Brian McCollumDetroit Free Press
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Just minutes after Ron Holland became the fifth pick in June’s NBA draft, the sports world learned there was something unique about the teenage Detroit Pistons rookie: He was an old soul with a deep love of classic R&B music.
And for someone headed to Motown to launch an NBA career, there couldn't have been a better fit.
Holland, 19, has joined the Pistons after a decorated Texas high school career that included multiple state championships and McDonald’s All-American status. Crucial to that success, he says, has been the calm focus he gets from listening to vintage Motown songs.
Two days before the Pistons’ season opener Wednesday at Little Caesars Arena, Holland left the team’s Midtown practice facility, headed down West Grand Boulevard and made his first visit to one of Detroit’s most cherished sites: Hitsville, U.S.A., now home to the Motown Museum.
It's the place where Berry Gordy once nurtured the musical dreams of homegrown artists, many of them about Holland’s age. They were youngsters who went on to become some of the most iconic names in American music — and for Holland decades later, a core part of his household soundtrack growing up.
“To be here right now is a real moment for me,” Holland said as he moved his 6-foot-8 frame down Motown’s entry hallway, where a wall is lined with photos of many of his personal favorites, including the Temptations and Stevie Wonder.
He had come to get a personal tour from museum head Robin Terry, the great-niece of Gordy and granddaughter of the late Esther Gordy Edwards, who founded the museum in the mid-’80s to celebrate the place that birthed the Supremes, Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and so many more.
More: Motown Museum photos reveal celebrity pilgrimages to revered Detroit attraction
Terry told the NBA teenager how Gordy had started his record company in this small house before expanding it to eight properties along the boulevard. In 1968, with a growing empire on his hands, Gordy moved his headquarters to an office tower at 2645 Woodward Ave., where the Pistons’ home court, Little Caesars Arena, sits today.
Holland soon headed downstairs to the cozy, historic Studio A, the famed Snakepit “where all the magic was made,” as Terry told him.
The Pistons player took in a black-and-white Temptations photo shot decades ago in this very space, then broke into a surprised grin when Terry pointed out he was standing in front of the same coat hanger pictured just behind Tempts vocalist David Ruffin.
“That’s crazy,” said Holland, whipping out his cellphone to capture a selfie on the spot.
His Motown tour wasn’t just about the classic music.
“I was here for 10 minutes and two life lessons were taught,” Holland said after his visit.
Terry had spelled out some of the guiding principles in the Motown philosophy.
One was the reigning Berry Gordy maxim: "Competition breeds champions." Motown was a community driven by a quest for excellence, Terry explained — which meant songwriters, producers and artists battling for success.
“These guys were in this together, but at the same time, they were competing, and that’s one thing they had to stick with. They made each other better every single day,” Holland said, absorbing Terry's history lesson. “It relates to basketball. We are a group of guys together as a family. We’re still competing for a spot, still competing for minutes, but we’ve got to do it as one.”
Holland was also captivated by the Gordy business intuition that “logic is boss.” Terry detailed the principle to the young basketball star:
“As an athlete, you’ll make money, you’ll sign contracts, you’ll do all those things. And you’ll hire other people in your sphere to support you, to understand those things for you, and translate,” she told him. “But if it’s not logical to you, if they can’t make it logical — logic is boss — then don’t do it.”
The Pistons rookie, who played saxophone and drums growing up, eyed a piece of “My Girl” sheet music displayed in the studio.
“If I was back in middle school, I could probably play this,” he said.
In a league where fashion styles and locker room playlists are typically fueled by hip-hop, Holland’s embrace of Motown stands out.
And for the Pistons, it’s a timely marketing win: Since 2020, the organization has ramped up its Detroit music initiatives, including the recruitment of rapper Big Sean as creative innovation director and the launch of retail collaborations with Motown Records and the J Dilla estate.
“We want to tell the music stories that are important to Detroit,” Bilal Saeed, the Pistons' vice president of brand and marketing strategy, told the Free Press last year. “And to do that, you’ve got to start with Motown.”
Holland said he has incorporated old-school music into his workouts and the rhythms of his on-court game. And it all started in his childhood home outside Dallas, where he and his older sister were introduced to Motown by their mother and father — who had inherited it from their own parents.
Dad Ron Holland Sr. said it’s a long family tradition to fill the house with music to brighten the daily rituals of cooking and cleaning.
“Music soothes the soul, and that was always the biggest thing for me,” Holland Sr. said. “We figured out that all the music we were listening to originated out of Detroit.”
It’s a passion embraced by his son, who said he seeks out music to chill and “be at peace with life.” The Pistons rookie is open-minded when it comes to sounds, but he’s drawn to the warm, melodic, positive vibes that come with Motown.
“I think it’s important because it says a lot about your character,” Holland said. “What you listen to day by day kind of shows where your head is at mentally.”
A busy inaugural season with the Pistons is now underway. But Holland is already plotting his next trip to the Motown Museum — and this time, he plans to bring the parents who inspired him down this musical path.
“Now that I’m here, I definitely want to get my family over here because they’re into the old-school music just like me,” he said in Studio A. “They’re the ones who put me on it, so I can’t wait for them to see it and get this vibe. Because we’re standing in the room where it all started.”
Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.
