Former Pistons GM Jack McCloskey battling Alzheimer's disease
Detroit Free PressMay 18, 2017
McCloskey, 91, nicknamed "Trader Jack" for his many astute trades during his tenure as the team's general manager in 1979-92, is at Insignia Personal Care Home in
"He has his good days and not so good days,'' said his wife, Leslie. "Some days he's very happy and talks to everybody. Then some days he's just very tired. You never know. He's not really eating a lot. I go over every day. Today I took a bunch of food from home to see if I could make him eat that. He's doing pretty well. He's in a really good place. He was starting to get really bad at home, and I couldn't take care of him anymore because he was falling.
"This is a memory care facility. It's for all people where we'll all be; with no memory. It's a very small place; maybe 35 people. They are very nice, and he gets a lot of care. ''
She said his memories of being in
"We always talk about it and a couple of the guys here, especially a guy named Jarvis, are here at night and they've watched 30 for 30 (by
McCloskey assembled the teams that won the 1989 and 1990 NBA titles. He had a banner at the Palace, an honor he received in 2008, which now will be hung at
He left the Pistons in 1992 for the
His Pistons teams made nine straight playoff appearances with five straight trips to the
Always with an eye for talent, McCloskey drafted
He traded for
"Jack was one of the best GMs,'' former Piston
Cureton said there wouldn't have been a Bad Boys without McCloskey.
"When you think about the Bad Boys you're going to think about the Jack McCloskey era,'' Cureton said. "He came right when I came out of school (Detroit Mercy). He had an ability of putting team's together and making the right moves.
"When I got here in 1983-84 we were a playoff team. We had a foundation. We had the right parts. He made great moves in bringing in Mahorn and drafting Salley and Rodman. He brought in
"He means a lot to the Pistons and the city of
Said Mahorn: "He was responsible for bringing me here. Jack knew how to put teams together. He was a great judge of talent and then Chuck was able to mold that talent into a championship team.''
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