DETROIT — Businessman and former NBA great Dave Bing says he’s seriously considering running for mayor of Detroit because of scandals surrounding the incumbent and other problems in the city where he played during most of his Hall-of-Fame career.
Bing, 64, said Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s legal and image troubles, a federal probe into a sludge recycling contract, and Detroit’s underachieving public schools are hampering the financially strapped city’s ability to attract business, investment and people.
Reports of a physical confrontation last week involving Kilpatrick and a sheriff’s deputy who was trying to serve a subpoena on a mayoral ally only add to Detroit’s growing embarrassment, Bing said. State police are investigating the incident.
“It’s one more nail in the coffin,” Bing said Wednesday, adding that he’s “closer to saying yes” to running for mayor in 2009 and will decide by the end of the year.
Bing played in the NBA from 1966 to 1978. He played nine of his 12 seasons with the Detroit Pistons and was named one of the 50 top players in NBA history in 1996. He’s now chairman and CEO of the Detroit-based Bing Group, a $160 million-a-year metals company.
