The Pistons went above and beyond in their quest to make their first home preseason game feel as regular as possible in the wake of coronavirus-related restrictions. The team hosted the Knicks Friday on NBA preseason opening night, and will host them again today. Here’s the Detroit Free Press on what the preseason opening night scene was like in Detroit:
After walking into an NBA arena for the first time in nine months Friday, the most surprising aspect wasn’t the new COVID-19 protocols for team personnel and media, or the absence of fans in the arena — those were anticipated changes the rest of the sports world has already embraced.
What stood out was the loudness, and pervasiveness, of the music. The Detroit Pistons tipped off their preseason slate Friday, and it was their first live basketball game since their 2019-20 season ended March 11. Throughout the entire game and in the time leading up to it, Little Caesars Arena played the usual mix of top-40 rap hits and stadium classics.
I, like much of the rest of the world, have been working from home and avoiding loud, public environments since mid-March. I’m not sure I had heard or even thought of “Yeah!” by Usher during the nine months leading into the game. But hearing it while the Pistons played the New York Knicks made me realize how much I missed those environments.
It was one of multiple steps the Pistons took to create something resembling a normal game day environment. John Mason, their long-tenured public address announcer, did his usual pregame introduction routine. Cheerleaders still danced in the stands. Fake crowd noise reacted after every made and missed shot. Eventually, it all melded into something resembling a basketball game in a normal year.
