Detroit Pistons’ all-time starting lineup by win shares

You wouldn’t know it by the last 15 years, but the Detroit Pistons have won the 7th-most games in NBA history and their three titles are tied for 5th all time.

The 80’s and 90’s saw sustained runs of success for the Bad Boys and the Detroit Pistons owned the mid to late 2000’s as well.

But who was most responsible for those wins?

To take a break from the draft and free agency talk, we took a look at the Pistons’ all-time leaders in win shares on both sides of the ball and put together a starting lineup.

If you aren’t familiar, here’s a breakdown of what win shares actually are, but to keep it simple, it’s just a way to divide credit for a team win amongst individual players.

Not surprisingly, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, LeBron James, Wilt Chamberlain, Karl Malone and Michael Jordan are the top five in the history of the game, but what about the Detroit Pistons?

Let’s start with offense, where there are some big surprises.

Detroit Pistons’ all-time starting lineup by win shares

Offensive Win Shares

The top five Pistons in offensive win shares may surprise you, as it doesn’t include Isiah Thomas, arguably the franchise’s greatest offensive player.

Here’s the top five and their total offensive win shares:

• Joe Dumars: 63.1
• Bob Lanier: 62.4
• Chauncey Billups: 54
• Bill Laimbeer: 51.7
• Bailey Howell: 42.9

Dumars had the longevity with Detroit to top the list of offensive win shares.

The two big surprises on the list are Bill Laimbeer, who is mostly known as an enforcer, a reputation that really ignores how good he was on both sides. Laimbeer was a pioneer of the stretch-five and his shooting and offensive rebounding were a big part of the Pistons’ offense.

Bailey Howell is a name most young fans aren’t familiar with, as he played in the early 60’s to the 70’s, but he was a six-time All-Star who averaged 18.7 points for his career.

Two names you would have expected to be near the top (Isiah Thomas and Dave Bing) finished 6th and 7th, respectively.