Dan Gilbert Shouldn't Compare Detroit Pistons to Washington Generals

On Friday, Detroit Pistons General Manager Joe Dumars made the correct, and long overdue, decision to buy out the contract of team captain Richard Hamilton. This move will be applauded by fans who grew weary of Hamilton's antics in the locker room and whining on the court.

Hamilton was a worn and bitter leftover of a once-powerful Pistons team, a team that made the Eastern Conference Finals six straight times and whose legacy will be the 2004 Finals upset of the mighty Lakers.

Behind closed doors the move might also be applauded by Detroit's younger players, who are now officially handed the keys to the franchise.

Hamilton had become a constant reminder of how things used to be. He was holding back a team that needed to move forward and forge their own identity. Greg Monroe, Brandon Knight, Austin Daye and Jonas Jerebko are now free to do that.

Buying out Hamilton's contract was just the latest move this week by Pistons GM Joe Dumars. Tayshaun Prince and Jonas Jerebko were re-signed, Terrico White, who never played in a regular season game for the Pistons, was waived and rookies Brandon Knight and Vernon Macklin were signed.

Dumars’ next duty is to negotiate Rodney Stuckey's deal and fill the vacant roster spots left by White and Hamilton.

With these changes it would be understandable to have a rosy outlook for the upcoming shortened season. The young Pistons have energy, renewed focus and a new coaching staff to take them to the promised land.

With only 66 games, the NBA Championship is up for grabs, right?

Not according to Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, who wrote a letter to David Stern lamenting the Chris Paul deal, referring to it as a travesty. Gilbert put the Pistons in a group of teams he compared to the Washington Generals, who constantly get beat by the Harlem Globetrotter-like Lakers.

These days I'd probably add the Celtics, Heat and Knicks to that Globetrotter group too.

That being said, I couldn't disagree with Gilbert more. He is still bitter about Lebron leaving for the bright lights of Miami. He's determined to punish any franchise more successful than his.

Let’s be honest, every franchise in the NBA is better than his.

Don't get me wrong, I like conspiracy theories as much as the next paranoid NBA owner. David Stern sure makes it hard not to. Especially after his veto of the Paul deal. But out of all NBA franchises, the Pistons prove that Gilbert's Washington Generals theory doesn't hold water.

In every Pistons championship run they've beaten the Harlem Globetrotters of the NBA. You name it: 1989, 1990, 2004. Who did the Pistons have to beat along the way? The best and most powerful teams in the NBA at the time, that's who. The Lakers, Celtics, Knicks, Blazers and Bulls.

Every one of those years the Pistons were underdogs. No one ever picked them. No one outside Detroit ever liked them. The Pistons were snore-time to the Lakers showtime. In 2004 they were a team of nobodies and castoffs who took down the mighty Shaq-Kobe Laker dynasty.

This proves that the mighty do fall when smaller-market teams do things the right way: by building them for the long haul through the draft and key free-agent signings. Not by putting all your eggs into the basket of one superstar and then surrounding him with subpar talent.

So Mr. Gilbert, if you intend on continuing your conspiracy-fueled grudge against the NBA's power elite be my guest. There is some validity to your frustration. Just remember, the Pistons have been sticking it to "the Man" for years.

Maybe you should call Joe Dumars for a history lesson.