Detroit, MI
Detroit Pistons revel in moment after clinching playoffs: ‘It’s a big deal’
Analyzing Ausar Thompson’s development this season
Omari, Bryce, and friend of the pod Laz Jackson talks Ausar Thompson’s developments of offense this year.
TORONTO — All season, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and the Detroit Pistons have taken a game-by-game approach. They have stacked milestone win after milestone win amid one of the best rebuilding seasons in NBA history, and haven’t taken much time to acknowledge it.
The celebrations, for the most part, have been muted.
“Our guys are focused on night in and night out,” Bickerstaff said on March 28, after his team snapped a 12-game losing streak to the Cleveland Cavaliers to clinch the franchise’s first winning record since 2015-16. It has been a common refrain for him, whenever he’s been asked about the team’s success: “I did not know that was a thing. I don’t know if our guys did or not. Our guys just focus on the task at hand and that’s where we’ve been able to find consistency.”
Friday was different, though. The Pistons (43-34) pulled off their most significant regular-season win in nearly two decades, clinching a top-six playoff seed for the first time since 2008 with a 117-105 road win over the Toronto Raptors.
The magnitude of this moment almost defies description. Last season, the Pistons had a franchise-worst 14 wins, suffered an NBA-record 28-game losing streak and seemingly suffered from an incurable sense of low morale and an unclear vision of when, and how, the team would get back-on-track.
There was no denying it after Friday’s victory, though — it’s an amazing, surreal, accomplishment, and one they took a moment to relish with only five games remaining in the season.
“It’s a big deal for the group,” Bickerstaff said. “I’ll be honest with you. We typically don’t take time to reflect on where we are, but this is an opportunity for this group to reflect on where it is, where it’s come from and what they’ve been able to accomplish together. To turn it around the way that they have, to put themselves in this position to play in the postseason, it’s a big deal.
“Whatever it is that we’ve asked them to do, they just go out there and try to get it done. Finding the consistency, the belief in one another. It’s a big deal for this group for sure.”
This is, perhaps, the Pistons team that has embraced the franchise’s blue-collar attitude in recent memory. Their strong chemistry has been evident since early in the season. They’ve become devoted to physical play. Since Jan. 1, they’ve been a top-three defensive team. All the core tenants of every great Pistons team has been present in this group.
They have a long road ahead to live up to the Bad Boys and Goin’ To Work eras, though.
And they know it, as Jalen Duren said after Friday’s win.
“It’s just grit,” he said. “We say grit all the time, we say togetherness, we’ve got a lot of key words that built our culture from day one that we say every time we break the huddle. I feel like we just locked in on those and got us to this point. We’re not done yet. We’re going to take a moment to enjoy what we accomplished, but it’s so many milestones and the real goal is obviously to bring a championship back to the city. It’s a milestone. First step.”
Malik Beasley called this group’s potential early in the season. After they fell to 0-3 with a loss to the Boston Celtics on Oct. 26, the well-traveled guard, who signed a one-year deal in the offseason, said the team was “right there” as far as figuring out how to consistently win games.
The season began to turn around in December. After falling to 11-17 in mid-December, the Pistons won three consecutive road games out west (over the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings). They went on to win eight of nine, and 10 of 12, to pull two games above .500 (21-19) with a road win over the New York Knicks.
Beasley and the team’s other veterans — Tobias Harris, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Paul Reed — have given this team a higher floor. Cade Cunningham’s leap to superstardom, along with Bickerstaff’s Coach of the Year-caliber work and improvements from the rest of the young core, have enabled this group to surpass all expectations.
“I’ve been on lots of teams on both ends of the spectrum,” Beasley said on Oct. 26. “Championship teams, growing and building teams. My main role is to show the guys every day that if we got the win tonight, it matters but we’ve got a lot of work to do. Rome wasn’t built in one day. I just look to continue to keep building.
“It might seem like we’re 0-3, but I feel like we’re right there. I’m not just saying that because I’m here. I’ve been through struggles in the NBA, and we’re right there. The chemistry is really good, the camaraderie is really good, we still have a lot of energy.”
The Pistons are playoff-bound. The goal posts will now shift toward winning a championship — the ultimate goal of any franchise. It no longer seems like a pipe dream.
“Coach has done a great job with us,” Beasley said Friday. “For some reason, whatever happened in Cleveland, we’re thankful for that because it gave him an opportunity to help us out. Everything happens for a reason. I could’ve signed back in Milwaukee, Tim did it in Dallas. Everything happens for a reason.
“It’s given me vibes of like an OKC, Cleveland team. The NBA is turning back to full teams. We’ve got one superstar on our team. That’s the type of basketball that we love and have each other’s back, and that’s what we’re doing.”
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Detroit’s QLINE streetcar system: Quick facts to know
Detroit’s QLINE streetcar system offers a 3.3-mile ride along Woodward Avenue, connecting key downtown and midtown destinations with a modern, battery-powered transit option.
More than a decade ago, a juror in a Detroit public corruption trial that ended with three men getting convicted in a $97 million bribery scheme exclaimed: “Hopefully this is the end of this nightmare … this is a whole new beginning.”
It didn’t quite go that way as the following years saw two city councilmen indictments, a dozen school principal bribery convictions, a towing scandal, as well as a toxic dirt and demolition fiasco.
And now there’s this.
In a new criminal filing in U.S. District Court, a former city official in charge of the Detroit People Mover shuttle is charged with taking $300,000 in bribes from a businessmen who reportedly billed the city for work that was never performed — all with the help of his connected associate.
According to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday, June 2 in U.S. District Court, the alleged scheme involves 55-year-old Michael Anderson, a former director with the Detroit Transportation Corporation, who allegedly helped Detroit businessman Terrence Parker bill the city for nearly $305,000 in information technology work that was never performed.
Moreover, court records show, Parker’s company has no experience with IT work, but rather performs restoration work on homes damaged by storms and natural disasters. Still, the FBI says, Parker managed to submit 22 phony invoices to the DTC for IT work, including fixing computer monitors — and got paid for all of it. That’s because Anderson was approving his phony invoices from the inside, the government says, and getting money in exchange for his help.
Anderson and Parker both are charged with conspiracy and federal program theft/bribery and face up to 10 years in prison, if convicted. They were released on bond following their initial appearances in U.S. District Court. Their court-appointed lawyer could not be reached for comment.
According to the complaint, Anderson, who was hired by the city in 2022, was in charge of overseeing People Mover operations until he was fired in April for conduct unrelated to the pending criminal case. Parker owns a business called Total Care Restoration (TCR), which performs restoration work on homes damaged by fire, water, windstorms, or other elements.
According to the government, Parker was billing the DTC for information technology services, even though his company has no experience in that field, nor has it ever submitted a bid proposal to the city for such work, or signed any contract with the DTC.
Still, the government alleges, between 2023-25, the DTC paid nearly $305,000 to TCR for 23 invoices it had submitted, 22 of those invoices charged for IT services.
“Anderson approved the invoices and Parker deposited the checks into TCR’s bank account. TCR did not submit any invoices or receive any payments before Anderson was hired as Procurement Director. Likewise, TCR did not submit any invoices or receive any payments after Anderson was fired as Procurement Director,” the complaint states.
According to the government, Anderson did actually procure and manage IT contracts with a number of companies while he worked for the DTC. But TCR was billing the city for work that those companies had been contracted to do.
“At least six TCR invoices listed work that was actually contracted to (another company),” an FBI agent wrote in his affidavit attached to the criminal complaint.
Also noteworthy, the FBI agent writes: “Most of TCR’s invoices contained a charge for debris removal. In my experience, debris removal is a common line item for restoration projects but not for IT work.”
According to the complaint, the FBI figured out that Parker was funneling money to Anderson by reviewing their bank records, and noticing that their deposits and withdrawals coincided. For example, on Aug. 16, 2024, Parker deposited a DTC check for $23,934 and withdrew $18,000 cash. That same day and over the next several days, Anderson made cash deposits into his account for $1,500, $1,300, $1,000, $700 and $1,850.
“There is probable cause to believe that Parker paid Anderson a portion of the money from the TCR invoices,” the FBI agent writes.
Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com
Javier Báez hits home run in 2026 spring training with Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers shortstop Javier Báez talks to reporters during spring training February 27, 2026, at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida.
ST. PETERSBURG, FL – The Detroit Tigers shut down two of their shortstops on the injured list.
The biggest name?
Javier Báez.
The 33-year-old has been shut down from baseball activities after meeting with a specialist Monday, June 1, about the lack of progress in recovery from a right high ankle sprain, which he suffered April 28. (The Tigers also shut down Trey Sweeney, who has been sidelined with a right shoulder strain since spring training and needs further medical evaluation.)
“We’re still dissecting all the diagnoses and what’s going on with him,” manager A.J. Hinch said of Báez before Tuesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. “He’s just not progressing very quickly, and right now, rest is still part of the equation.”
The Tigers tried to start Báez’s return-to-play progression with running, hitting and fielding drills.
He still felt symptoms of the high ankle sprain.
“I’m not a doctor,” Hinch said, “but I understand it watching Javy go through a very slow process of the swelling and the bleeding and all the things that go on inside that type of sprain.”
How long until Báez returns to baseball activities?
The timeline is unknown.
He isn’t expected to need surgery, which means he should return at some point after the All-Star break in 2026.
“From what I was told, we’re on the right path and everything is going well,” Hinch said. “These are just really tricky. The path that we’re on, we’re just going to go slow. Baseball activity is going to slow down because we’ve got to make sure we’re taking care of the symptoms.”
Before the injury, Báez played in 24 games for the Tigers, hitting .256 with two home runs, two walks and 16 strikeouts. The injury occurred while running to first base against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park, as he tried to avoid a tag with an awkward slide.
The 13-year MLB veteran’s contract with the Tigers runs until November 2027. He is in the penultimate season of a six-year, $140 million contract from December 2021.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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