Isiah Thomas spent his entire 13-season career in Detroit & earned All-NBA First-Team honors 3 times.
The Detroit Pistons have had their fair share of glory over the years, rostering several elite, all-time legends throughout NBA history.
Here, we take a look at all the players who were named to the All-NBA First Team while playing for the Pistons.
Isiah Thomas – 3 times (1984, 1985, 1986)
Thomas is not only one of the best point guards to ever play in the NBA, but he’s also arguably the best player to ever play for the Pistons franchise. The star floor general, who spent his entire 13-year career in Detroit, was named to the 1st-Team All-NBA in three consecutive seasons between 1983-84 and 1985-86, a span in which he averaged 21.2 points, 11.9 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game across 240 regular-season appearances. Thomas was named to the All-Star Game in all but one of his 13 seasons in The Association and also earned five total All-NBA nods. He also won two titles with the Pistons in 1989 and 1990.
Dave Bing – 2 times (1968, 1971)
Either as a point guard or as a shooting guard, Bing was one of the most prolific scoring guards of his generation and thrived as a member of the Pistons. He played nine of his 13 years in the league with Detroit, a stretch in which he not only earned two 1st-Team All-NBA nods but also added six All-Star appearances, one 2nd-Team All-NBA recognition, and two Top 5 MVP finishes. Bing finished his career playing for the Washington Bullets and Boston Celtics before retiring at the end of the 1977-78 season.
Grant Hill – 1 time (1997)
Hill caught the league by storm when he averaged 19.9 points per game and was named to the All-Star Game as a rookie in the 1994-95 season. However, his best season would come a few years later in the 1996-97 campaign, where he averaged 21.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game en route to being named to the 1st-Team All-NBA. It was the lone 1st-Team All-NBA nod of his career, but he also earned four 2nd-Team All-NBA nods. Hill also earned seven All-Star berths throughout his career.
Gene Shue – 1 time (1960)
Shue played six of his 10 seasons in the NBA as a member of the Pistons, both in Fort Wayne and Detroit, and that happened to be the most prolific stretch of his career. He was named an All-Star in five of his six years with the Pistons and finished in the Top 10 in the MVP race twice. His best season came in 1959-60, where he was named to the 1st-Team All-NBA after averaging 22.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists per contest. After playing for Detroit, he’d play for the New York Knicks and Baltimore Bullets before retiring at the end of the 1963-64 campaign.
George Yardley – 1 time (1958)
Yardley debuted in 1953-54 season and made the most of his career, as he was named an All-Star in six of his seven campaigns in The Association. He played for the Pistons (both in Fort Wayne and Detroit) and the Syracuse Nationals. The best season of his career came in the 1957-58 campaign, which was the first year of the Pistons in Detroit. He averaged a career-high 27.8 points and 10.7 rebounds per game while finishing third in the MVP voting.
Larry Foust – 1 time (1955)
Foust was the first-ever Pistons player to earn a 1st-Team All-NBA nod. It happened in the 1954-55 season and was the pinnacle of his individual performance. He did it while playing for the Fort Wayne Pistons and averaged 17.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game in that campaign. Foust also played for the Minneapolis Lakers and St. Louis Hawks before retiring at the end of the 1961-62 campaign. Throughout his career, Foust was named to the All-Star Game eight times.
