Piston's Prepare for Official End of "Fab Five"

First it was Ben Wallace. He took $60 million and moved to Chicago in 2006. Five became four, and the city of Detroit saw the beginning of the end of what was the most exciting chapter in the Pistons history since the “Bad Boy” era.

Still, the “Fantastic Four” of Chauncey Billiups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, and the other Wallace ('Sheed) would go on to keep the team in the Eastern Conference Finals for the remainder of their time together, but they never did earn a trip back to the NBA Finals.

Then, just games into the 2008-09 season, GM Joe Dumars traded the ignition to the vehicle that was the offense, Billups, to the Denver Nuggets. The move signaled that the supposed “window of contention” that is so heavily referenced in sports had closed on the current iteration of the Detroit squad.

Piston fans have been trained to accept that our faithful leader Dumars has a plan that will not fail. He turned a franchise that looked like a team headed for the lottery every year into champions with players that looked like they belonged overseas.

Big Ben was acquired as part of a deal that sent one of the best players in the NBA at that time, Grant Hill, to Orlando. “Rip” came in while Jerry Stackhouse was traded out. Perceived draft bust Billups was signed as a free agent. And finally, the scrawny kid Prince was taken with the 22nd pick in the '02 Draft.

The team of no-names was supposed to revive interest in the Pistons, and they did, though they lacked a certain something to push them over the top. The team was "too nice," it seemed; sure, Ben is known for his mean streak now, but he had yet to let loose before Dumars added the one piece that changed the team and turned them from a middle of the road team to champions. Rasheed Wallace was the fire, he was the bad boy, he was the difference.

His addition and subsequent attitude injection turned the Detroit frontcourt from fair to foul (but foul in the good way). He gave fans flashbacks of Laimbeer and Rodman, with Mehmet Okur standing in as the modern-day John Salley. Rip became Vincent "Vinnie" Johnson, and Dumars saw his reincarnated self in Chaunce.

Of course, there was one major difference between the Pistons of the Jordan era and the Pistons of the Kobe era: There was no Isiah Thomas. There was no singular Piston that was supreme, and casual NBA fans hated that.

This year we'll likely see the end of Rasheed's time in Detroit, as he's a free agent and will probably be allowed to walk unless the Pistons need a filler player to hold them over before the “Summer of LeBron.”

This offseason will likely also see the end of either Prince’s or Hamilton’s tenure as a Piston as well. Both will be seen as pieces that can be moved for financial relief.

So before the famed Pistons of the 2004 Finals go down as one-and-done, please join me in applauding the NBA’s best team for the past decade.