DETROIT — It’s common for kids to keep a spiral notebook in which they spend a lot of time drawing, and their sketches will typically feature their favorite cartoon characters or superheroes.
As an adolescent growing up in Seattle during the mid-1980s, J.B. Bickerstaff kept a spiral notebook filled with his illustrations. Bickerstaff’s journal, however, was filled with plays for the Seattle SuperSonics. He was trying to emulate his father, Bernie Bickerstaff, who was the head coach of the SuperSonics at the time.
“It was random thoughts of things that I thought might work. It was based on the players the SuperSonics had at the time,” Bickerstaff told The Detroit News. “It was different formations. Different patterns that I would run for Dale Ellis and Xavier McDaniel. I would watch my dad do it, and it was me trying to imitate him. For the longest time, I kept that notebook. I wish I knew where it was now.”
Bickerstaff since has transitioned from pretending to draw plays in his childhood bedroom to orchestrating game plans on an NBA sideline four decades later. His drawings have progressed from playful illustrations to a systematic scheme that has re-established the Detroit Pistons as one of the NBA’s top teams.
Each time he steps onto the floor of an NBA arena, the crowd sees a coach who has established himself as one of the most competitive and vocal in the league. Deep down inside, however, Bickerstaff is still the same kid from Seattle who still wants to follow in his dad’s footsteps.
“I was very fortunate never to have to look outside my house for a role model,” Bickerstaff said. “The way my dad treated us as a family. The way he went about his job and how he treated others. How he taught people and how he grew young men. I just loved the game of basketball and the position he carried because I admired him so much.”
Bickerstaff continued, “Same thing with my mom (Eugenia Bickerstaff), she was a school teacher. I would watch her make many sacrifices for me, my brother, and my sister to make sure we were OK and had everything we needed. When you put those combinations of things together, I think that is what makes a good coach.”
Under his parents’ guidance, Bickerstaff learned the importance of sacrifice, teaching, and how to implement a strategy to lead an NBA franchise. He also learned how to build relationships. Bickerstaff watched how his father earned his players’ admiration and trust, which has lasted even throughout his father’s retirement from coaching.
“It’s important, just showing the person that you care for them is major in this league,” Javonte Green told The Detroit News. “I know a lot of coaches think this is just a business. But to have a coach who cares for you as a person, is not just big on the court, but also from a mental health perspective.”
Bickerstaff began orchestrating plays as an assistant with the then-Charlotte Bobcats during their inaugural season in 2004. It marked the only time in Bickerstaff’s career that he worked alongside his father. After Bernie Bickerstaff left Charlotte in 2007, the younger joined the Minnesota Timberwolves coaching staff. From Minnesota, his career took him to Houston, Memphis, Cleveland and eventually Detroit.
Bickerstaff has carried his parents’ teachings along the way. Bernie Bickerstaff takes pride in how his son has applied the lessons he learned to forge his own unique path.
“The one thing that we have done as a family, we have allowed our kids to be independent of who we are,” Bernie Bickerstaff told The Detroit News. “If they decided this was something they wanted to do, we were going to be with them 100%.”
The father continued, “There are some mannerisms, but he has done it his way. We have conversations almost every day, but I have developed a way to be a good listener. There is nothing on my end that has been forced on him. It’s his life. His world. But I think he has done a good job.”
Making the most of a bad situation
When Bickerstaff first walked into the Henry Ford Pistons Performance Center in July 2024, the Pistons were in an abyss. The franchise had been trapped in a cycle as the NBA’s laughingstock since January 2020.
The years of purgatory in Detroit hit bottom during the 2023-24 season. The Pistons were three months removed from concluding their worst year in team history. They finished with a franchise-worst 14 wins, which featured the humiliating 28-game losing streak. Where others viewed the Pistons’ situation as a dilemma, Bickerstaff saw it as an opportunity to help.
“Talking about my mom as a teacher, and my dad helping to shape young men, that is one of the things that drives me to do this job,” Bickerstaff said. “Being able to help young men, people, and organizations progress forward and reach their potential. It is one of the things that I love most about this job. That was the opportunity that I saw here that was most glaring.”
Basketball coach
Detroit Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff argues a call during the first half of an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game against the Boston Celtics, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, in Boston. (CHARLES KRUPA — AP Photo, file)
Bickerstaff was hired at just the right time. He came to Detroit with a history of restoring struggling franchises, having served as head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies (2017-19) and the Cleveland Cavaliers (2020-24).
“He has been in some difficult situations, but all he has ever done is roll his sleeves up, take the negatives out of it, and stay positive,” said Bernie Bickerstaff, who won 419 games as an NBA head coach, leading five teams to playoff appearances during an NBA coaching career that spanned five decades. “He has continued to get better at what he does, and to understand things that did not work out well, how to handle those situations, move on, and learn from those experiences.”
The Pistons have undergone a remarkable turnaround under Bickerstaff during his 17 months as head coach, but much of his success can be attributed to the valuable lessons he learned after his unexpected jettison from Cleveland.
“You learn every step of the way, but for me, having time off before last season and evaluating myself was making sure that I paid attention to the process and not always the results,” Bickerstaff said.
Bickerstaff took over for John Beilein as coach of the Cavaliers in January 2020. At the time, Cleveland was in a similar situation to the Pistons, a franchise in distress that had won a combined 33 games after LeBron James left in free agency two years earlier.
He went on to lead the Cavaliers to their most successful era without James, posting 44 or more wins in three consecutive seasons and back-to-back playoff appearances.
The Cavaliers reached the Eastern Conference semifinals in his final year. However, due to expectations for greater success, Bickerstaff felt he began to lose sight of the most essential qualities that made him a good coach by chasing win totals.
“The last year I was in Cleveland, because of the expectations, because of the feeling that you had to overachieve in that job all the time, you started to count wins and got away from the processes that would help you get there,” Bickerstaff said. “That team and that staff did a good job of dealing with all the things we dealt with to get to the second round, because of the result of which I was let go. It came to my mind and stuck with me that the results do not matter, but the process does.”
After being fired by Cleveland, Bickerstaff returned to his roots. The experience gave him a new perspective on how to lead the Pistons out of their previous torment upon his hiring.
In his first season, the Pistons finished with 44 wins — their best record in nine years — while ending their five-year playoff drought. This season, the Pistons have catapulted into championship contention, holding the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and entering Christmas with a 24-6 record.
Sacrificing for the greater good
Bernie Bickerstaff fondly remembers watching his compete on the court from AAU through college. During his time at Denver East High School, Dad noticed his son’s selfless nature.
“His approach has always been professional and unselfish, almost to the point where it became a detriment,” the elder Bickerstaff said. “He made sure he shared the ball when it was time to go to work. …He was a smart player. Had a good IQ and feel for the game. He was a really good basketball player.”
The X’s and O’s of the game were the easiest part for Bickerstaff. Yet, his team-oriented approach as a player later would play a central role in helping the Pistons nearly three decades later.
Recognizing the importance of letting go of his ego at an early age has been crucial to restoring Detroit’s culture. From the moment he began laying the groundwork in Detroit, Bickerstaff and his staff have used a democratic system, collaborating with his players as a collective rather than through a dictatorial approach.
“It is not just me, my relationships and what I do, it’s the ability of our whole staff to build relationships, communicate, and earn the trust of the guys,” Bickerstaff said. “That is what we do best as a staff. We build relationships. Pour into them. Show how much they mean to us. If we do that, then guys will be receptive.”
Bickerstaff’s strong willingness to listen and collaborate has resulted in several players taking major leaps under his stewardship, headlined by Cade Cunningham’s ascension to All-NBA status.
His approach made it easier for players to buy into his philosophies at the start of his tenure, one of whom was Jalen Duren. Bickerstaff arrived as Duren’s third coach in three years.
He could have taken a nonchalant approach when Bickerstaff began implementing his teachings last summer, but instead, he showed Duren he genuinely cared. By coming in with an open mind and a willingness to listen, Bickerstaff demonstrated his commitment to Duren’s individual growth. Duren, this season, is now on the trajectory of his first All-Star selection.
“Building a relationship with J.B., playing under him for a year, being able to have conversations with him, him being vocal has been great,” Duren told The Detroit News.
“He is a great coach. He is a good person. He has a great heart. You can tell in the way he coaches and the passion with which he coaches; someone like that is easy to follow. Someone who has the passion. The care and the love for his players; it’s huge. For me to be the best I can be on and off the court, I want to take as much wisdom and knowledge from him.”
Bickerstaff does not remember the plays he once sketched in his spiral notebook at 6 years old, but his childhood way of thinking in Seattle has guided him to lead a franchise now on track to compete for the Larry O’Brien Trophy. His notebook illustrates the qualities that contributed to his rise from a wishful-thinking child to a successful second-generation coach who has made his father “immensely proud.”
“I would be lying if I said I remembered the plays I drew up back then,” Bickerstaff said. “But, I do remember that it was about concepts. It was about spacing. It was about spacing that would shift the defense and create opportunities for the offense. That’s the stuff I remember.”