DETROIT — Going to the NBA All-Star game is about more than just an individual recognition for J.B. Bickerstaff.
The Detroit Pistons’ second-year coach will bring his coaching staff to the 2026 edition of the All-Star game in Inglewood, Calif. on Feb. 15 after the Pistons secured the best record in the Eastern Conference through Feb. 1.
But the opportunity speaks to something greater in Bickerstaff’s eyes.
“It’s special for a lot of different reasons, understanding why you’re in the position you’re in and how important the people around you are in helping you succeed and get there,” Bickerstaff said. “If the guys don’t do what they do, they don’t buy in, the staff doesn’t do what they do...the leadership here in the organization don’t do what they do, we’re not in this position.
“I think that’s the most important thing is this gives you the opportunity to celebrate all the people around, all the work everyone does to put a team in position to be successful and then you all reap the benefits of it.”
Despite this being Bickerstaff’s first time as a head coach in the All-Star game, he’s been around the event plenty of times growing up around the NBA with his father, Bernie, a longtime coach and front office executive.
So much so, that Bickerstaff sees the opportunity as a full-circle moment after his first All-Star experience, which his mother, Eugenia, shared with him in a phone conversation Saturday following the announcement.
“My mom called me last night and told me the 1979 All-Star game was here in Pontiac, Michigan. She was able to come because they thought I wasn’t going to be born until April,” Bickerstaff said. “That February, my dad was an assistant coach for the All-Star team, and they were here, and she was pregnant with me 46 years ago. For my family in particular, having a full-circle moment is pretty special for sure.”
Not only is Bickerstaff making his head-coaching debut at the All-Star game, he’s the first Pistons coach to do so since Flip Saunders in 2006.
He joins Chuck Daly (1990) and Doug Collins (1997) as the only other Detroit coaches to get the nod.
The Pistons are going to be one of the more well-represented teams in the league with their staff coaching one of three All-Star teams in the new USA vs. the World format and guard Cade Cunningham already clinched a starter spot.
Center Jalen Duren is widely expected to be selected as a reserve amid a career season.
Those two, among the rest of the Detroit roster, continue to beat the drum for the job Bickerstaff has done with the team.
From tripling the Pistons’ win total in season one to now seeing Detroit atop the East for nearly three months.
“Coach of the year. I think it’s obvious at this point he should be. We might as well give (the award) to him now because he deserves it,” Duren said. “He’s put us in a position to be where we are now. He’s a part of the culture, well, the main part of culture that we’ve built these last two years.
“He’s very deserving for everything that comes his way. He’s an amazing coach, he’s an amazing mentor, an amazing leader. And I think as we continue to do what we do, the world is just going to continue to see it.”
Cunningham calls Bickerstaff a “top-of-the-line coach” as he’s enjoyed the best two seasons of his career under the former Cleveland Cavaliers and Memphis Grizzlies coach.
Ask coaches or players from the Pistons, they’ll preach that individual honors are all the culmination of a team effort. Seeing Bickerstaff and his staff lead an All-Star team will be one of the clearest examples.
But there’s still a few All-Star decisions to wait for, namely Duren’s involvement, if the Pistons could send one of their young players to the Rising Stars tournament and one thing Cunningham is clamoring for.
“(Bickerstaff) better be coaching my team,” he said.