The Detroit Pistons was founded by Fred Zollner, owner of Zollner Corporation which manufactured pistons for cars, trucks and locomotive engines and was the inspiration for the name, the Pistons. Prior to becoming members of the NBA, the Pistons were originally the Fort Wayne Pistons and were members of the BAA. In 1949, team owner Zollner was one of the main brokers of the formation of the NBA from the BAA and NBL merging. The team was the home of the all star forward George Yardley and during the era of the Fort Wayne Pistons, the team was a wildly popular franchise that appeared in the NBA Finals in both 1955 and 1956. Despite the popularity, it was believed that the players of the team itself had joined forces with gamblers to both shave points and throw games, including the 1955 NBA Finals.

The Fort Wayne Pistons saw much popularity and the small size of their home city made it difficult for them to prosper so in 1957 Zollner made the decision to move the team to Detroit, a substantially larger city that had not seen professional basketball in nearly a decade. The previous professional team was the Detroit Gems which belonged to the NBL. The brand new Detroit Pistons home court was located inside Olympia Stadium which they shared with the NHL team the Detroit Red Wings during this time. During their first few seasons, the team saw little success and struggled greatly both in the box office and on the court.

The 1990s were a good time for the Detroit Pistons. After getting settled in the NBA, the team made great strides and the team had a great chance to rebuild and show the NBA what they were made of. From 1994 through 1999, Grant Hill, a very promising forward was recruited and was a great fit for the team. During this time the team also changed their team colors from their classic red, white and blue to teal, burgundy, gold and black which proved to be a frowned upon by most fans.  Grant Hill helped spur Detroit Pistons ticket sales. 

In the 2000s, previous player Joe Dumars was appointed the Piston's president of basketball operations where he quickly faced struggle when Grant Hill chose to leave the team to play for the Orlando Magic. Despite the loss of a great player, Dumars smartly worked a deal for sign and trade with Orlando that brought Ben Wallace and Chucky Atkins in exchange for Grant Hill. With 20/20 hindsight, the Pistons got the better part of this trade because both Wallace and Atkins quickly became starting players and Wallace became an All-Star in the coming years while Hill played just shy of 50 games in the following four seasons because of a persistent ankle injury.

Also during this time, the Pistons achieved their first 50-win season since the late 1990s and their first playoff series victory since 1991. The roster was revamped in 2002 to include free agent Chauncey Billups, the acquisition of Richard "Rip" Hamilton from the Washington Wizards and the draft of Tayshaun Prince of Kentucky. The team again hit 50-wins in the 2003 season and went to the 2003 Eastern Conference Finals where they took home a win.  Pistons Tickets are available anytime.  Just click on the "buy tickets" link below.