Detroit Pistons big man Jalen Duren said he never considered wanting to leave the organization, even while the team endured its franchise-worst 2023/24 season.
Speaking with Marc J. Spears of Andscape, the player emphasized that loyalty has always guided his mindset and that he believed in the group despite the struggles.
“That’s not my character. That’s not me. I’m super loyal,” Duren told Spears. “I hang my hat on loyalty. I was raised on loyalty. These are my brothers, man. Honestly, I don’t just say that just because we’re all on the same team. I honestly love these guys.
“So, in my head, looking at it, I didn’t see a bad team. I was young. I knew we had pieces. We were just missing something. Experience would be the easy thing to say. We were just missing something. We were missing a lot, actually.
“But for me, I just never saw it as this is not going to work. I always knew that once we figured some things out, grabbed a couple pieces, established a culture, maybe we can be something.”
Duren has played 4 seasons for the Pistons. He has averaged 12.8 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 254 regular-season games.
Pistons Notes: Cunningham, Duren, Sasser, Huerter, Stewart, Jenkins https://t.co/NaoP3v4kBq pic.twitter.com/cM22Mw3kQF
— Hoops Rumors (@HoopsRumors) February 28, 2026
