Editing Detroit Pistons (section)

===1937–1957: Fort Wayne (Zollner) Pistons===
[[Fred Zollner]] owned the Zollner Corporation, a [[foundry]] that manufactured [[piston]]s, primarily for car, truck, and locomotive engines in [[Fort Wayne, Indiana]].<ref name=Name/> In 1937, Zollner sponsored a semi-professional company basketball team called the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons after he received a request from his workers.<ref>{{cite web|first=Myron|last=Cope|title=THE BIG Z AND HIS MISFIRING PISTONS|url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1967/12/18/the-big-z-and-his-misfiring-pistons|website=SI.com|date=December 18, 1967|access-date=September 7, 2021|archive-date=September 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907134907/https://vault.si.com/vault/1967/12/18/the-big-z-and-his-misfiring-pistons|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1941, the Zollner Pistons shed their [[works team]] roots and joined the [[National Basketball League (United States)|National Basketball League]] (NBL).<ref name="Founded" /> The Zollner Pistons were NBL champions in 1944 and 1945.<ref name="Founded" /> They also won the [[World Professional Basketball Tournament]] in 1944, 1945 and 1946.<ref>{{cite web|title=World Professional Basketball Tournament|url=https://nbahoopsonline.com/History/Leagues/WPBT/index.html|website=NBA Hoops Online|access-date=May 26, 2017|archive-date=June 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606102714/http://nbahoopsonline.com/History/Leagues/WPBT/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1948, the team became the Fort Wayne Pistons and jumped to the [[Basketball Association of America]] (BAA).<ref name=Name/> In 1949, Fred Zollner brokered the formation of the National Basketball Association from the BAA and the NBL at his kitchen table.<ref name=Name>{{cite web|title=Behind the Name – the Detroit Pistons|url=https://www.nba.com/pistons/features/behindthename.html|publisher=NBA Media Ventures, LLC|website=NBA.com|date=August 16, 2006|access-date=October 28, 2015|archive-date=November 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151110045759/http://www.nba.com/pistons/features/behindthename.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

There are suggestions that Pistons players conspired with [[Gambling|gamblers]] to [[Point shaving|shave points]] and [[Match fixing|throw]] various games during the [[1953–54 NBA season|1953–54]] and [[1954–55 NBA season|1954–55]] seasons. In particular, there are accusations that the team may have intentionally lost the [[1955 NBA Finals]] to the [[1954–55 Syracuse Nationals season|Syracuse Nationals]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Charley|last=Rosen|title=The Wizard of Odds: How Jack Molinas Almost Destroyed the Game of Basketball|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ip9oRcm8iOMC|year=2001|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Ip9oRcm8iOMC&q=PA154&pg=PA154 154]|publisher=Seven Stories Press|isbn=1-58322-268-5|access-date=January 17, 2020|archive-date=February 29, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229175133/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ip9oRcm8iOMC|url-status=live}}</ref> In the decisive Game 7, the Pistons led 41–24 early in the second quarter before the Nationals rallied to win the game.<ref name="1955 NBA Finals">{{cite web|title=Nats Win First Title of Shot-Clock Era|url=http://www.nba.com/history/finals/19541955.html|website=NBA.com|access-date=August 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222181129/http://www.nba.com/history/finals/19541955.html|archive-date=February 22, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Nationals>{{cite web|first=David|last=Ramsey|title=When the Dust Settled|url=http://archive.nba.com/encyclopedia/finals/1955_syracuse_nationals.html|website=NBA.com|access-date=August 29, 2018|archive-date=August 8, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190808164455/http://archive.nba.com/encyclopedia/finals/1955_syracuse_nationals.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The Nationals won on a free throw by [[George King (basketball, born 1928)|George King]] with 12 seconds left in the game.<ref name="1955 NBA Finals"/><ref name=Nationals/> The closing moments included a [[turnover (basketball)|palming turnover]] by the Pistons' [[George Yardley]] with 18 seconds left, a foul by [[Frank Brian]] with 12 seconds left that enabled King's winning free throw, and a turnover by the Pistons' [[Andy Phillip]] in the final seconds which cost them a chance to attempt the game winning shot.<ref name="1955 NBA Finals"/><ref name=Nationals/> In [[1955–56 NBA season|the following season]], the Pistons made it back to the [[1956 NBA Finals|NBA Finals]]. However, they were defeated by the [[1955–56 Philadelphia Warriors season|Philadelphia Warriors]] in five games.<ref name="1956 Finals">{{cite web|title=1956 NBA Finals Pistons vs. Warriors|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/1956-nba-finals-pistons-vs-warriors.html|website=Basketball-Reference.com|access-date=September 2, 2017|archive-date=June 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612162044/https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/1956-nba-finals-pistons-vs-warriors.html|url-status=live}}</ref>