{"id":640470,"date":"2026-05-13T11:23:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T11:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/640470\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T11:23:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T11:23:10","slug":"the-story-behind-gmac-pistons-won-again-now-an-nba-playoff-anthem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/640470\/","title":{"rendered":"The story behind Gmac \u2018Pistons Won Again,\u2019 now an NBA playoff anthem"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Detroit, among Pistons fans, there are few things as iconic as the mask. So when Richard \u201cRip\u201d Hamilton walked through the doors of Ronald Brown Academy, an elementary school in the metro area, he left an impression.<\/p>\n

It was the early 2000s, during the peak of Hamilton\u2019s career with the Pistons. Hamilton was known for wearing a plastic protective mask on his face during games to shield his nose, which had already been broken three times. He brought the mask to show students at the Pre-K to Grade 8 school. Some even got to try it on.<\/p>\n

Little did he know one of those young students, a 10-year-old boy, would make his own mark with the Pistons some two decades later.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought that was dope,\u201d said Gerald Allen, now 33, of Hamilton\u2019s visit to his school as a youngster.<\/p>\n

Allen is better known as rapper Gmac Cash. His \u201cPistons Won Again\u201d song<\/a> has become the anthem for the most successful Pistons team since Hamilton\u2019s era.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not uncommon to see fans at Little Caesars Arena dance to his song after wins. And there\u2019s no question which song the Pistons\u2019 social media team will play over its celebratory videos. The song is so popular even Pistons players tell the social media admin to \u201cplay the song!\u201d<\/p>\n

Allen has done his best to chronicle the good, bad and hilarious of Detroit through his music for years. He\u2019s written songs about potholes, mosquitoes and the Detroit sign<\/a> along Interstate 94 near the airport.<\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s a niche skit only locals will understand or a celebration song for Detroit\u2019s sports teams, Allen has had a hand in uniquely representing the city that raised him. To some degree, he feels it\u2019s a special responsibility to shine a positive light on Detroit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was my goal, because Detroit has been represented for the drugs and violence for so long,\u201d Allen told The Athletic. \u201cEven though I come from that, I didn\u2019t want to represent that. We have a lot of other things going on in the city that need to be talked about versus what 1,000 other guys are talking about. I put it in my brain to switch a lane and go a different way, but still bring that Detroit style and swagger with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s when I started rapping about stuff going on in Detroit \u2014 like the giant slide, the weather, the Detroit sign. Then I started doing sports teams, and it was a blessing after that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allen recorded the song in January of 2025, after his \u201cTigers Won Again\u201d and \u201cLions Won Again\u201d songs, and the Pistons\u2019 social media team quickly took notice.<\/p>\n

Grace Andreski, the Pistons\u2019 social media manager, first used Allen\u2019s song on one of the team\u2019s postgame videos in January 2025. Cade Cunningham had just dropped 36 points on the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden to guide Detroit to its 21st win of the 2024-25 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took maybe four or five games for it to catch on,\u201d said Andreski. \u201cThe fans liked it, the players walking through started to say, \u2018Sing the song.\u2019 So it kind of just grew from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Daniss Jenkins and Cade Cunningham celebrate a basket against the Orlando Magic during the Pistons\u2019 Game 7 victory. (Nic Antaya \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

After every Detroit win, Allen\u2019s song will be on the social media videos and blasting over the in-arena speakers. Each time he sees his song on the Pistons\u2019 account or has a fan recognize him for it, it validates his journey to this point.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s cool seeing all the hard work you put in, all the days you don\u2019t feel like working actually paying off,\u201d Allen said. \u201cIt\u2019s good to see that Detroit is rocking with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

As appreciative as he is to work with the Lions and Tigers, Allen, as a former hooper, made sure to note the Pistons\u2019 collaboration holds a special place in his heart. His family, and uncles in particular, have been Pistons fans since the franchise won its first two NBA titles in 1989 and 1990.<\/p>\n

They passed the passion down to Allen, who experienced his first championship parade in 2004 when Detroit upset the Los Angeles Lakers. Allen\u2019s memory from that experience is so vivid he still remembers the shirts he and his family were wearing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went down there, we had the \u2018Got Ben\u2019 shirts, the \u2018Got Rip\u2019 shirts \u2013 all of them,\u201d Allen said.<\/p>\n

Now, a year and a few months removed from the original video Andreski posted, Allen\u2019s song has become a staple after Pistons wins. And Allen, being just about as Detroit as anyone can get, made the marriage between the song and team even more organic.<\/p>\n

Just ask Nathan Brecht, the Pistons\u2019 director of game presentation. You can find him at the scorer\u2019s table for every home game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the secret sauce we were looking for,\u201d Brecht told The Athletic. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to represent the city the best way we possibly can, and also represent our team the best we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allen takes pride in his song becoming an anthem for his favorite team over its most successful stretch of basketball since Hamilton visited his school when he was just a kid. He even got to perform it after Detroit beat the Memphis Grizzlies on 313 Day. Those moments further legitimize the hours of work he\u2019s put into his craft.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll never take it for granted, man,\u201d Allen said. \u201cHaving your song playing in an arena, there\u2019s so many people who will never get the chance to experience that.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut to experience it and see it every other day with us winning so much, it\u2019s a blessing, man.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In Detroit, among Pistons fans, there are few things as iconic as the mask. So when Richard \u201cRip\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":640471,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[4576,355,99],"class_list":["post-640470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-detroit-pistons","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/640471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}