Motown Masterminds

How a job-hopping coach and his former bad-boy boss turned the Detroit Pistons into champions

After the Detroit Pistons obliterated the Los Angeles Lakers to claim the National Basketball Association title last week in the sport's biggest upset in more than 25 years, the two masterminds behind the win, Pistons coach Larry Brown and general manager Joe Dumars, didn't get the chance to congratulate each other until the next morning. The night had been a blur of confetti, champagne blasts and Kid Rock music. Finally, at around 9 a.m., the two grabbed a moment alone in Dumars' office at the Pistons' arena, the Palace, in Auburn Hills, Mich. Both working on three hours of sleep, they...

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