Dwane Casey, former head coach of the Detroit Pistons and current senior advisor to Basketball Operations, was a kid growing up in Morganfield, Kentucky, when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. Casey remembers that tragic day almost 57 years ago but also recalls King’s valiant fight for civil and social rights on behalf of African Americans before the civil rights icon lost his life.
“As a young boy, my family and I, along with many other African Americans, revered Dr. King,” Casey told the Michigan Chronicle in an exclusive interview. “I greatly respected Dr. King because he was someone who bravely fought bigotry and racism in the 1960s. He was a powerful voice for the voiceless.”
Casey recalls experiencing widespread segregation, bigotry, and racism while growing up in his small Kentucky town that had two stoplights. Yet, the lights always seemed to be green for activities involving the Ku Klux Klan and other entities in Morganfield promoting segregation, not integration.
“I started out attending an all-Black elementary school because we, as African Americans, were not allowed to go to school with White students at that time,” said Casey, adding schools in Morganfield were eventually integrated. “During those times in the 1960s, Dr. King was fighting to change Jim Crow laws. Before he was assassinated, Dr. King did everything in his power to change things for Black people. What he stood for and accomplished has inspired me.”
While segregation was prevalent throughout the South in the 1950s and ‘60s, young Casey discovered basketball and consistently worked to perfect his game. After graduating from Union County High School in 1975, where Casey was a standout guard, he was highly recruited by collegiate basketball teams across the country. Casey, however, chose to stay close to home, taking his talents to the University of Kentucky. He was one of the first Black basketball players to play for the Wildcats, even though the school’s legendary head coach, Adolph Rupp, once vowed that African Americans would never play basketball for Kentucky. Rupp had retired when Casey suited up for the Wildcats in the mid-1970s.
At Kentucky, Casey was determined to make a difference with his game while becoming a positive example for other African American players to follow him to Kentucky. While Casey had mentors and people of influence in his life – including his parents and grandparents – the work and philosophy of King resonated with the trailblazing Kentucky basketball star and student, who, in 1979, earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Before leaving Kentucky, he led his team to an NCAA Tournament National Championship in 1978, and in 1979, he was selected to Kentucky’s All-Academic Team. In his senior year, Casey was chosen as the team’s captain, which was “rare air” for an African American basketball player at the University of Kentucky in the 1970s.
“As I look back, I’m proud to have represented the African American community by going to the University of Kentucky and being among the first change agents for the basketball team at that time,” Casey told the Chronicle. “While there, I tried to carry myself to be positive, a good student, a good citizen, and a role model for other young Black kids who wanted to play basketball at Kentucky, which wasn’t a common occurrence at the time.”
Since playing at Kentucky, Casey has expanded his impressive basketball portfolio. He has coached on the college level, in the Japanese Basketball League, and in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Casey’s NBA credentials have included being hired by the Seattle SuperSonics (assistant coach), Minnesota Timberwolves (head coach), Dallas Mavericks (assistant coach), Toronto Raptors (head coach), and Detroit Pistons (head coach from 2018 – 2023). As an assistant coach with the Mavericks, Casey won an NBA championship in 2011. In 2018, Casey won the coveted “NBA Coach of the Year” honors with the Toronto Raptors.
In April 2023, Casey resigned as head coach of the Pistons and moved into a front office position as senior advisor to Basketball Operations.
Whether an NBA coach or an executive, Casey’s willingness to address social justice issues is part of his DNA. In 2020, following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver asked Casey to help create the National Basketball Social Justice Coalition, an advocacy group comprised of NBA players, team owners, coaches, and other executives from the National Basketball Association and National Basketball Players Association. The organization’s agenda was – and still is – to advocate for reform in community safety, criminal justice, voting rights, and other areas impacting African Americans and other minorities across the United States.
In addition to being a significant contributor to the formation of the Coalition, Casey is a former board member of the advocacy organization. Current board members, according to the Coalition’s website, include J.B. Bickerstaff (Detroit Pistons head coach), Jrue Holiday (Boston Celtics guard), Andre Iguodala (NBPA Executive Director, played in the NBA for 19 seasons), Adam Silver (NBA Commissioner), and Karl-Anthony Towns (New York Knicks center).
“It was a great move by Commissioner Silver to form the Coalition,” Casey said. “For me, the Coalition was an eye-opening experience to see and hear how NBA players, coaches, and owners felt about taking on social change issues in our communities.”
Shortly after arriving in Detroit as the Pistons’ new head coach in June 2018, Casey quickly facilitated ways to empower local underserved people and communities. He advocated the importance of people registering and turning out to vote. Casey also advocated for Detroiters who have certain types of convictions on their records to have them expunged through initiatives like Project Clean Slate. According to Casey, such expungements will open an array of opportunities for Detroiters, particularly related to employment. Casey has also been significantly involved in community initiatives started by the Pistons and their owner, Tom Gores.
Casey said he is thankful to have worked for NBA teams, like the Toronto Raptors and Detroit Pistons, where the owners support community empowerment and the voices of social reasoning.
In 2016, as head coach of the Toronto Raptors, Casey and the team supported NFL’s San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s silent protest when the National Anthem was played before NFL games. At the first NBA pre-season game in Vancouver, Canada, in 2016, between the Raptors and Golden State Warriors, Casey and his team locked arms when the National Anthem was played in support of Kaepernick. Casey and the Raptors were the first NBA team to demonstrate solidarity with Kaepernick’s silent protest publicly.
“I’m a firm believer that players, as well as coaches, have a right and platform to speak out on what they feel they need to speak out on, as long as they are fully informed,” Casey said. “If they are right or wrong, they have a right to speak out peacefully.”
On October 12, 2019, Casey, in his second year as Pistons head coach, gave a riveting speech at the Amherstburg Freedom Museum, located 17 miles from downtown Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The museum invited him to kick off its Freedom Achievers Program’s Speaker Series. Casey spoke candidly about overcoming racial issues and obstacles to achieve success.
On Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day), the NBA will commemorate the life, times, and legacy of King. The League has honored King on his federal holiday since 1986 in ways to benefit underserved communities. On this year’s MLK Day, the NBA will play eight games, including the Pistons’ matchup with the Houston Rockets in Texas.
“We will always honor Dr. King and his civil rights legacy,” said Casey. “We all owe a lot to him and what he stood for in the fight for civil and social rights and justice for African Americans and other minorities.”
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