If you named long shot NBA bets at the beginning of the 2024-25 season, the Detroit Pistons making the playoffs would have been at the top of the list.
We all know the timeline by now, Detroit had been the worst team in the NBA for a long time and was off a franchise-worst season of 14 wins that included a 28-game losing streak.
To make the playoffs outright just a year later was a miraculous turnaround that required everyone from the front-office to the back-of-the-bench guys to buy-in, and they have.
As fun as this season has been, the story isn’t over yet, as the Pistons still have five games to try and hold onto the 5th seed, which would set up a first-round matchup with the Pacers.
The Pacers are healthy and playing well, but landing the 5th seed would ensure that the Pistons would avoid the Celtics in the second round if both teams were to advance.
The Pistons shouldn’t be satisfied with just making it, nor should they try to cruise into the playoffs, as there is still plenty at stake and they want to get to the most important games in years playing well, on a roll and with everyone healthy.
It’s been six years since the Pistons last made the playoffs, which made me wonder how much had changed in the lives of fans who have been in the trenches with this team for over half a decade.
Where were you the last time the Detroit Pistons made the playoffs?
It’s been six long years since Detroit made an appearance in the postseason, and a whole lot has changed in the world and likely in your own life.
Many of you were in high school and have now graduated college. Some of you were in middle school. Some of you have since retired. We've all been through a pandemic.
The last time the Pistons made the playoffs I was a single man living in Ecuador working at an environmental science university in the Amazon rain forest. I had only met my now-wife in passing.
Little did I know that in eight months I would write my first article about the Pistons, that I would eventually get married and move to Ireland.
I had barely met my wife when the Pistons were last in the playoffs, and we are about to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. The passport I renewed to get my visa is now more than halfway to being expired.
There were very few teams in professional sports whose futility could be measured in such major life shifts.
But with a smart front office, the right head coach and young players that are only going to get better, this type of success should be sustainable, and hopefully we won’t have to dig so deep into our personal histories to mark the years they were good.
I’m curious how your life has changed since the Pistons were last in the postseason, so drop a comment on X and let’s get a thread going.