• Bing and Jalen

    If you missed it, check out the outstanding piece by Mike Rosenberg in SI this week on former Piston and current Detroit mayor Dave Bing.   Yes, there is tie to Michigan athletics with a portion touching on Bing’s relationship with Jalen, an excerpt: The Pistons roomed Jimmy and Dave together on the road, hoping Dave could reel him in a little, but that was like trying to net a pack of butterflies. Walker was traded to Houston in August 1972; five months later Jalen Anthony Rose was born in Detroit. Jimmy was Jalen’s biological father. Jimmy was a lot of kids’ biological father. "I hear that number is in the teens," Rose says. Jalen’s mother, Jeanne Rose, was a key puncher for Chrysler. His father was invisible; Jalen never saw him. But his father’s backcourtmate was around. Bing kept tabs on the kid, taught him what he could. "Like a godfather," Rose says. For years they talked about everything but Jimmy. "That was not something we heavily stressed," Rose says. "Or discussed. Or even acknowledged." Rose went on to be a star at Southwestern High. Jimmy was never there, but he was always with him. Rose chose number 42 because it was the reverse of the 24 that Jimmy wore with the Pistons. Jalen wanted to play like his father…