Stan Van Gundy isn’t going to rely on a dazzling new arena to burnish the image of the Pistons with NBA players. He knows what really sells free agents or makes the Pistons a welcome trade destination is a roster poised to contend for NBA titles.
But he fully grasps why the excitement level for Tuesday’s announced relocation of the Pistons to downtown Detroit and the new Little Caesars Arena was bouncing off the charts for anyone with a stake in the future of the city.
“I think Tom, this wasn’t a business decision for him,” he said of Pistons owner Tom Gores. “Tom has a great heart for the community, especially for Detroit, and wants to make an impact in Detroit and just felt the best way to do that was to have our team down there. All the benefits of being in a brand new arena and all of that certainly entered into it. But to be able to really make an impact in the city probably had the biggest impact.”
Van Gundy was also struck by how emotionally moved ex-Pistons with a link to the franchise’s roots at Cobo Arena were at news of their return.
“I think Dave Bing has made the point several times that even as opposed to the Tigers, the Lions, the Red Wings, basketball is a city game. His feeling was – and I think a lot of people’s – basketball more than any other sport belongs in the heart of the city. For Dave and those guys, it’s been 38 years since they’ve been down in the city. There’s a lot of excitement surrounding it and a really good day for Tom.”
The early buzz on Little Caesars Arena is that it will be as game changing for arenas of the next generation as The Palace was when it opened in 1988. Arenas that had recently opened or, in some cases, had yet to open but whose blueprints had been drawn up became obsolete nearly overnight for lack of the revenue-producing suites at strategic locations that was The Palace’s signature innovation.
Putting it in the heart of District Detroit – an entertainment-retail-residential district of 50 square blocks – is sure to prove another major step in the city’s already-burgeoning comeback.
“The one thing here – really, the only thing I’ve heard complaints about from people – is that there’s not enough around (The Palace) to do before and after,” Van Gundy said. “So I think having all that down there will be a good thing.”
He admitted he, his staff and team were a little less caught up in the excitement given the realities of their schedule and games coming tonight, Friday and Saturday. He knows the surest way to make the Pistons relevant – not just with their own fans, but nationally and as it relates to other NBA players – is to continue their ascent in the standings, stalled by the early-season absence of Reggie Jackson.
“Brand new arena, things like that are always attractive. I don’t want to overblow it too much in terms of free agency,” he said. “My experience is free agency, number one, comes down to money. When you get in those cases where the money is absolutely equal, like on max guys, some of it will be place to live and a lot of it will be who you have on your roster and gives them the best chance to win. I’m sure Kevin Durant was attracted to San Francisco and I think he was probably attracted to the fact that they’re building a new arena, but I think he was more attracted to Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. That would be my thought.”
In other words, when the Pistons move to Detroit next season, Stan Van Gundy wants to make sure fans are at least as dazzled by the team he trots out on the Little Caesars Arena hardwood as they are by the bells and whistles of a gleaming new arena.