Sports
Jack McCloskey
1925–2017 · basketball executive
"Trader Jack", the Pistons general manager who assembled the "Bad Boys" teams that won NBA championships in 1989 and 1990.
- Born
Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania- Died
Savannah, Georgia
aged 91- Birth name
- John William McCloskey
- Also known as
- Trader Jack
- Detroit years
- 1979–1992
- Field
- Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
McCloskey, a former player and coach, took over as the Pistons' general manager in 1979, when the team was among the worst in the NBA and playing in the cavernous Pontiac Silverdome. Over the next decade he built a champion through the draft and a long series of bold trades that earned him the nickname "Trader Jack". He drafted Isiah Thomas in 1981, Joe Dumars in 1985 and Dennis Rodman and John Salley in 1986, and he traded for Bill Laimbeer, Vinnie Johnson, Rick Mahorn, Adrian Dantley and later Mark Aguirre and James Edwards. In 1983 he hired coach Chuck Daly. The result was the rugged, deep team known as the "Bad Boys", which reached three straight Finals and won the NBA title in 1989 and 1990. McCloskey left in 1992 to run the Minnesota Timberwolves. In 2008 the Pistons honored him with a banner raised at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
Highlights
- Pistons general manager 1979–1992
- Drafted Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars and Dennis Rodman
- Built the NBA champions of 1989 and 1990
- Hired coach Chuck Daly in 1983
- Honored with a banner at the Palace on March 29, 2008
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1988–1992, 2008
The Palace of Auburn Hills
Demolished · 1988–2017
Home of the championship teams he built, where a banner honoring him was raised in 2008; demolished in 2020.