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.

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America, and is widely considered to be the premier men's professional basketball league in the world. It has 30 franchised member clubs (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada), and is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB), which is recognized by FIBA (also known as the International Basketball Federation) as the national governing body for basketball in the United States. The NBA is one of the four major North American professional sports leagues. NBA players are the world's best paid sportsmen, by average annual salary per player.

The league was founded in New York City on June 6, 1946, as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The league adopted the name National Basketball Association on August 3, 1949, after merging with its rival National Basketball League (NBL). The league's several international as well as individual team offices are directed out of its head offices located in the Olympic Tower at 645 Fifth Avenue in New York City. NBA Entertainment and NBA TV studios are directed out of offices located in Secaucus, New Jersey.

The Palace

The Palace was a British drama television series that aired on ITV in 2008. Produced by Company Pictures for the ITV network, it was created by Tom Grieves and follows a fictional British Royal Family in the aftermath of the death of King James III and the succession of his 24-year-old son, King Richard IV, played by Rupert Evans. It also stars Jane Asher and Zoe Telford. The series was filmed on location in Lithuania in 2007 and broadcast from January to March 2008. It was axed after one series due to low viewing figures.

Plot

On the sudden death of King James III, his 24-year-old elder son, Richard IV, inherits the throne. This causes resentment with his elder sister, Princess Eleanor (Sophie Winkleman), who wants the throne for herself. Her Private Secretary, Major Simon Brooks (David Harewood), helps her in trying to discredit the new king. Richard's younger brother, Prince George (Sebastian Armesto), is a party-animal, while the younger daughter, Princess Isabelle (Nathalie Lunghi), is an A-Level student. Their mother is the now-widowed Queen Charlotte (Jane Asher).

NBA 2K (series)

The NBA 2K series is a series of basketball video games developed and released annually since 1999. The NBA 2K series was exclusive to the Sega Dreamcast when it was first introduced by Sega to address EA Sports's decision to not publish any sports games. The series was originally published by Sega, under the label Sega Sports and is now published by 2K Sports. All of the games in the franchise have been developed by Visual Concepts. Its primary competitor in the marketplace is the NBA Live series from EA Sports.

History

The first four games of the series featured commentary from fictional announcers "Bob Steele" and "Rod West" (voiced by Bay Area sports radio personalities Bob Fitzgerald and Rod Brooks who works at KNBR 680 San Francisco. They also host a radio show called "Fitz and Brooks"), but since NBA 2K3 the game's announcing team has been something of a revolving door, featuring commentary from the likes of Bill Walton, Tom Tolbert, Kevin Frazier, Michele Taffy, and Bob Fitzgerald. The color and play-by-play commentary in NBA 2K6, NBA 2K7, and NBA 2K8 is provided by Kevin Harlan and Kenny Smith, with Craig Sager providing sideline reports. Peter Barto is the PA Announcer. NBA 2K9 features commentary from Kevin Harlan and Clark Kellogg with Cheryl Miller as the sideline reporter on most versions of NBA 2K9 and NBA 2K10. Starting with NBA 2K11, Doris Burke replaces Miller as the sideline reporter on most versions of the game. On most versions of NBA 2K12, Steve Kerr joins Kevin Harlan and Clark Kellogg in the commentary booth. On the PlayStation 2 versions starting with NBA 2K9, no sideline reporter is featured in the game. In 2002 Sega implemented the American television network, ESPN's brand with their Sega Sports video games. The ESPN brand was used for 3 games, with the second game even being renamed ESPN NBA Basketball, until ESPN signed a 15-year deal with EA Sports.