Long before the current lottery system determined the order of the NBA Draft, the league used to decide which team would get the first overall pick by simply flipping a coin.
Who would have ever guessed that losing that coin toss would lead to one of the greatest Detroit Pistons of all time and give Detroit a mayor?
After the 1965-66 NBA season, the Pistons and New York Knicks placed dead last in the Western and Eastern conferences, and the NBA had just introduced the coin-flip method for deciding which of the two last-place teams would get the first overall pick in the upcoming draft. The consensus top pick that year was U-M star Cazzie Russell, who led the Wolverines to three straight Big Ten titles and a National Championship appearance.
There were many reasons the Pistons wanted to pick the All-American guard. The year before, Detroit had drafted center Bill Buntin, who had played with Russell at Michigan. The Pistons wanted to bring home another household name who had already generated a following in the state.
But they lost the coin toss, and with that, lost Russell.
Insert Dave Bing.
Bing grew up in the same Washington, D.C, suburb that produced Elgin Baylor, and was often told he was too small to play basketball as a child. His father, who worked in construction throughout Bing’s entire childhood, thought differently.
“My father called me ‘Duke’ because I was good with my dukes and because I wanted to be top dog,” Bing said.
The Piston’s used the second overall pick on the 6-foot 3-inch guard from Syracuse who had led the Orange in scoring for the past three years. Although there wasn’t as much hype around Bing, he would go on to leave a legacy in Detroit unlike any other athlete.
Bing spent the first nine years of his NBA career with the Pistons, during which he was a six-time All-Star, 1967 Rookie of the Year, 1976 All-Star game MVP, and the 1968 NBA scoring leader. Bing was later inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1990.
Bing retired from the NBA in 1978 and decided to return to Detroit to begin working at Paragon Steel. He opened Bing Steel in 1980. After quickly growing into a Steel conglomerate, the company transformed into The Bing Group and became one of the largest automotive suppliers in Detroit.
Fast forward to 2008. After being a major supporter of then Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, Bing quickly became one of the biggest encouragers of Kilpatrick’s resignation, which led to him announcing his candidacy for mayor in the 2009 special election right after Kilpatrick resigned.
Bing won the election with 52% of the vote and finished out Kilpatrick’s term before being elected to serve a full mayoral term in November 2009.
The renovation of the Cobo Center and The Detroit Works Project were among Bing’s achievements and projects throughout his term, which ended in 2013. During his tenure, Bing reduced Detroit’s budget deficit by $7 million, which entailed a major decrease in the City Council budget and increased funding for the city’s fire department.
More than 18,000 points and a term as mayor. All from one coin flip.
Alex Deimel is a contributing writer for Michigan Enjoyer.
