The Detroit Pistons are currently enjoying an eight-game winning streak and sit in playoff position within the Eastern Conference standings, representative of a turnaround some people did not see coming. As the team surges in the ranks after a 28-game losing streak last season, it has already surpassed its win totals from the past two campaigns and elicited praise from those covering the league. Jon Jansen observed that the national media, particularly Stephen A. Smith, was discussing the Pistons after the team defeated the reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics on Wednesday night, but Smith that caught the attention of Jim Costa and the morning show on 97.1 The Ticket.
Stephen A. Smith articulated on First Take how Weaver’s name is not mentioned enough, conveying that these are all of his players and that he gave them $60 million in cap space. Yet he prefaced the statement by exhibiting that Weaver was the former assistant general manager of the Oklahoma City Thunder, currently the best team in the Western Conference.
“What is it with the revisionist history? I’ll tolerate none of it,” Costa said. “The idea that Troy Weaver deserves credit for what’s going on with the Pistons right now? Think about this guys. We do five days a week, show goes on for four hours, we talk about all the local teams. At no point did any host, caller or even Ticket texter want to give credit to Troy Weaver.”
Weaver formerly served as the general manager of the Detroit Pistons for three seasons before stepping down from the role last June. During that time, the organization had a record of 54 wins and 192 losses, but he also acquired key pieces contributing to the winning formula, such as Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson.
“He had to start off with a little bit of credibility, and then he ruined it all by saying, ‘These are all Troy Weaver’s players,’” Jansen said. “No, they are not all Troy Weaver’s players. The ones that you did pick that are contributing were not under the team that you constructed.”
A Ticket texter pointed out how Bill Belichick offered praise for former Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia and how his legacy was impacting the team. Even though Costa understood the connection between Belichick and Patricia being that they both worked together with the New England Patriots, he was not certain where a potential link between Smith and Weaver could be discovered.
“Well, he’s a former NBA guy, right?,” Jansen said of Smith. “He earned his stripes, and so everybody thinks, ‘Oh boy, if he’s talking about the NBA, he must know something.’ That’s why he brought up the OKC assistant general manager. That’s so long ago – the team is completely different from [that] one.”
Later in the segment, Jansen asked Costa what the current team would look like if Weaver was still the general manager. In response, Costa opined that there would not be enough shooting and a profusion of big men. Costa found it telling that not one Ticket texter over the last two months attributed the Pistons’ success to the former general manager and explained that there was no shortage of other people towards whom to give credit.
“Again, guys, we all watched it, we all lived it,” Costa said. “Stephen A. didn’t, so it’s really easy to just kind of swoop in and do a fly-by and go, ‘Hey, you know what?’”
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