The

1971–72 NBA season The 1971–72 NBA season was the 26th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA Championship, beating the New York Knicks 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals. As the 25th anniversary ...

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 Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

' 24th season in the NBA and 15th season in the city of

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. The team played at

Cobo Arena Huntington Place (formerly known as Cobo Hall, Cobo Center, and briefly 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 downtown Detroit. The Pistons finished with a 26-56 (.317) record, 4th place in the Midwest Division. The team was led guards

Dave Bing David Bing (born November 24, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player, businessman and politician who served as the 74th mayor of Detroit, Michigan from 2009 to 2014. He is a member of the Democratic Party. After starring at ...

(22.6 ppg) and

Jimmy Walker James John Walker (June 19, 1881November 18, 1946), known colloquially as Jimmy Walker and Beau James, was an American attorney, lyricist, and Democratic Party politician who served as the 97th mayor of New York City from 1926 until his resign ...

(21.3 ppg, NBA All-Star) and center

Bob Lanier Robert Jerry Lanier Jr. (September 10, 1948 – May 10, 2022) was an American professional basketball player. He played center (basketball), center for the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). L ...

(25.7 ppg, 14.2 rpg, NBA All-Star). The season began with

Butch van Breda Kolff Willem Hendrik "Butch" (sometimes "Bill") van Breda Kolff (October 28, 1922August 22, 2007) was an American basketball player and coach. He played four seasons for the New York Knicks before becoming a head coach at Lafayette. Ultimately, he co ...

as coach. He resigned 10 games into the season, replaced briefly by player

Terry Dischinger Terry Gilbert Dischinger ( ; November 21, 1940 – October 9, 2023) was an American professional 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 ...

before Earl Lloyd was named as a permanent replacement, as the team dropped from 45 wins the previous season to 26 in the 1971–72 season.

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

See also

References