[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 17959-17960]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        INDUCTION OF JOE DUMARS

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr President, I would like to make remarks about an 
American who has made many proud and achieved an incredible milestone 
this past weekend.
  The person I am referring to is Joe Dumars who has been affiliated 
with the Detroit Pistons professional basketball franchise since he was 
drafted by the Pistons in 1985. This past Friday, Joe was inducted in 
the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA. On 
behalf of all Michiganders and Pistons fans everywhere, I would like to 
congratulate Joe and his family on this great achievement.
  Joe Dumars was born May 24, 1963, in Shrevepoint, LA. He attended 
Natchitoches High School and later McNeese State University, both also 
in Louisiana. He was the number eighth overall pick in the 1985 
National Basketball Association--NBA--draft, selected by the Pistons 
for, among other things, his reputation to play defense.
  In the NBA, Joe lived up to that reputation--often being called on by 
Pistons head coach Chuck Daly to guard

[[Page 17960]]

the other team's best player. This was never more evident in the 1980s 
as the Pistons consistently bested the Chicago Bulls due in part to Joe 
Dumars' defense on a young guard named Michael Jordan. To this day, 
Michael Jordan says Joe Dumars was one of the best defenders he ever 
faced.
  Always a team player, Joe Dumars became a pillar in the foundation of 
a Pistons team that went to the NBA finals three times in his career 
winning the championship twice in 1989 and 1990. Isiah Thomas, Bill 
Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman, John Salley, and Joe Dumars proved that 
defense wins championships, and Joe was personally rewarded as the NBA 
Finals MVP in 1989.
  Joe Dumars retired as a player from the NBA in 1999 playing all 14 of 
his seasons with the Pistons. His career achievements include scoring 
16,401 points, handing out 4,612 assists, grabbing 2,203 rebounds, and 
recording 903 steals. He was named to the NBA All-Star team six times 
and to the NBA All Defensive first team four times during his career. 
Joe's jersey was retired by the Pistons the year after he retired and 
it now hangs high in the rafters of the Palace of Auburn Hills.
  Although Joe's playing career was now over, his enthusiasm and love 
of the game never diminished, so he took a job in 2000 with the Pistons 
in their front office as president of Basketball Operations. He was 
named NBA Executive of the Year in 2003 and put together the team that 
reached the NBA finals in 2004 and 2005. Winning the NBA championship 
in 2004 made Joe a key figure of all three Pistons' championships.
  Friday in Springfield, MA, all of Joe's achievements earned him the 
ultimate recognition in his chosen profession. So to Joe, his family, 
his former teammates, and the entire Pistons organization, from this 
Pistons fan I say congratulations on a recognition well deserved.

                          ____________________