Pistons GM Troy Weaver Has Verbal Spat With Fan

Embattled Pistons general manager Troy Weaver had a verbal altercation with a heckler during their 142-124 home loss to Dallas on Sunday, according to multiple reports.

A video posted online and relayed by The Detroit Free Press’ Jared Ramsey showed a fuming Weaver stating to the fan, “I don’t give a (expletive), you’re lucky I don’t beat your (expletive).” The heckler retorted to Weaver, “You suck at your job.”

Another fan seated near Weaver said the heckler approached Weaver twice before arena security removed him.

“The guy that was in the incident, with the Red Wings stuff on, came over and was pointing at the scoreboard earlier in the game,” season ticket holder Jeffrey Calloway told Larry Lage of The Associated Press. “Troy Weaver just shrugged his shoulders and said, ‘OK,’ and the guy went back to his seat. When (center Jalen) Duren got ejected (during the fourth quarter), the guy came back and told him that he was terrible at his job. Then, Troy Weaver was telling the fan he had to leave and that’s when ushers or security walked over.”

Weaver declined to comment about the incident, Lage added.

As the Free Press story noted, it’s a another low moment for the franchise in a season filled with them. The Pistons were hoping to show significant improvement this season with the return of Cade Cunningham from a shin injury that sidelined most of last season.

Instead, the team set an NBA single-season record with 28 consecutive losses. Detroit has won only 10 games and is on pace to have the franchise’s worst single-season record.

Weaver has been in charge since 2020, completely overhauling the roster during the time. However, save for perhaps Cunningham, he’s been unable to find All-Star level talents despite repeated trips to the lottery.

Weaver made numerous trades prior to this February’s deadline, mainly designed to open up more cap space for this summer and expand court time for younger players. The Pistons could have as much as $60MM in cap room.

Weaver, who received a four-year contract when he was originally hired away from the Thunder front office, signed a contract extension in December 2022.

Owner Tom Gores expressed support for Weaver last month despite the team’s miserable performance.

“I think we just came together and the first thing we did is take accountability for the mistakes we made,” Gores responded when asked about Weaver. “As an organization, you really can’t go forward until you acknowledge what didn’t work. That was the first thing. And being honest about that provides you the future. If you don’t look in your past for a little bit and what was right and what was wrong, it’s very hard to go to the future. We did that along the process. I have confidence in Troy. I have confidence. We leaned on each other through this process, but we also didn’t avoid the idea of what were we accountable for? It gave us a pathway to go forward.”

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