Friday, Oct. 1, 1999 | 10:35 a.m.
Detroit Pistons center Bison Dele has told the team that he plans to retire, although his agent said the decision could change after Dele returns from a trip in less than two weeks.
Dele, a 6-foot-11 center who formerly was known as Brian Williams and starred at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, was about to begin his third season in Detroit. He stands to walk away from about $30 million, with five years left on a contract that called for him to receive $45 million for seven seasons. He was the team's highest-paid player.
"He's going through an epiphanal moment in his life," agent Dwight Manley said Thursday night. "We'll sit down with the team when he gets back and we'll discuss everything."
Dele, 30, told the Pistons of his intentions this week and has resisted management's efforts to persuade him to return, The Detroit News, the Detroit Free Press and The Oakland Press of Pontiac reported in today's editions.
"He told me that he was tired and his heart was not in it," said Joe Dumars, Pistons director of player of personnel. "He said he did not have the motivation to keep on playing."
Manley told The Associated Press that Dele was in the Middle East and could not be reached for comment. Pistons spokesman J.J. Carter said he did not know of Dele's plans.
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