Detroit Pistons

The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference Central Division. The team plays its home games at The Palace of Auburn Hills. The team was founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne (Zollner) Pistons in 1941, a member of the National Basketball League (NBL). The Pistons joined the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1948. In 1949, the NBL and BAA merged to become the NBA, and the Pistons became part of the merged league. Since moving to Detroit in 1957, the Pistons have won three (3) NBA championships: in 1989, 1990 and 2004.

Franchise history

1941–1957: The Fort Wayne (Zollner) Pistons

The Detroit Pistons' franchise was founded as the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, a National Basketball League (NBL) team, playing in the gym of North Side High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Owners Fred Zollner and his sister Janet's Zollner Corporation was a foundry, manufacturing pistons, primarily for car, truck and locomotive engines. Fred Zollner, who currently owns a professional softball team known as the Zollner Piston softball team, was eventually persuaded to start a basketball team due to the fact that Indiana was so basketball minded. The Zollner Pistons were NBL champions in 1944 and 1945. They also won the World Professional Basketball Tournament in 1944, 1945 and 1946.

Detroit

Detroit (/dᵻˈtrɔɪt/) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan, the fourth-largest city in the Midwest and the largest city on the United States–Canada border. It is the seat of Wayne County, the most populous county in the state. Detroit's metropolitan area, known as Metro Detroit, is home to 5.3 million people, making it the fourteenth-most populous metropolitan area in the United States and the second-largest in the Midwestern United States (behind Chicago). It is a major port on the Detroit River, a strait that connects the Great Lakes system to the Saint Lawrence Seaway. The City of Detroit anchors the second-largest economic region in the Midwest, behind Chicago, and the thirteenth-largest in the United States.

Detroit is the center of a three-county urban area (population 3,734,090, area of 1,337 square miles (3,460 km²), a 2010 United States Census) six-county metropolitan statistical area (2010 Census population of 4,296,250, area of 3,913 square miles [10,130 km²]), and a nine-county Combined Statistical Area (2010 Census population of 5,218,852, area of 5,814 square miles [15,060 km²]). The Detroit–Windsor area, a commercial link straddling the Canada–U.S. border, has a total population of about 5,700,000. The Detroit metropolitan region holds roughly one-half of Michigan's population.

NBA Summer League

The NBA Summer League is a series of off-season competitions during which National Basketball Association teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regular season line-ups. Typically consisting of a mix of rookies, second year players, and unsigned free agents, the current summer league consists of three separate leagues: the Las Vegas Summer League, the Utah Jazz Summer League, and the Orlando Pro Summer League.

History

Summer leagues have existed for decades. Historically, there was not an organized structure, with leagues sometimes overlapping and not officially coordinated. In 2004, the league held the Las Vegas Summer League for the first time; it is by far the largest league, with 23 NBA teams plus an NBA Development League all-star team participating as of 2015.

The Orlando Pro Summer League has been held since 2001. The Utah Jazz Summer League began play in 2015, replacing the Rocky Mountain Revue, an event held from 1984–2008 before going on a lengthy hiatus due to declining participation.

Avery Bradley

Avery Antonio Bradley, Jr. (born November 26, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Texas before being drafted 19th overall by the Celtics in the 2010 NBA draft.

Early life

Bradley was born on November 26, 1990 in Tacoma, Washington to Alicia Jones-Bradley and Avery Bradley, Sr. He has two older brothers, one older sister, and one younger brother. After Bradley's parents divorced in 2001, he lived with his mother but maintained a strong relationship with his father, whose 22-year military career took him all over the country. He became a Texas fan when his family lived in Arlington, Texas from 2001 to 2004. He and his family moved back to Tacoma in the summer of 2004, prior to his eighth grade year.

Bradley was AAU teammates with current Boston Celtics teammate Isaiah Thomas.

High school career

Bradley was ranked as one of the top high school basketball players in the class of 2009. He was rated #1 in the ESPNU100, #4 by Rivals.com, and #5 by Scout.com. Bradley led Findlay College Prep to the National High School Basketball championship against Oak Hill Academy, and won 56–53. He played in the 2009 McDonald's All-American Game and won the 2009 McDonald's High School All-American Dunk Contest. Before transferring to Findlay Prep for his senior season, Bradley was a three-year starter at Bellarmine Preparatory School in Tacoma, Washington, and along with University of Washington recruit Abdul Gaddy, led Bellarmine Prep to the Class 4A state semi-finals with a 25-4 mark as a junior.

Luke Kennard

Luke Kennard (born 1981) is a British poet and critic.

He won an Eric Gregory Award in 2005 for his first collection The Solex Brothers. His second collection, The Harbour Beyond The Movie, was shortlisted for the 2007 Forward Prize for Best Collection, making him the youngest ever poet to be nominated. In 2014 he was named as one of the Poetry Book Society's Next Generation Poets.

Bibliography

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