The Detroit Pistons are playing their best basketball of a disastrous season. Cade Cunningham has quietly looked like a bona fide franchise player over the last few weeks, Jaden Ivey continues flashing the all-around talent that made him a top-five pick in 2022 and Ausar Thompson's jumper isn't looking quite so broken. Finally, there's at least some optimism in the world of Pistons basketball.
But Troy Weaver's heated recent interaction with a fan, unfortunately, risks Detroit's real progress remaining overlooked league-wide. The Pistons' general manager was captured on video Saturday at Little Caesar's Arena telling a fan he would ‘beat his ass' for criticizing Weaver's performance as the team's lead decision-maker. Weaver then had security remove the fan from the arena.
Troy Weaver got INTO it with a heckling fan at LCA.
Troy: “You’re lucky I don’t beat your ass.”
The fan was kicked out.
Via: psharma112 on Tik Tok pic.twitter.com/dUfmBcopHM— Eli Bashi (@EliBashiNBA) March 10, 2024
Yikes.
Needless to say, 2023-24 has been a trying season for Weaver and the Pistons. Detroit set a new NBA record for consecutive losses in late December, traded Bojan Bogdanovic for a pedestrian return—especially compared to the pair of first-round picks they reportedly could've received for him last year—at the return trade deadline and first-year head coach Monty Williams has appeared in over his head leading a team full of young, unproven players.
There's plenty of criticism to go around in the Motor City, but Weaver has received a fair amount of blame for the Pistons' underperformance. He also came under renewed fire in late January when a ex team employee sued former assistant general manager Rob Murphy—a longtime friend and confidante of Weaver's—and the franchise at large for alleged sexual harassment and a “brutal assault” perpetrated by Murphy.
Things really are looking up for the Pistons compared to their trajectory a couple months ago. If only Weaver had the patience and calm to ignore a heckling fan and avoid sparking more negative headlines for his team as the season's stretch run dawns.
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