55 Facts About Dave Bing

David Bing was born on November 24,1943 and is an American former professional basketball player, businessman, and politician who served as the 74th mayor of Detroit, Michigan from 2009 to 2014.

Dave Bing founded Dave Bing Steel, a processing company that earned him the National Minority Small Business Person of the Year award in 1984.

Dave Bing entered Detroit politics as a Democrat in 2008, announcing his intentions to run for mayor in the city's non-partisan primary to finish the term of Kwame Kilpatrick, who had resigned amid a corruption scandal.

Later that year, Dave Bing was re-elected to a full term.

Dave Bing thus did not seek re-election in 2013 and was succeeded by politician and businessman Mike Duggan.

Dave Bing was born November 24,1943, in Washington, DC, to mother Juanita, a housekeeper, and father Hasker, a bricklayer and deacon for the local Baptist church.

Dave Bing was the second child of four living in a two-bedroom, one-story house in the northeast part of town.

Dave Bing's father suffered a severe head injury during the boy's childhood.

Roundtree became a fatherly figure to Dave Bing, who decided to join the team.

Dave Bing developed into a double-digits per game scorer, noted for his jump shot and knack for driving to the basket.

Dave Bing continued to compete in baseball into his senior year, but was forced to choose between it and basketball when a scheduling conflict between two tournaments arose.

At the tournament, Dave Bing led his team to victory and earned MVP honors.

Dave Bing attended Syracuse University, where he was once roommates with Jim Boeheim.

Dave Bing led the Orangemen in scoring as a sophomore in 1964, as a junior in 1965, and as a senior in 1966.

Dave Bing was named to The Sporting News All-America First Team and was named Syracuse Athlete of the Year.

In 1966, after being selected 2nd overall in the 1966 NBA draft by the Detroit Pistons, Dave Bing scored 1,601 points, and won the 1967 NBA Rookie of the Year Award while being named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.

Dave Bing played his final season with the Boston Celtics, averaging 13.6 points.

In 1992, Dave Bing co-founded the National Basketball Retired Players Association.

At age 22 with an NBA contract worth $15,000, Dave Bing was rebuffed by the National Bank of Detroit on getting a mortgage to finance a home.

Dave Bing left after two years, after stints in the company's shipping and sales operations.

In 1980, Dave Bing opened Dave Bing Steel with four employees in a rented warehouse from $250,000 in loans and $80,000 of his own money.

Dave Bing Steel transformed itself to the Dave Bing Group, a conglomerate with headquarters located in Detroit's North End.

At the 1990 NBA All-Star Game, Dave Bing received the Schick Achievement Award for his work after his NBA career.

Dave Bing led Detroit's effort to receive the rights to host the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

Day, Dave Bing received the National Civil Rights Museum Sports Legacy Award.

Dave Bing volunteered in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America program.

On October 16,2008, Dave Bing announced that he would be a candidate for mayor of Detroit in the 2009 Detroit mayoral special election to finish the term of Kwame Kilpatrick, who had resigned as part of a plea bargain agreement after being charged with the crime of perjury.

Dave Bing finished first in a 15 candidate non-partisan primary on February 24,2009.

Dave Bing was reelected to a full term on November 3,2009.

Dave Bing did not shy away from making decisions that were unpopular.

When Dave Bing took office, the city was suffering significant economic trouble and its government was suffering major fiscal trouble.

In 2011, Dave Bing proposed that the city's next budget include a $4 million decrease in funding for City Council staff, and fund new hires for the city's fire department.

In mid-2011, Dave Bing vetoed the budget passed by the City Council, claiming its cuts were excessive and could be to the detriment of the services of the city's police and fire departments.

The City Council's budget made $50 million more in cuts than Dave Bing's initial proposed budget had made.

In 2013, Dave Bing proposed a $1 billion budget, a $300 million decrease from the previous year's budget.

Dave Bing proposed the idea of demolishing neighborhoods and decreasing city services.

Dave Bing spoke of his intention to depopulate neighborhoods, including through forcible means such as eminent domain.

Dave Bing sought to incentivize residents to relocate from largely depopulated neighborhoods so that those neighborhoods could be demolished and the public services could be consolidated to more densely populated areas of the city.

Dave Bing launched the Detroit Works Project, an effort to create a 50-year outline for the city's future.

Controversy arose during the process, when Dave Bing publicized his intention to depopulate certain neighborhoods by forcibly relocating residents to denser neighborhoods.

Dave Bing sought to fix the city's broken street lights, which were considered a serious problem.

In 2012, Dave Bing persuaded the state legislature and governor to create the Public Lighting Authority of Detroit and dedicate utility and income tax revenue for the $185 million in bonds for this purpose.

Dave Bing appointed a lighting authority board, which then signed a contract with DTE Energy to repair the city's streetlights.

However, the contract did not take place until early 2013, by which time Dave Bing had left office.

Dave Bing established the city's Active and Safe Campaign public-private partnership to raise funds for public safety initiatives, as well as raise funds for recreational programs and enhancements to the city's recreation facilities.

Dave Bing made an unpopular proposal to decrease city bus service on Sundays.

Dave Bing had, in the years prior, warned that this was a possibility, and expressed his desire for the city to avert such a situation.

Dave Bing declared that while he opposed emergency management, he was willing to work collaboratively with the emergency manager that would be appointed.

In July 2013, before Dave Bing left office, Detroit became the largest city in United States history to declare municipal bankruptcy.

Dave Bing announced on May 14,2013, he would not run for reelection to another term in the election to be held later that year.

In 2020, Dave Bing published his autobiography titled 'Attacking the Rim'.

Dave Bing was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1990.

Dave Bing was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996.

Dave Bing was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.

Dave Bing was named one of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021.