Matt Dobek, Longtime Pistons PR Boss, Dead at 51

Filed under: Pistons

Matt Dobek, who served as a top public relations official for the Detroit Pistons from 1981 through May of this year, died Saturday at age 51, according to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.



Dobek was fired by the Pistons in May, just two months after Pistons CEO Tom Wilson, who had been with the franchise since the 1970s, resigned his position. Terry Foster of the Detroit News reported in May that Dobek did not receive a severance package due to being fired with cause amid rumors that information about the franchise's future was being leaked to prospective buyers. Dobek was reportedly escorted from the team's headquarters by security and was forced to turn in his company cell phone and car on the spot.



Longtime team owner Bill Davidson died in 2009, and his wife Karen made it immediately clear she would be selling the team. Wilson left the team to work for Mike Ilitch, for a time the apparent frontrunner to purchase the team.



Dobek had deep ties to late Pistons coach Chuck Daly, and served as the communications director for the initial Dream Team in 1992, a squad Daly coached.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Full story at http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/08/21/matt-dobek-longtime-pistons-pr-boss-dead-at-51/