The greatest Detroit Pistons of all time by height
Detroit Pistons: Greatest player at each height
6’3″
Joe Dumars
Joe Dumars, Chauncey Billups, or Dave Bing? Wow. What a choice. First off, I’m going to eliminate Bing. Sure, becoming Mayor of Detroit is something that neither Dumars nor Billups was able to do, but Bing wasn’t able to win the big games. His 22.6 ppg and 6.4 apg averages across nine (mostly terrible) seasons of Pistons basketball was very good; it just wasn’t good enough for him to go down as the greatest Piston ever who stood 6’3″.
That leaves us with Joe Dumars and Chauncey Billups. They are two of the most extraordinary professional athletes Detroit has ever been able to call their own, and two of my favorite players.
Related Story. Joe Dumars was a bridge to three eras of Detroit basketball. light
Dumars spent his entire career in Detroit. Joe D.’s 16.1 ppg and 4.5 apg betray his offensive excellence. Remember, he was a Bad Boy, and Bad Boys sacrificed. Those teams were deep. During the ’92-’93 season, when Dumars was 29 years old, he found himself excelling as his aging teammates declined. That year, Broadway Joe scored 23.5 ppg, a career high. He won two NBA championships, earning Finals MVP in the first one by going off for 27.3 ppg in the Pistons’ sweep of the Lakers. The league honored him by naming its sportsmanship award after him, and making him its first recipient. Whether or not its fair to give him bonus points for being the architect of the 2003-’04 championship is difficult to say, as by then he was 41 years old and may have shrunk a bit.
Chauncey Billups was also phenomenal, and if he were an inch shorter or an inch taller, he’d be on this list. Mr. Big Shot was in Detroit for 8 seasons, and averaged 16.5 ppg and 6.5 apg. He also managed to capture a Finals MVP award as he scored 21 points a night, added 5.7 assists and 3.5 rebounds.
At the end of the day, Dumars did it first and Dumars did it better, although Billups clutch shooting goes unquestioned. Interestingly, he wore #4 on his jersey while playing for the Celtics, Nuggets and Timberwolves prior to signing with the Pistons, for who he wore the #1 as at The Palace of Auburn Hills #4 was busy hanging from the rafters in honor of Joe Dumars.