KCP DUI arrest shows Pistons lack of leadership

The Detroit Pistons have fallen short of expectations on and off the court this season. A leadership void needs to be filled if they’re to return to last year’s form

The Detroit Pistons season of disappointment finally reached its zenith following the arrest of shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on suspicion of DUI Wednesday morning. While Detroit seemed poised to begin a playoff run just a few weeks ago following their stirring 106-101 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, they’ve completely fallen apart since then. They’ve amassed a 3-8 record, including losses to some of the NBA’s worst teams, but have also seemed to be an organization in disarray off the court as well. In addition to KCP’s arrest, forward Stanley Johnson sent out this seemingly coded tweet following a loss to the New York Knicks on the 27th.

Detroit lacks a leader among their players who can not only teach the younger members of the Pistons how to carry themselves on the court, but off the court as well. Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith was notorious for his off-court lifestyle in New York, but has been conspicuously absent from negative headlines since joining LeBron James in Cleveland. Now, that might have something to do with the sizable difference in the cities respective nightlife scenes, but the influence of a player who knows what it takes to create a culture of success can’t be understated.

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The Memphis Grizzlies’ successful attempts at reaching the playoffs the past two years despite a shallow roster and losing both Marc Gasol and Mike Conley for significant lengths of time are a perfect example of when a team identity and culture become just as much a part of winning as the players on the floor. Pistons fans need look no further than their last title team to appreciate that.

The Pistons are 3-12 in back to backs this year, not counting tonight’s clash against the Milwaukee Bucks. They’re 2-10 in New York and Los Angeles the past two seasons. Even if they win every single game for the rest of the season, they’ll finish with three fewer wins than they did last year. A local talk station recently asked whether the Pistons were the “most unlikeable organization in town.” There’s a lot of reasons for that, many of them stemming from Reggie Jackson‘s injury to begin the season. But that doesn’t explain their inconsistency, their repetition of the same mistakes and their seeming inability to carry out the goals Stan Van Gundy sets for them on the court.

Many ex-players have stated how important a veteran who knew how to win was for their career. Shaquille O’Neal credits Horace Grant for teaching the Magic how to win, Charles Barkley says he looked up to Moses Malone for how to carry himself off the court. The Pistons don’t seem to have a true locker room leader. They don’t have someone who has been a significant part of a contending team and knows what it takes to get to the summit. They don’t have anyone who has hit big shots time and time again. They don’t have an aging ex-star who can teach their young players how to put in effort and consistency on a day to day basis. They don’t have a leader who sets the tone for how they play and how they carry themselves as a team, or even more importantly, as an organization.

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No player on the Pistons other than Drummond, KCP or Beno Udrih has ever spent more than three seasons in the same organization. Based on this summer’s free agent class, and the contract situations of most of the Pistons tradable assets, it seems highly possible that the Pistons will return next year with a fairly similar roster to this years. If Stan Van Gundy wants next year to be successful, he might want to focus on making roster decisions that aren’t blockbuster trades, but instead small moves towards improving the culture around the Pistons. In an NBA where a 40 year old Vince Carter can still be a difference maker, he’d be doing himself a disservice not to.