Who is most to blame for the Detroit Pistons disaster of a season?

Tom Gores

The Detroit Pistons haven't won a playoff game since the Barack Obama administration, and while Gores wasn't owner for all of that time, he is the common denominator of their futility since 2011.

He has often gotten credit for "staying of the way" and for "hiring good basketball people" even though every coach and GM he's been through has been an abject failure.

He has stayed out of the way until it is time to make a pivotal decision and then his fingerprints have been all over the wrong ones. He's chased star coaches instead of star players, ignoring his "basketball people" in the process.

When he has chased players, they've been the wrong ones, as he was behind Andre Drummond's puzzling max contract and the decision to trade for Blake Griffin.

You can blame coaches, GMs and players but ultimately finger pointing has to start at the top with the guy who has been here longer than any of them and hasn't won anything.

Imagine owning a professional sports team for 13 seasons and not winning a single playoff game. It would be difficult if you tried given the parity that is now ingrained into pro sports.

Unfortunately, blaming the owner won't do much, as he's not even around to hear it. As much as Tom Gores talks about "the community," he spends painfully little time in it, as he lives in LA and is more likely to pop up at Crypto.Com Arena than at LCA.

So the "Sell the team" chants are raining down on the wrong people and will continue to as long as Gores owns the team. He's good for a few press conferences and appearances per season but outside of that, he seems checked out.

The best part of this season is that it is nearly over, another wasted year for fans of the Detroit Pistons, who went from cheering to one of the most successful teams in the NBA to wondering how we became a laughingstock.