From 'Down Under to Detroit: Social media star Pistons Jack comes to the 313 for favorite team
Meet Pistons Jack: Australia's biggest fan comes to the 313
Social media influencer and YouTube streamer Pistons Jack came to Detroit after following the team for years.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - Say hi to Pistons Jack. He's the biggest Detroit Pistons fan in the country. There's no argument - because the country is Australia.
Rob Wolchek: "Do you think you're bringing good luck to the Pistons?"
"You know what? I think I am," quipped Jack.
The team is on an eight-game winning streak and Pistons Jack is on his first trip to The Motor City to see the team he's been cheering on for a dozen years from Down Under.
"It's been tough," he said. "There hasn't been a whole heap to cheer about but the Pistons are very special to me in a different way so no matter what - win, lose or draw, I'll watch every game."
This 29-year-old from Melbourne isn't a fair weather fan, he's a fair dinkum fan (An Australian expression of approval, meaning something is genuine or excellent).
"A lot of people are bandwagon fans. They like to come on when the team is good, but Jack was there and sticking with us through all of that," said AJ, the Pistons Brand Manager. "And those were the things that really stuck out to our organization."
AJ discovered this Aussie influencer the same way Wolchek did, we'll get to that in a minute.
The backstory:
First, here's the story - it all started with Andre Drummond.
"I just liked the way he played," Jack said. "He put up these huge stat lines and it made me feel good."
In 2013, Jack's parents got cable, where he was able to see NBA basketball. He loved it, it was nothing like the cricket or footie he was used to watching, and he loved one guy in particular - Andre Drummond.
"When I was in my early teens, if I was feeling anxious, weird or sad about certain things, being able to turn on (NBA) League Pass, watch Andre play," he said. "For that two and a half, three hours, I'm just the happiest person."
It was 'Pistons therapy'; you might say.
Jack never missed a game, even though Melbourne is 16 time zones ahead of us. So he might be up at 4 a.m. on an Australian Sunday watching a game that's live in Detroit Saturday afternoon.
A few years ago, Jack started live tweeting the games. Wolchek started reading and responding to those those tweets himself, never imaging the superfan was actually a Millennial a half-a world away.
But Jack never imagined what would happen next.
"My background before this was construction," he said.
Tired of running a jackhammer, Jack decided to turn his Pistons passion into his profession.
"I kind of realized this is what I want to do," he said. "I want to make Pistons content full-time."
He launched his brand, Pistons Jack. His family and friends thought he was bonkers.
"When they find out I do Pistons content, they always kind of know who the team is but (ask) 'Why the Pistons?' For the last 10 or 12 years they've been on the bottom, but like I said, the Pistons are everything to me," he said.
Jack turned to the only broadcaster he knew for some tips, his follower Rob Wolchek. That's when he found out Jack was from Australia.
Now Rob appreciated Jack even more, because Wolchek loves Australia, having traveled there in 2012 in Sydney with his family.
The Wolchek family loves the Pistons as well, they even had a dog named Chauncey. (RIP Chauncey Dog 2006-2019)
A few months ago, Pistons Jack posted on X, formerly Twitter, that the team invited him to Detroit.
"For complimentary flights and accommodation, oh my God," he said, reading a post from the team.
And Monday night he went to his first game at Little Caesars' Arena - a win over the Hawks and it was special for many reasons.
Jack got a chest bump from "Beef Stew" - Isaiah Stewart, and All-Star Cade Cunningham picked Jack out of the crowd.
"Cade's the last person I would ever expect to know what I do," Jack said.
Pistons Jack is famous.
"He goes 'I love your content. Keep doing your thing,'" Jack said. "And he said 'I'm going to sign this jersey and get it brought back out to you.' And that was just a crazy moment, really special. He was just so genuine, that's the thing that took me back. He was smiling, and that was just a really nice moment."
And count AJ as a fan of Jack, too.
"His content is great. It's not just some mediocre ... you can really feel the amount of love and passion that he has," he said.
Wolchek took Jack for an authentic Detroit Coney experience - involving American Coney Island.
For more, watch the video above.
To follow Pistons Jack on X, CLICK HERE
To follow Pistons Jack on YouTube CLICK HERE.
The Source: Information for this report came from an interview with Pistons Jack and Aaron Michael Johnson of the Pistons organization.
