Tensions lingered from the previous season, especially between coach Herb Brown and point guard Kevin Porter.
Before the season began, the two tried to make peace, with Porter stating, "This year when I'm yanked I'll accept it," and Brown replying, "I may have made some mistakes."
Forward Marvin "Bad News" Barnes would report to the Adult Correctional Institute in Cranston, Rhode Island in the 1977 off-season to serve a 152-day sentence.
An October 1976 gun incident at the Detroit airport in which Barnes tried to get a weapon through security was a probation violation,[3] causing the judge to require the completion of that initial sentence.
[4][5] Barnes was traded to the Buffalo Braves in November, bringing Gus Gerard and John Shumate to Detroit.