AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Jack McCloskey, General Manager for the Detroit Pistons
from 1979 to 1992 and architect of the Bad Boys’ two NBA Championship teams,
passed away Thursday afternoon in Savannah, Georgia at the age of 91. The
Detroit Pistons organization sends its thoughts and prayers to Jack’s wife,
Leslie, and the entire McCloskey family.
McCloskey, nicknamed “Trader Jack” for his many astute trades during his tenure
as the clubs’ GM, assembled the Pistons’ teams which brought two NBA
Championships to Detroit in 1989 and 1990. His teams made nine straight playoff
appearances (1984-92), five straight trips to the Eastern Conference Finals,
three NBA Finals appearances and those two championships. He was honored by the
club on March 29, 2008 with a retirement ceremony where his name was lifted to
the rafters among the franchise’s greats.
In the draft, McCloskey would select a pair of future Hall of Famers in the
first round with Isiah Thomas (1981) and Joe Dumars (1985). In 1986, he selected
Georgia Tech’s John Salley with the 11th overall pick for his athleticism and
then selected Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman from little known Southeast Oklahoma
State with the 27th pick in the second round.
But his nickname “Trader Jack” became famous because of the shrewd trades he
pulled off with other NBA teams. Most notably, McCloskey traded for Bill
Laimbeer and Vinnie Johnson. Later he acquired Rick Mahorn, James Edwards and
Mark Aguirre, all key additions that would become mainstays on those great Bad
Boys teams.
McCloskey hired another future Hall of Famer — Chuck Daly in 1983. As head
coach of the Pistons, Daly holds the franchise records for regular season
victories (467) and playoff victories (71).
