David Bing (born November 24, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player, businessman, and politician who served as the 74th mayor of Detroit, Michigan, from 2009 to 2014. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

After playing college basketball at Syracuse University, Bing played 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a point guard for the Detroit Pistons (1966–1975), Washington Bullets (1975–1977), and Boston Celtics (1977–1978). During his career, he averaged more than 20 points and six assists per game. He appeared in seven NBA All-Star Games and won the Most Valuable Player award in 1976. The Detroit Pistons honored his achievements by retiring his number 21 jersey. He was also inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and named to the NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team and the NBA 75th Anniversary All-Time Team.

Bing started a company called Bing Steel, which earned him the National Minority Small Business Person of the Year award in 1984. Over time, the business expanded into the Bing Group, a large company based in Detroit and one of the biggest steel companies in Michigan.

Bing entered Detroit politics as a Democrat in 2008, running for mayor to complete the term of Kwame Kilpatrick, who had resigned due to a corruption scandal. After winning the primary election, Bing defeated Interim Mayor Kenneth Cockrel Jr. and became mayor in May 2009. He was re-elected to a full term later that year. In 2013, most of his power as mayor was transferred to Detroit’s emergency manager, Kevyn Orr. Due to health issues and low approval ratings, Bing did not run for re-election in 2013. He was replaced as mayor by Mike Duggan, a politician and businessman.

Early life

Bing was born on November 24, 1943, in Washington, D.C. His mother, Juanita, worked as a housekeeper, and his father, Hasker, was a bricklayer and a deacon at the local Baptist church. He was the second of four children living in a two-bedroom, one-story house in the northeast part of town. As a child, Bing earned the nickname "Duke" from his father because he always wanted to be the best. At age five, Bing suffered a serious eye injury while playing with a homemade horse made from two sticks nailed together. He tripped and accidentally poked his left eye with a rusty nail. His family could not afford emergency surgery, so his eye healed on its own, which made his vision worse. During Bing’s childhood, his father also had a severe head injury when a brick fell four stories onto his head while working at a construction site, causing a blood clot in his brain. This event made young Bing promise he would never work in construction.

In sports, Bing played basketball, but older children often said he was too small for the game. However, he played well and competed against older and bigger children, including future Motown musician Marvin Gaye. After not performing well on the court, Gaye chose to sing on the sidelines instead. Bing and Gaye became friends, and this friendship lasted into later years. Although he played basketball, Bing was a fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers and Jackie Robinson and focused mainly on baseball, the neighborhood’s favorite game.

Despite his poor vision, Bing did well in baseball at Spingarn High School, where he enrolled in 1958. However, the school’s basketball coach, William Roundtree, encouraged him to return to basketball. Roundtree became a fatherly figure to Bing, who decided to join the team. Bing became a player who scored double-digit points each game, known for his jump shot and ability to drive to the basket. He also continued playing baseball until his senior year but had to choose between baseball and basketball when a scheduling conflict between two tournaments happened. Even though he thought he was better at baseball, Bing chose basketball because he believed it gave him a better chance at a full-ride college scholarship, knowing the path taken by Los Angeles Lakers forward Elgin Baylor, a Spingarn alum. At the tournament, Bing led his team to victory and earned MVP honors. In high school, Bing was a three-year letter winner, a member of all–Inter High, all-Metro, and all-East teams. In 1962, he was featured in Parade magazine and made the All-American Team.

College career

Bing went to Syracuse University, where he lived in the same dorm room as Jim Boeheim. He wore a No. 22 jersey in college, the same number he wore in high school, as a tribute to Elgin Baylor. Bing watched Baylor play on a playground in Washington, D.C., when he was a boy in 1957. As a sophomore in 1964, Bing led the Orangemen in scoring with an average of 22.2 points per game. In 1965, as a junior, he averaged 23.2 points per game. In 1966, as a senior, he averaged 28.4 points per game. During his senior year, Bing was fifth in the nation in scoring and became Syracuse's first consensus All-American in 39 years. He was also named to The Sporting News All-America First Team and received the Syracuse Athlete of the Year award.

Over three seasons at Syracuse, Bing played in 76 games, scoring a total of 1,883 points and grabbing 786 rebounds. His average per game was 24.8 points and 10.3 rebounds.

While at Syracuse, Bing met Joe Biden, who was a law school student. Biden later became a U.S. senator, vice president, and president of the United States.

Professional career

Bing's playing style was different from other players during his time. He was a fast, athletic point guard who passed the ball to teammates but also scored more points than most players in his position. Once, people joked that it was a shame he and his teammate, Jimmy Walker, could not play with two balls at the same time.

Bing was chosen second overall in the 1966 NBA draft by the Detroit Pistons. He wore number 21 because the team's player-coach, Dave DeBusschere, already wore number 22. During his rookie season, Bing scored 1,601 points (20.0 points per game), won the 1967 NBA Rookie of the Year Award, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. The next year, he led the NBA in scoring with 2,142 points (27.1 points per game).

On November 23, 1968, Bing had a triple-double, scoring 39 points, grabbing 16 rebounds, and making 10 assists in a game the Pistons lost 127–128 to the Baltimore Bullets.

Bing missed 2½ months of the 1971–72 season due to a serious eye injury from a preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers. He played in only 45 games that season. While with the Pistons, he played in six NBA All-Star Games (1968, 1969, 1971, 1973–1975) and was named to the All-NBA First Team in 1968 and 1971.

After leaving the Pistons, Bing played for the Washington Bullets for two seasons. He was named an NBA All-Star in 1976 and won the game's MVP Award that year.

Bing's final season was with the Boston Celtics, where he averaged 13.6 points per game. He retired after the 1977–1978 season.

Over his 12-season NBA career, Bing averaged 20.3 points, 6.0 assists, and 3.8 rebounds per game in 901 games. He scored 18,327 points and made 5,397 assists.

National Basketball Retired Players Association

In 1992, Bing helped start the National Basketball Retired Players Association. In 2024, he still serves on its board of directors.

Business career

At age 22, Bing had an NBA contract worth $15,000. When he tried to get a mortgage from the National Bank of Detroit to buy a home, the bank refused. This led Bing to work at the bank during the offseason in roles such as teller, customer relations, and mortgage departments.

After retiring from the NBA, Bing worked at a warehouse for Paragon Steel, a steel processing company, and earned $35,000. He left the company after two years, having worked in the shipping and sales departments.

In 1980, Bing started a company called Bing Steel with four employees. He used $250,000 in loans and $80,000 of his own money to rent a warehouse. Within six months, he lost all his money. To recover, the company stopped making steel and instead focused on acting as a middleman. With General Motors as its first major client, the company made a profit in its second year, earning $4.2 million in revenue. By 1984, Bing was honored by President Ronald Reagan with the National Minority Small Business Person of the Year award. By 1985, Bing Steel had grown to two plants with 63 employees and reported $40 million in revenue. The company’s assets were sold in 2009.

Bing Steel later became the Bing Group, a company with multiple businesses based in Detroit’s North End. The company supplies metal stampings to the automobile industry.

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

Early political involvement and activism

Bing was an early political supporter of Kwame Kilpatrick. However, Bing was one of the first business leaders in Michigan to ask Kilpatrick to resign as mayor of Detroit when serious problems arose during Kilpatrick's second term. Kilpatrick eventually resigned as mayor in September 2008.

Bing led Detroit's effort to gain the chance to host the 2004 Democratic National Convention. In November 2002, Detroit lost to Boston. A problem with Detroit's bid was its smaller number of hotel rooms compared to other cities competing for the 2004 convention.

In January 2009, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Bing received the National Civil Rights Museum Sports Legacy Award. The award honors Martin Luther King Jr.'s work as a leader of the civil rights movement by recognizing athletes who have made important contributions to civil and human rights and who helped create opportunities for future leaders in sports. The award was to be given during the halftime of a game between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Detroit Pistons in Memphis, Tennessee.

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

Mayoralty

On October 16, 2008, Bing announced he would run for mayor of Detroit in the 2009 special election to complete the term of Kwame Kilpatrick, who had resigned after reaching a legal agreement to avoid being charged with perjury. Bing came first in a primary election with 15 candidates on February 24, 2009. On May 5, 2009, Bing was elected mayor with 52.3% of the vote, defeating interim mayor Kenneth Cockrel Jr., who received 47.7%. Bing had moved to live in the city only shortly before running for mayor, having previously lived in Franklin, Michigan.

Bing was reelected to a full term on November 3, 2009. His full-term inauguration took place at the Fox Theatre.

Compared to his predecessor, Kwame Kilpatrick, Bing chose to be less visible as mayor and avoided many benefits and privileges usually given to the mayor. He also did not accept a salary during his first year as mayor. Bing did not avoid making decisions that some people disagreed with.

When Bing became mayor, Detroit faced serious economic and financial problems. The city had a $30 million budget deficit and a total debt of $332 million, including over $15 million in long-term obligations. Financial issues continued during Bing’s time as mayor, with budget deficits increasing in many years. However, by the time he left office, the city’s deficit had decreased by $7 million from when he first took office.

Because the automotive industry was important to Detroit, Bing participated in discussions about the 2009 auto industry financial aid program. These discussions also included Vice President Joe Biden, whom Bing had met while they were students at Syracuse University.

In 2011, Bing suggested reducing funding for City Council staff by $4 million and increasing hiring for the fire department. Later that year, Bing vetoed a budget passed by the City Council, saying the cuts were too extreme and might harm police and fire services. The City Council’s budget included $50 million more in cuts than Bing’s original plan. Bing’s proposed budget was for $3.1 billion in spending. The City Council overruled the veto in an 8–1 vote. The 2012 budget reduced fire department funding by 20%, which some said made it harder for the city to respond to fires, including arson. In mid-2012, the fire department announced 164 layoffs. In 2013, Bing proposed a $1 billion budget, a $300 million decrease from the previous year’s budget.

By the time Bing was reelected, he had fired more than 400 city workers and ended 16 of 51 union contracts. Unions protested during his time as mayor. By the end of his term, Bing had eliminated 1,000 city government jobs, a 9% reduction in the city’s workforce. Many employees faced lower pay, fewer benefits, and temporary unpaid leave. Bing also outsourced many city government roles. The public health department was replaced by a public-private partnership called the Institution for Population Health. The workforce-development department was replaced by a nonprofit organization called Detroit Employment Solutions. Payroll and benefits management for city workers was also outsourced.

During Bing’s time as mayor, Detroit saw new private development. This included new small businesses, $198 million in investment by Chrysler in its Mack Avenue Engine Plant (which created 250 jobs), and major downtown development by businessman Dan Gilbert.

Bing proposed plans to demolish neighborhoods and reduce city services. He talked about moving people from less populated areas to more densely populated parts of the city, even using legal methods like eminent domain. This idea was controversial. Bing also tried to encourage people to move from empty neighborhoods by offering grants to repair foreclosed homes. He required police officers to pay only $1,000 to qualify for these grants.

Bing started the Detroit Works Project (later renamed Detroit Future City), a plan to create a 50-year vision for the city’s future. The project aimed to involve the community in solving city problems. However, the process faced controversy when Bing announced plans to move people from certain neighborhoods. Public anger threatened the project’s success.

Bing worked to fix the city’s broken streetlights, which were a major problem. In 2012, he convinced the state legislature and governor to create the Public Lighting Authority of Detroit and use tax revenue to fund $185 million in bonds for repairs. Bing appointed a board to manage the project, which signed a contract with DTE Energy to fix the lights. However, the work did not start until after Bing left office. His successor, Mike Duggan, continued the effort and achieved success. Bing did not receive much public credit for this work because it happened after he left office.

During Bing’s time as mayor, the Detroit Police Department faced challenges. The city had four different police chiefs in less than five years. One police chief, Warren Evans, was fired, possibly because of a police raid that led to the death of Aiyana Jones and because of his involvement in reality television. Despite a national trend of decreasing crime, Detroit saw its homicide rate reach a 20-year high in 2012.

Early in his mayoralty, Bing began renovating Cobo Center, the city’s main convention center. The work was managed by a new cooperative governing authority.

Bing created the Active and Safe Campaign, a public-private partnership to raise money for public safety and recreation programs.

Bing proposed reducing city bus service on Sundays, but the plan was never carried out.

On March 1, 2013, Governor Rick Snyder announced he would appoint an emergency manager for Detroit due to the city’s financial problems, making Detroit the first city in the United States to do so.

Later activities

In 2014, Bing started the Bing Youth Initiative, a nonprofit organization that aimed to help underprivileged young African American men in Detroit by providing academic support and services to improve behavior and social well-being.

In August 2023, Bing supported Elissa Slotkin's campaign for the 2024 U.S. Senate election in Michigan.

Personal life

Bing is the godfather of Jalen Rose. In 2020, Bing published his autobiography titled "Attacking the Rim."

Honors

• Received the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 1977
• Added to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1990
• Recognized as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996
• Added to the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006
• Selected for the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021
• Added to the Syracuse Orange Ring of Honor in 2024