Pistons' win gives the owner championships with three teams.
By wire services
Published June 16, 2004
DETROIT - In the fog of a recent playoff victory, Rasheed Wallace walked out of the Pistons' locker room toward Joe Dumars.
"How about them Pistons?" shouted Wallace, who gave Dumars a hug.
Well, how about 'em? In the heady world of Bill Davidson's sports empire, they're his third championship team.
The Shock is the defending WNBA champion. The Lightning won the Stanley Cup.
And now the Pistons have won the NBA championship.
"I don't know that it gets any better," Palace president Tom Wilson said. "But it's a fantasy, almost. You're really looking at the best combination of three things. The stars have to align. The teams have to come together at the same time."
The ascent of each team has been surprising. In the spring of 2001, the Pistons finished 32-50, the Lightning had the second-worst record in the NHL and the Shock was on its way to a tie for the worst record in the league.
"The Lightning, well, they weren't the worst team in hockey, we had improved their record, but they were still bad," Wilson said. "This (Pistons) team was out of the playoffs. And the Shock were absolutely on their deathbed."
What were the chances three teams with such abysmal records would reach the top of their leagues in three years? Not good.
The teams were crafted by different men - Dumars with the Pistons, Bill Laimbeer with the Shock and Jay Feaster with the Lightning - but they all have the same workingman's attitude.
Dumars, Laimbeer and Feaster each looked for toughness first. These days, most sports executives look for talent first, figuring that toughness will come. Apparently the old-school recipe works.
