any recent success to revert to or build a passion upon, fans can find it quite easy to just find something else to do while the owners and players sort out this mess they have created.

The lockout will provide irreparable harm to the league’s standing in everyone’s mind, especially in the event that an entire season is lost. The NBA may be restored in 2012, but how many pieces of a fan will be left when the dust settles?

Not many can remember why they cared so much in the first place. Forgetting games is only the beginning.