The Detroit Pistons are one of the most storied franchises in the NBA. Numerous Hall of Fame players and coaches have called the Pistons home and, as a result, the Detroit franchise has won 2,753 games in the regular season, made the playoffs 42 times and won three championships.
The NBA is a players' league but talent can only take you so far. The teams with the best and most insightful coaches are usually the clubs that go on deep playoff runs consistently.
For this piece, we ranked the four best coaches in Pistons franchise history, leading off with a man who is currently the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks.
4. Rick Carlisle
Carlisle only coached the Pistons for two seasons but he racked up 100 wins and has the fourth-highest winning percentage in Detroit coaching history at .610.
The Pistons made the playoffs both years Carlisle was running the show. The current Mavs tactician won 30 games in the playoffs with the Pistons. He's got the third-most postseason wins in Pistons coaching history.
Carlisle won the 2002 Coach of the Year Award after guiding Detroit to 50 wins. He wound up winning a championship with the Mavs in 2011.
3. Flip Saunders
The late Flip Saunders has the second-most wins for a Detroit coach in the regular season. He won 176 games in three years and led the team to the playoffs each season he was in the Motor City.
Saunders' regular-season record of 176-70 gives him the top winning percentage in Pistons coaching history. Flip also won 30 postseason games with Detroit. He has the third-most playoff wins in franchise history.
The Pistons went to three straight Eastern Conference Finals under Flip. However, Detroit fell all three times. Saunders tragically passed away in 2015 at the age of 60.
2. Larry Brown
Behind Brown, the Pistons captured the 2004 championship over the Los Angeles Lakers. They went back to the Finals in 2005 but lost to the San Antonio Spurs.
Brown only coached the Pistons for two years but he took the franchise to the Finals both times and delivered one ring. Not bad.
Larry won a total of 108 games in the regular season with the Pistons and 31 in the postseason. He has the second-most playoff wins in franchise history.
Brown was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a coach in 2002 before he won his first NBA championship. He was a legend in the ABA.
1. Chuck Daly
Daly is the best Pistons coach in franchise history and it's not even close. He won two titles and a total of 467 games in the regular season. Chuck also has 71 wins in the playoffs. He's the franchise leader in both categories.
The Pistons went to three straight Finals under Daly from 1987 to 1990. Detroit lost to the Lakers in the '88 Finals but rebounded by winning the '89 Finals and '90 Finals over the Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers, respectively.
In 1994, Daly was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a coach. He passed away in 2009 at the age of 78. He will be a Pistons and Detroit legend forever.
The current Pistons coach is Dwane Casey. Detroit made the playoffs in 2018-19 for the first time since 2016 but got swept by the Milwaukee Bucks.
This season was a disaster for the Pistons before play was suspended due to COVID-19. Detroit had a putrid record of 20-46. Casey and Co. are hoping to be competitive next season when All-Star power forward Blake Griffin will return from his left knee injury.
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