Detroit Pistons: Patience is key for Pistons’ fans

After attending the Detroit Pistons‘ NBA Draft Party at Little Caesar’s Arena, you would have thought they had already won the NBA championship.

Walking into the venue,  complete strangers would scream “Let’s Go Pistons!”, “We got Cade!”, and “DEEEETTTROOOITTTT!” of course answered by another stranger “BASKETBALL!” As a Piston fan still in college, I haven’t had that much to cheer for over the recent years. I, vaguely, remember going to games in 2004-2007, back at the most recent peak of Pistons basketball.

I know the energy was great back then and, with how fired up this city is for a draft pick, I can only imagine the energy of the first playoff game at the LCA.

Detroit Pistons: It’s a new era, but only the beginning

The once mighty sports city of Detroit, Michigan has now found itself suffering with all four major sports teams amid long rebuilds at the same time, perhaps the cost of three of the four teams having big playoff runs in the 2000’s and early 2010’s.

Adding onto my experience at the LCA on draft night, I was fortunate enough to go to the Tigers game against Shohei Ohtani and the Angels, hoping to watch Miguel Cabrera’s 500th home run.

At that game, the atmosphere was that of a World Series contest.

Ohtani, the Japanese phenom who can both pitch and hit on an elite level, was up against the re-building Tigers and Cabrera chasing history, a recipe for a near sold-out crowd and a playoff atmosphere.

This adds to my overall point, Detroit is starving for a contending team in any of the four major sports (We realize the soccer team did well, congrats). While I understand the combination of anticipation/frustration towards the lack of meaningful games, and playoff appearances in the last decade, we must continue to be patient, especially with the young Pistons, who currently have an average age of 23 on their current 20-man roster.