Michael Curry Taking Joe Dumars' Heat

A championship can buy anyone in professional sports some job security, and Joe Dumars is living in that safe haven as we speak.

Architect of the 2004 NBA Champion Detroit Pistons, Dumars masterfully crafted his team.

He traded icon Grant Hill in a package that garnered a little known defensive specialist big man. His name was Ben Wallace.

He then signed point guard Chauncey Billups, who, prior to his arrival, was a part of five different franchises. He traded another star, Jerry Stackhouse, to Washington for Rip Hamilton and drafted Tayshaun Prince from Kentucky.

Lastly, during a championship run that included a preseason coaching change—Larry Brown was brought in to replace Rick Carlisle—Dumars finished his masterpiece.

He brought in power forward Rasheed Wallace in a February deal to create a defensive monster with enough offensive ability to win it all.

But professional sports is a 'What can you do for me now?' kind of business, and Dumars has been swimming upstream lately. Tuesday, he fired his most recent coaching hire, former assistant Michael Curry, after just one season. It was a sub .500 season, and Curry was an easy scapegoat.

Whether Curry could have accomplished anything as the Pistons' head coach is uncertain. He had a muddled relationship with some of his players and he had little experience. But to make things clear, he was set up to fail by Joe Dumars.

I won't touch the Darko Milicic selection in 2003 or Dumars' decision to hire an offensive-oriented coach, Flip Saunders, to try to change a defensively sound, rough n' tumble kind of team.

But we can focus on the present. Acquiring Allen Iverson in a deal for Billups may have been the most bone-headed decision I've witnessed since Dumars' arrival.

And now, during an offseason that is going through a roster overhaul, Rasheed Wallace and Iverson will not be re-signed, and Prince and Hamilton could potentially leave via trade—Dumars essentially puts the blame on Curry.

Even worse, the timing of the firing is odd at best.

Today is the start of free agency. Detroit, with roughly $19 million to spend, no longer has a leader of its franchise. With rumblings of a Ben Gordon or Carlos Boozer signing in the near future, among others, Dumars will have to do his selling without a head coach.

Suddenly, the shadow of success that hovers from 2004 is beginning to disappear, along with the core of a successful franchise.

As published in 7/1 edition of Central Michigan Life.