Earl Cureton enters his seventh season with the Detroit Pistons as a community ambassador where he works to raise awareness for Come Together programs, such as Game Changers which celebrates those making an impact in the community, and NBA League sponsored programs.

Prior to joining the Pistons community efforts, Cureton spent the last five seasons as a WNBA assistant coach with the Phoenix Mercury (2012-13), Charlotte Sting (2005-06) and Detroit Shock in 2009, where he worked under Pistons Bad Boy Rick Mahorn.

A 12-year NBA veteran, Cureton was originally drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 58th overall pick in the 1979 NBA Draft. Known as “The Twirl”, the 6-9 forward was a part of two NBA championship teams, the 76ers in 1982-83 and the Houston Rockets in 1993-94. Cureton also played three seasons with the Detroit Pistons (1983-86, where he averaged 5.9 points in 234 games) and spent time with the Chicago Bulls, LA Clippers, Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors.

A basketball journeyman, Cureton has made coaching stops in the NBA, United States Basketball League and Continental Basketball Association following his retirement from the NBA in 1997. He was an also assistant coach with the ABA’s Long Beach Jam in 2004, alongside coaching legend Paul Westhead. When Westhead left to become an assistant for the Orlando Magic, Cureton took over as head coach and led the Jam to an ABA Championship.

Cureton played collegiately at Division I Robert Morris University before transferring to University of Detroit Mercy for his final two seasons under head coach Dick Vitale. Fulfilling a life-long dream 30 years later, Cureton went back to U of D and earned his college degree in Human Services and was awarded his Bachelor of Science in 2011. A native Detroiter, Cureton prepped at Finney High School.

Rick Mahorn begins his 18th season as a color analyst for the Pistons radio broadcast network in 2018-19. Mahorn brings his extensive NBA experience and joins George Blaha and Mark Champion to deliver insightful commentary during all 82 regular-season games.

Following an 18-year NBA playing career, Mahorn served as head coach of the Rockford Lightning of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) for the 1999-00 season. He led the Lightning to a 15-7 overall record and the American Conference title, which earned them a No. 2 seed in the 2000 CBA Playoffs. Mahorn’s coaching excellence was recognized in two CBA Coach-of-the-Month Awards. He then joined the coaching staff of the Atlanta Hawks under Lon Kruger during the 2001-02 season.

In 2005, Mahorn joined the Detroit Shock coaching staff, helping take the team to a seventh straight playoff appearance and third WNBA Championship. In 2009, three games into the WNBA season, Mahorn took over the head coaching position after Bill Laimbeer resigned and led the Shock to the Eastern Conference Finals in its last season in Detroit before relocating to Tulsa, OK.

Mahorn was drafted by the Washington Bullets (now Wizards) in the second round of the 1980 NBA Draft. He came to Detroit prior to the 1985-86 season and helped the franchise win its first championship as a member of the original “Bad Boys” team in 1988-89. He also earned All-NBA second team defensive honors that season. He later had a second stint with the Pistons from 1996-98.

A Hartford, CT, native, Mahorn was a four-year letter winner at Hampton Institute (VA). He was a three-time NCAA Division II and NAIA All-American and owned 18 school records. He graduated with a degree in business administration in 1980.

John Long played basketball at Romulus High School and continued playing for the Titans at the University of Detroit. While there, Long was coached by the legendary Dick Vitale. He was later named to the University of Detroit’s Hall of Fame for his outstanding play in 2001.

In 1978, Long was drafted by the Pistons in the second round. Long was one of the deadliest mid-range shooters on the team. If Long was within 25 feet of the basket there would most likely be two points added to the scoreboard. Of his 14 year long career in the NBA, Long spent nine seasons with the Pistons, including the 1988-1989 NBA Championship. Long also played for the Indiana Pacers, Atlanta Hawks and the Toronto Raptors.

Over his career, Long scored a total of 12,131 points and shot an overall field goal percentage of .467. He still holds the Pistons record for the most steals in a quarter with five.

Since his retirement, Long now serves at a Community Ambassador for the Detroit Pistons. Long continually talks about the importance of literacy and educations to different youth groups in support of the NBA Cares program. He also rotates as an analyst for the Pistons games of WNFN AM 1130.

Ben Wallace was acquired by Detroit from the Orlando Magic in 2000, spending nine seasons with the Pistons while collecting NBA Defensive Player of the Year honors four times (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006) being named an NBA All-Star four times (2003-06). Wallace was an All-NBA Second Team selection three times (2003, 2004, 2006), All-NBA Third Team selection twice (2002 and 2005) and an NBA All-Defensive First Team selection five times (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006). During his first stint with Detroit (2000-06), the Pistons made the playoffs in five of the seven years, winning Eastern Conference Championships in 2004 and 2005 and the NBA Championship in 2004. Wallace is the franchise’s all-time leader in regular-season and playoff blocks (1,486 and 215, respectively) and ranks first among Pistons’ all-time playoff leaders in rebounds (1,237). He holds franchise single-game records for blocks in a game (10 – twice), defensive rebounds in a quarter (10) and blocks in a quarter (6). In 655 games with the Pistons, Wallace averaged 6.6 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.3 blocks, 1.4 steals and 1.5 assists in 32.6 minutes per game. Undrafted out of Virginia Union, Wallace went on to play 1,088 career NBA games over 16 seasons with Washington, Orlando, Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland.

Wallace, a native of White Hall, AL, recorded 10,482 rebounds during his career, becoming one of only 37 players, and the only undrafted player (Moses Malone was drafted in the 1974 American Basketball Association Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers in the ABA Dispersal Draft in 1976) in NBA history to record 10,000 rebounds. He is also one of only 10 players in NBA history to record 10,000 rebounds and 2,000 blocks and is the shortest player at 6’9 to record 2,000 career blocks. Overall, Wallace averaged 5.7 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.0 blocks, 1.3 steals and 1.3 assists in 29.5 minutes per game. His No. 3 jersey was retired by the Pistons in 2016.

James “Buddha” Edwards played in the NBA for 19 seasons and has since remained involved with the Pistons as a community and team ambassador. Edwards spent four seasons with the Pistons, winning two NBA titles in 1989 and 1990, along with picking up a third NBA Championship as a member of the Chicago Bulls in 1996. He retired with 14,862 career points and 6,004 rebounds.The Seattle, Washington native was selected by the L.A. Lakers with the 46th overall pick in the third round of the 1977 NBA Draft. Edwards was instrumental during the Pistons championship runs and was known for his turn-around fadeaway jump shot and his daunting toughness as an integral part of the Bad Boys. He averaged 11.2 points and 3.6 rebounds through 256 career games with Detroit.Edwards suited up for eight different teams during his 19-year career, playing for Indiana, Phoenix, L.A. Lakers, Cleveland, L.A. Clippers, Chicago, Portland and Detroit. Edwards had his longest tenure in Phoenix for six seasons, as well as four-year stints in Indiana and Detroit. He posted career highs in scoring (16.7 ppg) and rebounding (8.5 rpg) while playing in all 82 games for the Pacers in 1978-79.In his high school years, Edward starred at Roosevelt High School where he led the Roughriders to the state title in 1973. From there he proceeded to starring at his hometown University of Washington under coach Marv Harshman, averaging 14.6 points through four seasons as a Huskie.