Who is JB Bickerstaff? All you need to know about Detroit Pistons’ head coach

The Detroit Pistons turned things around during the 2024-25 NBA season after years of mediocrity.

A key reason behind it was the likes of Cade Cunningham , Ausar Thompson , and other young stars starting to take a leap.

Arguably, the biggest change made by the front office, however, was hiring JB Bickerstaff as the head coach of the team.

In just his first season with the team, he led the Detroit Pistons to the playoffs, certainly a praiseworthy feat.

Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images JB Bickerstaffs NBA coaching experience The Pistons improvement with Bickerstaff was no coincidence.

Instead, it was the result of the 46-year-olds years of coaching experience in the NBA.

He began his journey as an assistant coach for the Charlotte Hornets (then known as Bobcats) in the 2004-05 season.

Following a three-year stint with the Hornets, Bickerstaff joined the Minnesota Timberwolves as an assistant coach.

He then joined the Houston Rockets coaching staff, where he also earned his first-ever head coaching job during the 2015-16 season after five years of assistant coaching service.

However, it was far from fruitful as the Rockets struggled under his leadership.

Bickerstaff then spent four years with the Memphis Grizzlies , first as an associate and then as the head coach.

But Bickerstaffs true skills were on display during his nearly five-year tenure as the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers .

The Cavs went 170-159 during that time and also completed their rebuilding phase.

JB Bickerstaff can help the Detroit Pistons return to the glory days Last season, the Pistons finished the regular season with a 44-38 record.

It was a phenomenal turnaround from their previous years league-worst 14-68 record.

The Pistons also returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

Bickerstaff certainly proved his worth in his debut season as the head coach of the team.

But whats the next team? Well, its obvious to make the Pistons a perennial playoff team and bring an NBA Championship to the city.

The Pistons are currently going through a 21-year championship drought as they last lifted the Larry OBrien trophy in 2004..

This article has been shared from the original article on yardbarker, here is the link to the original article.