Detroit Pistons Honor the Legendary St. Cecilia’s Gym With City Edition Uniforms
For this season’s City Edition uniforms, the Detroit Pistons are paying homage to St. Cecilia’s gym, a community staple whose history dates back over 50 years and that has seen some of the biggest names in the game play on its floor.
“Anybody that was anybody passed through St. Cecilia’s,” says Earl “The Twirl” Cureton, a two-time NBA champion (1983, 1994) during his 12-year playing career. Cureton, who is now a community ambassador for the Pistons, grew up in Detroit and first hooped at St. Cecilia’s legendary gym (“The Saint”) in the mid-’70s.
“It definitely was the proving ground,” he says. “That’s the place where you had to go play. If you didn’t come through there, then you weren’t real.”
In the wake of the devastating 1967 Detroit Riots, Sam Washington—the athletic director at St. Cecilia’s—was determined to create a safe place for kids to play basketball. Washington opened up the doors to St. Cecilia’s gym, and before long it was attracting some of the most talented players in the area. At a time of tension and unrest, the modest facility (located near I-96 in west Detroit) had a unifying effect on the community and became a symbol of the city’s resilience.
Hall of Famer Dave Bing was the first NBA star to play at The Saint, using the gym to work out amid a contract dispute with the Pistons. As the years passed, everyone from George Gervin, Magic Johnson, and Isiah Thomas to Jalen Rose and Chris Webber graced St. Cecilia’s court, drawing huge crowds that packed into the cramped space on summer days.
In early November, the Pistons unveiled their 2022-23 City Edition uniforms, which pay tribute to St. Cecilia’s. Designed in collaboration with Creative Director of Innovation Big Sean, who went to basketball camp at The Saint as an 8-year-old, the new threads are green, just like the walls of the iconic gym. The shorts feature a replica of the stained-glass window that adorns the front entrance of the building, and the jerseys include the same quote—“Where stars are made, not born”—that is inscribed on the hardwood floor.
“It was like the Drew League in Detroit before the Drew League,” Big Sean says about the pro-am league at St. Cecilia’s. “[The gym] is just a part of the community, and I think it’s kind of been slept on these past few years, so I’m glad it’s being highlighted. I’m glad we were able to pay homage with these uniforms. This was my first time designing anything like that. It was a big deal for me.”
The Detroit rapper’s signature appears on the jersey, as well as three gold stars that represent the organization’s titles.
In addition to rocking the uniforms throughout the season, the Pistons are spearheading efforts to renovate St. Cecilia’s. SLAM’s parent company, JDS Sports, recently pledged a $250,000 grant to help kickstart construction, joining the Detroit Pistons Foundation and the Knight Foundation.
“I love the storytelling around this jersey, but it’s not just the look-back storytelling,” says Alicia Jeffreys, Chief Marketing Officer for the Pistons. “I think it’s the future of The Saint that we really want to put out into the world. We want for the next several generations of kids in this neighborhood to be able to have a safe place to play ball. Restoring The Saint is just as important to us as restoring the Pistons on the court. We have to do both of those things in tandem.”
Commenti
Posta un commento