The 1964-65 NBA season was the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

' 17th season in the NBA and its eighth season in the city of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. The team played at

Cobo Arena Huntington Place (formerly known as Cobo Hall, Cobo Center, and briefly as TCF Center) is a convention center in Downtown Detroit, owned by the Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority (DRCFA) and operated by ASM Global. Located at 1 Washi ...

in Detroit. The team fired coach Charles Wolf after 11 games, naming 24-year old forward

Dave DeBusschere David Albert DeBusschere (October 16, 1940 – May 14, 2003) was an American professional National Basketball Association (NBA) player and coach and Major League Baseball (MLB) player. He played for the Chicago White Sox of MLB in 1962 and 1963 a ...

player-manager. The Pistons finished the season 31-49 (.388), 4th in the Western Division. Before the season began, the team made a major trade to rid the team of players who had feuded with Wolf, adding

Terry Dischinger Terry Gilbert Dischinger (born November 21, 1940) is an American former basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Dischinger was a three-time NBA All-Star and the 1963 NBA Rookie of the Year, after averaging 28 points per gam ...

Don Kojis Donald R. Kojis (January 15, 1939 – November 19, 2021) was an American professional basketball player who played twelve seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).. Career Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he attended Marquette Universi ...

and

Rod Thorn Rodney King Thorn (born May 23, 1941) is an American basketball executive and a former professional player and coach, Olympic Committee Chairman, with a career spanning over 50 years. In 2018, Thorn was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Baske ...

from the Baltimore Bullets for

Bob Ferry Robert Dean Ferry (May 31, 1937 – October 27, 2021) was an American professional basketball player, assistant coach, and general manager (GM) in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played for the St. Louis Hawks, Detroit Pistons, and ...

Bailey Howell Bailey E. Howell (born January 20, 1937) is an American former professional basketball player. After playing college basketball at Mississippi State, Howell played 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Howell was a six-time NBA ...

, Les Hunter,

Wali Jones Walter Jones (born February 14, 1942) is an American former professional basketball player. He was a 6'2" (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) guard. Early life Born in Philadelphia, Jones played at Overbrook High School, the same school that had ...

and

Don Ohl Donald Jay Ohl (born April 18, 1936) is an American former professional basketball player who spent 10 seasons (1960–1970) in the National Basketball Association (NBA). His nickname was ''Waxie'' because of his crew cut. College career Ohl ...

. The trade was the largest in NBA history at the time. Former Piston

Gene Shue Eugene William Shue (December 18, 1931 – April 3, 2022) was an American professional basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Shue was one of the top guards of the early days of the NBA and an influential figure ...

, coaching for Baltimore, assessed the trade thusly: “Detroit has the worst management in the league.” Detroit was led on the season by forward DeBusschere (16.7 ppg, 11.1 rpg) and guard Dischinger (18.2 ppg, NBA All-Star). Dischinger would leave the team after the season, as having a

ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...

commission at Purdue, he would serve two years in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

:x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Awards and records

Joe Caldwell Joe Louis Caldwell (born November 1, 1941) is a retired American professional basketball player. Caldwell played six seasons (1964–1970) in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and five seasons (1970–1975) in the American Basketball As ...

NBA All-Rookie Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for playe ...

1st Team

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1964-65 Detroit Pistons Season Detroit Pistons seasons