According to Yahoo Sports
, owner Tom Gores had been pushing for a coaching change, and general manager Joe Dumars informed Cheeks of his firing Sunday morning after trying to convince Gores to give Cheeks more time in light of the wins over the weekend.
Detroit had appeared to be heading toward a fifth consecutive year of missing the playoffs, evidently an unacceptable situation after all the preseason playoff talk from players and owner Tom Gores. The Pistons made numerous personnel changes in the offseason, including bringing in big-name, expensive players like Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings, but the team struggled nonetheless.
The Pistons have now gone through four coaches in the last six seasons. Detroit had shown flashes of promise at times in 2013, defeating some of the league’s best teams in the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers, but the Pistons went through a number of losing skids and were fighting to just make the playoffs, much less become relevant there.