Things continue to get worse for the Detroit Pistons and general manager Troy Weaver as each day passes.
After escaping NBA history by picking up their 10th win of the season on Thursday, which was also their first home win since January, the Pistons were blasted by the Dallas Mavericks 142-124 on Saturday night, as Luka Doncic posted his sixth straight triple-double.
But the Pistons’ defense wasn’t the only one attacked. According to Jared Ramsey of the Detroit Free Press, Weaver got into a heated spat with a fan that was caught on video.
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
Detroit Pistons Executive Gets Accosted By Fan At Game
As it can clearly be seen, Weaver is standing in the aisle yelling at a fan wearing a Detroit Red Wings jersey.
“I don’t give a (expletive), you’re lucky I don’t beat your ass.”
The fan responded to Weaver with, “you suck at your job,” before Little Caesars Arena security escorted him out of the arena.
Pistons’ season ticket holder Jeffrey Calloway, sitting near Weaver, told Larry Lage of the Associated Press that the fan whom Weaver was yelling at was the aggressor.
“The guy that was in the incident, with the Red Wings stuff on, came over and was pointing at the scoreboard earlier in the game,” Calloway said in a telephone interview Sunday. “Troy Weaver just shrugged his shoulders and said, ‘OK,’ and the guy returned to his seat.
However, Calloway said the fan came back later in the game.
“When (Jalen) Duren got ejected (midway through the fourth quarter), the guy came back and told him that he was terrible at his job.
Weaver didn’t have any comment on the incident.
Pistons Woes
Detroit (10-53) is in the midst of its worst season in franchise history and their fifth straight non-playoff season. The Pistons have yet to win more than 23 games during this postseason drought stretch, including the third-fewest victories in franchise history last season with 17.
This season was supposed to be different. Star guard Cade Cunningham was back after being limited to 12 games a season ago, while Duren and Jaden Ivey showed significant promise as rookies. Weaver drafted Ausar Thompson and Marcus Sasser in this year’s draft.
However, the Pistons have dealt with injuries and haven’t had many games where they had a full squad. They began the season by winning two of their first three games but then lost an NBA-record 28 consecutive games.
Detroit has had 27 players appearing in a game this season and used 26 starting lineups. The Pistons’ two most often used starting five have each been used eight times.
Cunningham and Duren look like keepers. Ivey has shown improvement in Year 2, and Thompson is a defensive ace.
Detroit has 10 players under contract for next season. However, Evan Fournier‘s $19 million club option undoubtedly won’t be exercised.
The Pistons project to have over $70 millon in cap space. The Pistons only have one first-round selection this year. They do control at least one first until 2030.
Is This Weaver’s Last Season?
This was an embarrassing situation for both Weaver and the Pistons. While the fan had no business doing what he did while Weaver watched the game and got what he deserved by being booted from the arena, Weaver had to control his emotions. Hopefully, the fan gets banned from Little Caesars Arena for a year or so.
Detroit is 70-229 since taking over as general manager in 2020. Weaver’s initial contract was slated to end this summer, but he reportedly signed an undisclosed contract extension in December 2022.
Obviously, Weaver has made a lot of mistakes in terms of roster construction and draft picks. So, it is likely in Detroit’s best interest to cut ties as they are years away from competing.
The Pistons are being outscored by 8.8 points a game and have lost 27 games by double-figures. They are also 2-38 in games against teams with a .500 or better record.
Last month, Weaver received support from owner Tom Gores. So, will have to wait and see if this incident affects Gores’ decision.
“I think we just came together and the first thing we did is take accountability for the mistakes we made. As an organization, you really can’t go forward until you acknowledge what didn’t work. That was the first thing. And being honest about that provides you the future. If you don’t look in your past for a little bit and what was right and what was wrong, it’s very hard to go to the future. We did that along the process. I have confidence in Troy. I have confidence. We leaned on each other through this process, but we also didn’t avoid the idea of what were we accountable for? It gave us a pathway to go forward.”
