DETROIT (Michigan News Source) – It has been less than a week since Trajan Langdon announced the hiring of NBA head coach veteran J.B. Bickerstaff. In that time, Detroit added another veteran in Tobias Harris to bring the total to three signings with Tim Hardaway, Jr., and Malik Beasley.
“Detroit has a great basketball history and I look forward to the opportunity to join Trajan in building a product on the floor that everyone can be proud of. The goals of the Pistons that Trajans and owner Tom Gores have expressed aligns with how I coach and I how I look to develop players and drive results,” said Bickerstaff.
Bickerstaff is 45 years old and been the head coach at Memphis, Houston, and Cleveland. Twice, he has been an interim coach named at mid-season for the Houston Rockets (15-16) and the Grizzlies (17-18). He withdrew his name for the head coaching position from Houston and took an associate head coach with Memphis. After one season in Memphis, he was named the head coach in 2018.
His head coaching and winning experience is what drew the Pistons to him. The past three years in Cleveland, he has produced a winning record each winning 51 games in the 2022-23 season. He has gone to three NBA playoffs losing in the first round with Houston (2015-16) and Cleveland (2022-23) and this past year in the semi-finals.
“We need a leader who can immediately instill a culture of growth, development, and inspiration. It’s clear with J.B. that he is a passionate teacher with a competitive spirit who knows what it takes to win in today’s NBA. He is a strong communicator which provides great synergy with Trajan and the front office team we have assembled,” said Gores.
Overall, Bickerstaff has won 255 games and has a .468 winning percentage.
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