Detroit Pistons Fire Coach Kuester Four Days After Team Sale Is Completed

The Detroit Pistons fired coach John Kuester four days after Tom Gores completed his purchase of the National Basketball Association team.

An interim coach hasn’t been appointed, Pistons spokesman Kevin Grigg said in a telephone interview.

“We do not have a timetable for hiring a successor,” the team’s President of Basketball OperationsJoe Dumars said in an e-mailed statement. “We’ll conduct our due diligence privately and announce a decision when we’ve identified that individual.”

Kuester had a 57-107 record in two years with the Pistons, including a 30-52 mark this season. Detroit finished fourth in the five-team Eastern Conference Central division this year and last in the standings in 2010.

Detroit hasn’t made the playoffs for the past two years, after making eight straight trips to the postseason prior to Kuester’s arrival. The team won its third NBA title in 2004.

Gores took ownership a day after the NBA board of governors unanimously backed the acquisition on May 31. The $420 million purchase includes the Pistons, the Palace of Auburn Hills and DTE Energy Music Theatre, according to a Detroit Free Press report in February. Financial terms haven’t been disclosed.

The sale by Karen Davidson ended her family’s 37-year tenure as owner.

The 46-year-old Gores is a native of Flint, Michigan, and graduated from Michigan State University. He is the founder and chairman of Beverly Hills, California-based private equity firm Platinum Equity, which owns 34 companies in industries including technology, industrials and automotive supply.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dex McLuskey in Dallas at dmcluskey@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net.