Luke Waltons Forehead presented by the Sports Dude.

(I meant to post this a couple days ago but got busy. Yes, I know the basketball season is over and there is more in sports going on. But I have this post and one other one that I would like to put up all the same. Next week we will start looking towards football as dead time in sports is over and the real shit begins! Thanks for your patience - the sports dude.)

Up until recently I thought the “D” in Detroit Basketball was for Detroit, or maybe it was for defense since that is what the team hangs its hat on. But, after further contemplation, I realize that the “D” actually stands for one thing and one thing only – “Davidson”.

Yes, the “D” is for the owner, the head honcho, the grey haired billionaire who many simply call “Mr. D”. See, there’s that darn “D” again, right there smack in our faces even in the mans nickname. Let it be known that, if there is any doubt about who has the final say in the Pistons organization about team decisions, especially after this LB mess, is anyone other than Mr. D himself, you are truly blind. I seriously feel that someday down the road, after Mr. D is gone and Joe Dumars is in a retirement home somewhere that Joe may secretly whisper to someone that he really wished LB had stayed. But he knows better than to cross Mr. D., so he knew that he had to start looking past LB and on to the teams’ fourth coach in the past five years.

It is pretty clear to me, as well as it should be to just about everyone else by now, that Mr. D demands loyalty from the people he employs. He was pissed that LB said awhile back that coaching the Knicks would be his “dream job”. All though I feel that statement was taken slightly out of context, Mr. D saw it as a slap in the face – shouldn’t his Pistons be your dream job? Or any coaches dream job for that matter? He was upset with the all too close flirtation with the Cavs, whom all but had the contract written for LB. But, correct me if I am wrong here, did the Pistons not give the Cavs permission to speak to LB and/or his agent? Next, Mr. D was sick of hearing LB’s name being mentioned as a candidate for every head coaching position that opened up in the NBA. Finally, to paraphrase his own words, Mr. D just felt there was too much Larry and not enough Pistons.

NEWS FLASH!!!! STOP THE PRESSES!!!! When you guys hired him two years ago did you forget to do the background check? Call some references? Read his damn resume? This is Larry Brown, remember guys? The man is a nomad, a gypsy, a wanderer, a NBA coaching whore! If he were to get frequent flyer miles for all the places he has traveled in the NBA he would have a monopoly on frequent flier miles by now! Seriously guys, you knew what you were getting into two years ago when you hired him; it is the luggage that comes with the man. Quite frankly, I just think it was more than Mr. D ever dreamt it would be. I truly believe Mr. D was just surprised, maybe even thrown back a little, overwhelmed and quite frankly had seen enough. Joe Dumars just had to go along for the ride, unless he wanted to join LB on that bus out of town.

I have no problem with Mr. D did, he owns the team, he signs the damn checks, and he has every right to do whatever the hell he wants. He was fed up with it and felt that it was a necessary thing to move on. The only problem I have is with the decision he made to open his mouth and call LB a “bad person”. That was a cheap shot and an unnecessary blow that did not need to be made. Mr. D owes LB an apology for making those comments; there was no reason for it. The man got those guys to “play the right way”, got them a title last year and within minutes of a repeat this year. Maybe there were some people, from the players to the people in the front office that were tired of what seemed like a never ending wandering eye. I guarantee you that at least every one of those players (except for maybe Darko or Delfino!) if not loved but liked him and for sure respected the hell out of him. There would not have been a title without him, the Pistons would not have returned to elite status without him and all this success would have just remained a dream. So say you fired him because of the drama, because of the wandering eye, but not because he is a “bad person”. Sorry Mr. D, but for that you are wrong – what are you going to do, fire me now?

Later - the sports dude.