10 players you may have forgot played for the Detroit Pistons
By Corey Rausch
Lionel Hollins
Another former NBA head coach that once wore a Pistons uniform was Lionel Hollins. Most of his playing career took place in Portland, where he made the All-Rookie team and then in his second season made his only All-Star team. The Blazers also won the championship in Hollins rookie season.
He came to Detroit later in his career and only played 32 games for the team in the 1983-1984 season. This was by far the worst season of Hollins career and he only played another season, with the Houston Rockets, before retiring.
Hollins would start his coaching career as an assistant at his alma mater Arizona State before heading to the NBA as an assistant for the Phoenix Suns. After two different stints as the interim coach for the Grizzlies (once each in Vancouver and Memphis) and an assistant role in Milwaukee, Hollins was finally named the head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies.
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His time in Memphis was very successful, as the team entered the bellowed Grit-and-Grind era of their history which saw them win a playoff series as an eighth seed against the San Antonio Spurs in his third season in 2011. The next season saw him earn the franchise’s best winning percentage, albeit in a lockout-shortened season.
Finally, in the 2013 season, the team won a franchise-record 56 games and made it to the Western Conference Finals before being swept by the San Antonio Spurs. Despite this success differing views led to Hollins not receiving a new contract and leaving the team.
He would go on to coach the Nets and lead them to the playoffs in his first season but lack of other success led to him being relieved of his duties in 2015-2016. He recently returned to the sidelines this season as an assistant for the Los Angeles Lakers.