Dave Bing | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Bing in 2012 | |
| 74th Mayor of Detroit | |
| In office May 11, 2009 – January 1, 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Kenneth Cockrel Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Mike Duggan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1943-11-24)November 24, 1943 (age 81) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Yvette Bing |
| Education | Syracuse University |
| Profession | Professional athlete, businessman, politician |
| Basketball career | |
| Personal information | |
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Listed weight | 180 lb (82 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Spingarn (Washington, D.C.) |
| College | Syracuse (1963–1966) |
| NBA draft | 1966: 1st round, 2nd overall pick |
| Drafted by | Detroit Pistons |
| Playing career | 1966–1978 |
| Position | Point guard |
| Number | 21, 44 |
| Career history | |
| 1966–1975 | Detroit Pistons |
| 1975–1977 | Washington Bullets |
| 1977–1978 | Boston Celtics |
| Career highlights | |
| |
| Career statistics | |
| Points | 18,327 (20.3 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 3,420 (3.8 rpg) |
| Assists | 5,397 (6.0 apg) |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
| Basketball Hall of Fame | |
| Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame | |
David Bing (born November 24, 1943) is an American former professionalbasketball player, businessman and politician who served as the74th mayor of Detroit, Michigan from 2009 to 2014. He is a member of theDemocratic Party.
After starring atSyracuse University, Bing played 12 seasons in theNational Basketball Association (NBA) as apoint guard for theDetroit Pistons (1966–1975),Washington Bullets (1975–1977) andBoston Celtics (1977–78). During his career, he averaged over 20 points and six assists per game and made sevenNBA All-Star Game appearances, winning the game'sMost Valuable Player award in 1976. The Pistons celebrated his career accomplishments with theretirement of his #21 jersey. In addition, he was elected to theNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and named to theNBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team and theNBA 75th Anniversary All-Time Team.[1][2]
Bing founded Bing Steel, a processing company that earned him the National Minority Small Business Person of the Year award in 1984. Soon the business grew into the multimillion-dollar Detroit-based conglomerate, the Bing Group, one of the largest steel companies in Michigan.
Bing entered Detroit politics as aDemocrat in 2008, announcing his intention to run for mayor in the city'snon-partisan primary to finish the term ofKwame Kilpatrick, who had resigned amid a corruption scandal. After winning the primary, Bing then defeated Interim MayorKenneth Cockrel Jr. and was sworn in as mayor in May 2009. Later that year, Bing was re-elected to a full term. In 2013, Bing lost most of his power as mayor to Detroit's emergency managerKevyn Orr. Also having numerous health problems, and suffering approval ratings as low as 14%, Bing did not seekre-election that year, and was succeeded as mayor by politician and businessmanMike Duggan.
Bing was born November 24, 1943, in Washington, D.C., to mother Juanita, a housekeeper, and father Hasker, abricklayer anddeacon for the localBaptist church. He was the second child of four living in a two-bedroom, one-story house in the northeast part of town.[3] In his childhood, Bing received the nickname "Duke" from his father, because, according to Bing, he always "wanted to be top dog."[4] He suffered a traumatic eye injury at age five, when, while playing with an improvisedhobby horse he constructed with two sticks nailed together; Bing tripped and accidentally poked his left eye with a rusty nail. The family could not afford emergency surgery, leaving the eye to heal on its own and diminishing his vision thereafter.[5] Bing's father also suffered a severe head injury during the boy's childhood. While working a construction site, a brick fell four stories onto his head, causing a brain clot. The episode led young Bing to promise himself that he would never work in such a profession.[4]
In athletics, Bing played basketball, but older children often told him he was too small for the game.[4] However, he played well, triumphing over such older and bigger children as futureMotown musicianMarvin Gaye, who, after not performing well on the court, chose to sing on the sidelines. Bing and Gaye forged a friendship, which continued later in life. Despite his basketball play, Bing, a fan of theBrooklyn Dodgers andJackie Robinson, focused primarily onbaseball, the neighborhood's preferred game.[6]
Despite his fuzzy vision, he excelled in baseball atSpingarn High School,[4] where he enrolled in 1958.[7] Nevertheless, the school's head basketball coach William Roundtree encouraged him to revisit basketball. Roundtree became a fatherly figure to Bing, who decided to join the team. He developed into a double-digits per game scorer, noted for hisjump shot and knack for driving to the basket.[7] He continued also to compete in baseball into his senior year, but was forced to choose between it and basketball when a scheduling conflict between two tournaments arose.[4] Though he felt he was better at baseball, Bing opted for basketball, believing it gave him a greater chance at a full-ride college scholarship,[8] well aware of the path taken byLos Angeles Lakers forwardElgin Baylor, a Spingarn alum.[7] At the tournament, Bing led his team to victory and earned MVP honors.[4] All in all, in high school, Bing was a three-year letter winner, all–Inter High, all-Metro, and all-East member. In 1962, he was featured inParade magazine and made the All-American Team.
Bing attendedSyracuse University, where he was once roommates withJim Boeheim.[9] He wore a No. 22 jersey in college, as he had in high school, as a homage toElgin Baylor, who he had watched play on a playground court in Washington, D.C. as a boy in 1957.[10] He led theOrangemen in scoring as a sophomore (22.2) in 1964, as a junior (23.2) in 1965, and as a senior (28.4) in 1966. During his senior year, Bing was fifth in the nation in scoring and was Syracuse's first consensus All-American in 39 years. He was also named toThe Sporting News All-America First Team and was named Syracuse Athlete of the Year.
In his three-year varsity career at Syracuse, Bing averaged 24.8 points and 10.3 rebounds, with 1883 total points and 786 total rebounds in 76 games.[11]
While attending Syracuse, he became acquainted withJoe Biden, who was as student inthe law school. Biden would later serve as a U.S. senator, vice president, and president of the United States.[12]
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Bing's playing style was somewhat unusual for the time. As a lean, athletic and explosivepoint guard, he functioned as the playmaker distributing the ball, but also did more shooting and scoring than most others who had this position. At one time a joke about him and his backcourt partner,Jimmy Walker, was that it was a shame they could only play the game with one ball at a time.
Bing was selected 2nd overall in the1966 NBA draft by theDetroit Pistons, and wore the jersey number 21 because player-coachDave DeBusschere already wore No. 22.[10] Bing scored 1,601 points (20.0 points per game), and won the 1967NBA Rookie of the Year Award while also being named to theNBA All-Rookie First Team. The next year, he led the NBA in scoring with 2,142 points (27.1 points per game) in 1968.
On November 23, 1968, Bing recorded a triple-double of 39 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in a 127–128 loss to the Baltimore Bullets.[13]
Bing sat out 2½ months of the 1971–72 season due to a detached retina incurred from a preseason game against theLos Angeles Lakers, playing in only 45 games that season.[9] While with the Pistons, he played in sixNBA All-Star Games (1968, 1969, 1971, 1973–1975), and was named to theAll-NBA First Team in 1968 and 1971.
After leaving theDetroit Pistons, Bing went on to spend his next two seasons with theWashington Bullets, for whom he was named an NBA All-Star once more in 1976, this time winning the game's MVP Award.
He played his final season with theBoston Celtics, averaging 13.6 points. He then retired at the conclusion of the1977–1978 season.
Overall, in his NBA career, Bing averaged 20.3 points, 6.0 assists and 3.8 rebounds in 901 games over 12 NBA seasons, scoring 18,327 points with 5,397 assists.[11]
In 1992, Bing co-founded the National Basketball Retired Players Association.[12][14] As of 2024[update], he continues to serve on its board of directors.[12]
At age 22 with an NBA contract worth $15,000, Bing was rebuffed by theNational Bank of Detroit on getting a mortgage to finance a home. This led Bing to work at the bank during the offseason, holding jobs in the teller, customer relations, and mortgage departments.
Immediately after retiring, he worked at a warehouse of thesteel processing company Paragon Steel and was paid $35,000. He left after two years, after stints in the company's shipping and sales operations.
In 1980, Bing opened Bing Steel with four employees in a rented warehouse from $250,000 in loans and $80,000 of his own money. Losing all his money in six months, the company shied away from manufacturing to focus on being a middleman. WithGeneral Motors as their first major client, the company turned a profit in its second year on revenues of $4.2 million. By 1984, Bing was awarded by PresidentRonald Reagan the National Minority Small Business Person of the Year. By 1985, Bing Steel had expanded to two plants with 63 employees posting revenues of $40 million.[9] Company assets were sold off in 2009.[15]
Bing Steel transformed itself to the Bing Group, a conglomerate with headquarters located in Detroit's North End. The company, among other things, suppliesmetal stampings to theautomobile industry.
At the1990 NBA All-Star Game, Bing received theSchick Achievement Award for his work after his NBA career.
Bing was an early political supporter ofKwame Kilpatrick. However, Bing was among the first Michigan business community leaders to urge the resignation of Kilpatrick from his office as mayor of Detroit when Major scandals emerged in his second term. Kilpatrick ultimately resigned as mayor in September 2008.[16]
Bing led Detroit's effort to receive the rights to host the2004 Democratic National Convention.[17] In November 2002, Detroit lost toBoston. The Detroit bid's weak spot was considered to be its smaller number of hotel rooms compared to other cities seeking to host the 2004 convention.[18]
In January 2009, onMartin Luther King Jr. Day, Bing received theNational Civil Rights Museum Sports Legacy Award. The award honors King's legacy as a leader of thecivil rights movement, by acknowledging athletes who have made significant contributions to civil and human rights and who helped establish a foundation for future leaders inathletic careers.[19] The honor was to be presented during thehalf-time show of the game between theMemphis Grizzlies and the Detroit Pistons inMemphis, Tennessee.
Bing volunteered in theBig Brothers Big Sisters of America program.[when?]
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On October 16, 2008, Bing announced that he would be a candidate formayor of Detroit in the2009 Detroit mayoral special election to finish the term of Kwame Kilpatrick, who had resigned as part of aplea bargain agreement after being charged with the crime ofperjury. Bing finished first in a 15 candidate non-partisan primary on February 24, 2009. On May 5, 2009, Bing was elected with 52.3% of the vote, defeating interim mayorKenneth Cockrel Jr., who received 47.7%.[20][21] Bing had only moved to a residence within city limits shortly before his campaign for mayor, having previously resided in suburbanFranklin, Michigan.[16]
Bing was reelected to a full term onNovember 3, 2009.[22] The inauguration for his full term was held at theFox Theatre.[16]
In comparison to his predecessor Kwame Kilaptrick, Bing opted for a more low-key presence as mayor[16][23] and opted to forgo enjoying many of the benefits to which the mayor was entitled.[16] Bing additionally forwent accepting salary as mayor during at least his first year as mayor.[16][23] Bing did not shy away from making decisions that were unpopular.[23]
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When Bing took office, the city was suffering significant economic trouble and its government was suffering major fiscal trouble.[24] The city was suffering a $30 million budget deficit.[25] The city also had overall accumulated $332 million in deficit, more than $15 million in long-term liabilities.[23] The city government's fiscal troubles persisted under Bing, with Detroit suffering increased budget deficits during much of his tenure.[25][26] However, by the time he left office, the city's deficit had decreased by $7 million from where it stood when he assumed office.[23]
Due to the importance of the automotive industry to Detroit, Bing was involved in discussions related tothe 2009 auto bailout. These discussions also included Vice President Joe Biden, who Bing had first known when they were students at Syracuse University.[12]
In 2011, Bing proposed that the city's next budget include a $4 million decrease in funding forCity Council staff, and fund new hires for the city's fire department.[27] In mid-2011, Bingvetoed the budget passed by the City Council, claiming its cuts were excessive and could be to the detriment of the services of the city's police and fire departments. The City Council's budget made $50 million more in cuts than Bing's initial proposed budget had made.[28][29] Bing's budget proposal was for $3.1 billion in spending.[30] The City Council overrode this veto in an 8–1 vote.[28] The city's 2012 budget made a 20% decrease to the city's fire department. This has been seen as having a detrimental effect on the city's ability to handle fires, includingarson.[31] In mid-2012, the fire department announced 164 layoffs.[32] In 2013, Bing proposed a $1 billion budget, a $300 million decrease from the previous year's budget.[33]
By the time he was reelected to a full term, Bing had dismissed more than 400 city employees and had ended 16 out of 51 contracts that the city had withtrade unions.[16] Bing faced protests by unions during his mayoralty. By the end of his mayoralty, Bing had eliminated 1,000 positions in the city government, a 9% decrease to the municipal workforce. Additionally, many city employees faced decreasedsalaries, decreasedbenefits, and evenfurloughs. Bing alsooutsourced many roles of the city government. The city's public health department was replaced by the Institution for Population Healthpublic-private partnership. The workforce-development department was replaced by Detroit Employment Solutions, anonprofit organization. Management of payroll and benefits for city employees was also outsourced.[23]
The city enjoyed new private development over the course of Bing's tenure. This included both the opening of newsmall businesses, an investment of $198 million byChrysler in its Mack Avenue Engine Plant (which created 250 new jobs), and significant development in the city's downtown by businessmanDan Gilbert.[23]
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Bing proposed the idea of demolishing neighborhoods and decreasing city services.[34] Bing spoke of his intention to depopulate neighborhoods, including through forcible means such aseminent domain.[23][35] This was controversial among city residents.[23] Bing sought to incentivize residents to relocate from largely depopulated neighborhoods so that those neighborhoods could be demolished and the public services could be consolidated to more densely populated areas of the city.[35] Past mayors had made pledges to demolish abandoned homes but taken little action to do so.[36] Under Bing, the city took action to demolish abandoned homes, reporting in early 2013 to have demolished 6,700 since Bing took office. However, the city still had tens of thousands more abandoned homes.[36][37] Bing's program of demolishing abandoned homes was controversial with some city residents.[36] Aiming to repopulate certain neighborhoods, in early 2011 Bing began a program to give $150,000 in grants to assist in renovations of foreclosed homes in select neighborhoods. Hoping to encourage members of the city's police force to reside within city limits, Bing only required police officers to place a mere $1,000 in order to acquire abandoned residences and be eligible for renovation grants.[38][39]
Bing launched the Detroit Works Project (later renamed Detroit Future City), an effort to create a 50-year outline for the city's future. The project was intended to create a community-planned vision for how the city would manage its problems. The city government underestimated how many citizens would attend community meetings. Controversy arose during the process, when Bing publicized his intention to depopulate certain neighborhoods by forcibly relocating residents to denser neighborhoods. The public anger at this threatened the project.[23]
Bing sought to fix the city's brokenstreet lights, which were considered a serious problem.[40] In 2012, Bing persuaded the state legislature and governor to create the Public Lighting Authority of Detroit and dedicate utility and income tax revenue for the $185 million in bonds for this purpose. Bing appointed a lighting authority board, which then signed a contract withDTE Energy to repair the city's streetlights. However, the contract did not take place until early 2013, by which time Bing had left office. Bing's successorMike Duggan built upon Bing's efforts to repair the city's streetlights to significant success. It has been noted that, due to Bing being out of office when the work was carried out, he has not received much public credit for it.[41][42]
During Bing's tenure, there was trouble within theDetroit Police Department. This included instability in leadership, with the city cycling through four different police chiefs during Bing's less-than-5-years in office.[23] While he gave no explicit reason for the firing, it was speculated that Bing dismissed the first police chief of his mayoralty,Warren Evans, both due to thepolice raid that resulted in thekilling of Aiyana Jones and due to Bing's dissatisfaction with Warren's pursuit of media exposure through participation inreality television shows such asThe First 48.[43][44] Even as crime in large cities was declining overall in the United States, Detroit saw itshomicide rate rise to a 20-year high in 2012.[23]
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Early into his mayoralty, Bing began pursuing a renovation ofCobo Center, the city's mainconvention center.[45] Renovation occurred while Bing was mayor, taking place under the management of a new cooperative governing authority for the convention center.[23]
Bing established the city's Active and Safe Campaignpublic-private partnership to raise funds for public safety initiatives, as well as raise funds for recreational programs and enhancements to the city's recreation facilities.[46]
Bing made an unpopular proposal to decrease city bus service on Sundays. This never came into fruition.[23]
On March 1, 2013, GovernorRick Snyder announced that he would appoint an emergency manager for the city of Detroit due to the city's fiscal troubles, making Detroit the United States largest city's to be placed under emergency management.[25][47] Bing had, in the years prior, warned that this was a possibility, and expressed his desire for the city to avert such a situation.[26] The placement of the city under emergency management deprived Bing of much of his mayoral authority.[48] Bing declared that while he opposed emergency management, he was willing to work collaboratively with the emergency manager that would be appointed.[47]Kevyn Orr was soon after appointed to the emergency manager role.[48] Many in the city criticized Bing for not being more resistant to emergency management.[23]
In July 2013, before Bing left office, Detroit became the largest city in United States history to declare municipalbankruptcy.[49] This was the decision of emergency manager Kevin Orr.[50] Many criticized Bing for not doing more to fight this move by Orr.[23]
In addition to losing authority to the emergency manager, Bing suffered numerous health problems,[51] and had seen approval ratings as low as 14%.[52] He announced on May 14, 2013, he would not run for reelection to another term inthe election to be held later that year.[53]
In 2014, Bing launched the Bing Youth Initiative, a nonprofit with a mission focused on providing academic support as well as behavior and social wellness services to underprivileged young African American men in Detroit.[54]
In August 2023, Bing endorsedElissa Slotkin's candidacy for the2024 United States Senate election in Michigan.[55]
Bing is the godfather ofJalen Rose.[56] In 2020, Bing published his autobiography titled 'Attacking the Rim'.[57][58]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | STL | BLK | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966–67 | Detroit | 80 | 34.5 | .436 | .738 | 4.5 | 4.1 | — | — | 20.0 |
| 1967–68 | Detroit | 79 | 40.6 | .441 | .707 | 4.7 | 6.4 | — | — | 27.1 |
| 1968–69 | Detroit | 77 | 39.5 | .425 | .713 | 5.0 | 7.1 | — | — | 23.4 |
| 1969–70 | Detroit | 70 | 33.3 | .444 | .783 | 4.3 | 6.0 | — | — | 22.9 |
| 1970–71 | Detroit | 82 | 37.4 | .467 | .797 | 4.4 | 5.0 | — | — | 27.0 |
| 1971–72 | Detroit | 45 | 43.0 | .414 | .785 | 4.1 | 7.0 | — | — | 22.6 |
| 1972–73 | Detroit | 82 | 41.0 | .448 | .814 | 3.6 | 7.8 | — | — | 22.4 |
| 1973–74 | Detroit | 81 | 38.6 | .436 | .813 | 3.5 | 6.9 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 18.8 |
| 1974–75 | Detroit | 79 | 40.8 | .434 | .809 | 3.6 | 7.7 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 19.0 |
| 1975–76 | Washington | 82 | 35.9 | .447 | .787 | 2.9 | 6.0 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 16.2 |
| 1976–77 | Washington | 64 | 23.7 | .454 | .773 | 2.2 | 4.3 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 10.6 |
| 1977–78 | Boston | 80 | 28.2 | .449 | .824 | 2.7 | 3.8 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 13.6 |
| Career | 901 | 36.4 | .441 | .775 | 3.8 | 6.0 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 20.3 | |
| All-Star | 7 | 17.9 | .372 | 1.000 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.9 | |
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | STL | BLK | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Detroit | 6 | 42.3 | .410 | .733 | 4.0 | 4.8 | — | — | 28.2 |
| 1974 | Detroit | 7 | 44.6 | .420 | .733 | 3.7 | 6.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 18.9 |
| 1975 | Detroit | 3 | 44.7 | .426 | .615 | 3.7 | 9.7 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 16.0 |
| 1976 | Washington | 7 | 29.9 | .447 | .800 | 2.6 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 13.7 |
| 1977 | Washington | 8 | 6.9 | .438 | 1.000 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 4.0 |
| Career | 31 | 31.1 | .423 | .748 | 2.7 | 4.3 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 15.4 | |
| Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Bing | 26,337 | 28.82 | ||
| Ken Cockrel, Jr. (incumbent) | 24,677 | 27.00 | ||
| Freman Hendrix | 21,208 | 23.21 | ||
| Warren Evans | 9,193 | 10.06 | ||
| Coleman Young II | 3,744 | 4.10 | ||
| Sharon McPhail | 2,565 | 2.81 | ||
| Nicholas Hood III | 2,077 | 2.27 | ||
| Jerroll Sanders | 336 | 0.37 | ||
| D. Etta Wilcoxon | 309 | 0.34 | ||
| Brenda Sanders | 199 | 0.22 | ||
| Donald Bradley | 157 | 0.17 | ||
| Duane Montgomery | 152 | 0.17 | ||
| Write-In | 136 | 0.15 | ||
| Stanley Michael Christmas | 103 | 0.11 | ||
| Joseph Holt | 101 | 0.11 | ||
| Frances Culver | 87 | 0.10 | ||
| Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Bing | 49,054 | 52% | +23% | |
| Ken Cockrel, Jr. (incumbent) | 44,770 | 48% | +22% | |
| Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Bing (incumbent) | 68,623 | 73.90 | ||
| Tom Barrow | 10,302 | 11.09 | ||
| Jerroll Sanders | 9,322 | 10.04 | ||
| Duane Montgomery | 1,911 | 2.06 | ||
| Dartagnan M. Collier | 1,265 | 1.36 | ||
| Bob Allman | 873 | 0.94 | ||
| Write-In | 566 | 0.61 | ||
| Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Bing (incumbent) | 70,060 | 56% | −18% | |
| Tom Barrow | 50,757 | 41% | +30% | |
| Write-In | 3,849 | 3% | +3% | |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
