DETROIT – Pistons fans are better than me.

If this were my team, I wouldn’t be heading to Little Caesars Arena on Thursday night to watch my team lose its 25th straight game. But Detroit fans did. Almost every seat had a back. Four days before Christmas, I wasn’t going to pay for the ticket, $50 for parking, gas, food, and whatever other expenses it costs me to watch a football game in person these days. This money could go toward buying gifts, or a nice dinner. However, Pistons fans decided it was more important to do their part in not allowing history to be made.

I was going to leave in the first quarter, the minute I checked the box score and saw that Detroit had committed seven turnovers against an already smelly Utah Jazz team that was without a few starters/rotation players. Instead, Pistons fans got louder as the game went on. At the very least, I would have left midway through the fourth quarter, right when the team was starting to break down again, hoping to beat the traffic. Pistons fans stayed. Cheer up. they think. They were hoping.

They don’t deserve this.

The 119-111 loss to the Jazz seemed like absolute bottom for a Detroit team that thought it couldn’t go any lower. Forget the players that came out of Utah. Jazz played in Cleveland the night before. The game against the Pistons was their third game in four days. However, Utah had a combined 50 points off turnovers and second-chance points. Detroit had 28. Those are loud stats. To put it more bluntly, “I want it more than you do.”

think about it.

A team that had every reason to accept a loss, pack up and get on a plane back to Salt Lake City, entered Detroit as if coming away with a victory was a do-or-die situation. And the team, in the midst of a 24-game losing streak, just a few games away from being on the wrong side of history and with a packed arena that had every reason not to be there, collapsed, collapsed, collapsed.

“It’s very difficult to understand,” Pistons coach Monty Williams said.

Fans love this basketball team. How do I know? Go back to the 2000s, when Detroit’s old arena, the Palace of Auburn Hills, led the NBA in attendance year after year after year. If you put together a good product, people will come. They won’t want to leave.

I also interact with these people daily, both online and in person. Their frustrations are based on love. No one is angry about something they don’t care about.

These fans show up more than you think to support this team — believe it or not, 2-26 Detroit, which hasn’t won a game in 54 days, has the 15th-largest attendance in the NBA. They appear proudly, with smiles and optimism. Jerseys. hoodies. Hats. Whatever they can get that flashes a Pistons logo, they wear. When, at this point, they should show up with brown paper bags over their heads — as happened in 2008 when the Lions went 0-16. This is too bad because it doesn’t look like it’s going to get better any time soon.

There has to be a change of some kind. This cannot continue. No matter how many times players say: “We’re all we’ve got,” or “No one’s coming to save us,” or “We can turn this around,” it’s very clear now that that’s not the answer. issue. this is not working. This team, such as it is, has a broken spirit.

Detroit doesn’t need to mortgage its future for a quick fix. That wouldn’t be smart. However, a change had to happen yesterday. This group has fallen deep into the abyss. A new face, a new perspective or something, anything different seems like the only way for this organization to reward their fan base with something other than a win every couple of months.

Everyone is responsible for this. Players turn the ball a lot. They miss open shots. The technical staff continues to rely on a bench that has not played well since the start of the World Championship. Perhaps dealing with some players made this group soulless. The front office has put a lot on the shoulders of players who should remain in college. The list lacks reliable wings. Perhaps the club’s management was more interested in winning the press conference than ensuring that the coach was actually the best person for the job at this stage of the rebuilding.

Everything is connected. All of this is why the Pistons are where they are today, on their way to being the worst team in NBA history.

It is a historic franchise that loses its luster with each passing season. Detroit hasn’t won a playoff game since 2008. The Pistons have made the playoffs just three times since then. One of the most decorated organizations in NBA history has been living under the basement for nearly two decades. This doesn’t even seem right.

A reset is needed. Even though Detroit started over just a few years ago, it may need to start over.

This cannot continue. Something has to change. Because the fans don’t deserve this.

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(Top photo of Bojan Bogdanovic and Cade Cunningham: Brian Seewald/NBAE via Getty Images)