Detroit Pistons: 5 unforgettable role players
Key Parts of Title Teams
Corliss Williamson
Big Nasty only played for the Detroit Pistons for four seasons but he made a big impact as a role player. Williamson won 6th Man of the Year for the Pistons in 2001-2, averaging 13.6 points and 4.1 rebounds off the bench for a team that won 50 games.
Williamson was a key part of the 2003-4 title team, again providing offense and toughness off the bench. Williamson might best be remembered for the number of fights that he got into, but he was a bucket and could carve teams up in the mid-range and post.
Lindsey Hunter
Hunter is one of my favorite Pistons of all time, a guy who played 12 seasons in Detroit as parts of two different eras.
I always felt Hunter was underrated, as he never made the All-Defensive team even though he was one of the best on-the-ball defenders in the league, a guy with a relentless motor who would hound opposing guards from end-to-end.
Hunter was also a underrated offensive player, as he averaged over 14 points per game in a season and had a four-year stretch for the Detroit where he averaged double digits and shot over 40 percent from 3-point range.
He wasn’t really a role player under he returned to Detroit for the 2003-2008 seasons, when he was more of a defensive specialist and not a guy who took many shots. Hunter would usually be brought in to slow down the other team’s point guard or to try to get in his head, and he was a key player on the 2004 championship team even though he didn’t play big minutes.