How Detroit Pistons Legend Went From $15,000 Rookie Contract to Running a Business That Made $300 Million

Many modern NBA fans may not be familiar with Dave Bing aside from his pink diamond 95 overall-rated MyTeam card in NBA 2K. The Pistons legend played between 1966-1978, an era that didn’t offer the same financial luxury as current NBA players see. That didn’t limit Bing’s ability to find a way to become a multi-millionaire.

Any player drafted in the first round receives a guaranteed contract. The value varies depending on their pick. According to the 2024-25 rookie scale, the top overall pick earns $57 million in a four-year contract; the last first-round pick earns just under $13 million on the same timeframe. Bing was the second overall pick in the 1966 NBA Draft, yet his rookie deal was a measly $15,000.

Bing exceeded that deal rather quickly, winning Rookie of the Year while averaging 20 points per game. He followed that up averaging 27.1 points, 6.4 assists and 4.7 rebounds in his sophomore year. In 1969, his talents caught the eye of Earl Foreman, who owned a team in the rival American Basketball Association. He signed Bing to a lucrative $500,000 deal.

In a turn of events, the Foreman deal fell through, and Bing was able to return to the NBA. He leveraged his contract with the ABA to attain a new agreement with the Pistons worth $450,000 for three years.

Bing wrapped up his career at the end of the 1977-78 season. Shortly after, he returned to Detroit to launch Bing Steel in 1980. The company quickly became very profitable, earning annual sales of $61 million a decade later, according to Black Enterprise magazine’s rankings. Bing sold the company in 2009 while it was generating $300 million in annual sales.

The Hall-of-Fame basketball player’s tremendous life exploits didn’t stop there.

Bing became a mayor

After selling Bing Steel, Dave tried his hand at politics. The decision turned out to be the right move. Bing ran in the special election to fill in the remainder of Kwame Kilpatrick’s term. The people were so thrilled with his work as mayor, they eventually elected him to a full term.

Bing served as mayor until 2013, when he chose not to run for re-election. Bing achieved major feats as mayor, including initiating the city’s Public Lighting Authority of Detroit to fix the ongoing broken street light problem, which continues despite the new regime.