The team of Detroit Pistons was originally known as the Zollner Pistons, named after founder Fred Zollner, owner of Zollner Machine Works, which made pistons. The team's home arena is the Palace of the Auburn Hills in Michigan. They have won 3 NBA championships. First was in 1989 which they defended in 1990. Their third and last win so far was in 2004.

It is also known to have built rivalry with Chicago Bulls and the Boston Celtics. The Bulls-Piston rivalry originated in the 1970's but became more intense in late 1980's when Michael Jordan, Bull's superstar, was emerging as the league's best player and the “Bad Boy" Pistons were also on the rise. The Piston-Celtics rivalry refers to the two teams meeting in the NBA Playoffs five times in seven seasons from 1985–1991.

The team's uniforms has gone from simple jerseys featuring “Pistons" in blue block lettering, which came along with its variation written in scripts, to more intricate uniform designs in teal, black, yellow (the team's new colors introduced during the summer of 1996) and incorporated with a new logo – a horse's head and flaming mane. In 2001, the team returned to its championship colors: red, white and blue.