Detroit Pistons to name Palace of Auburn Hills pressroom after former public relations VP, CMU alum

The Detroit Pistons announced on Wednesday the Palace of Auburn Hills pressroom will be named “The Matt Dobek Press Room” to honor the late public relations vice president.

Dobek, 51, worked with the Pistons and the Palace of Auburn Hills from 1981 to 2010 and was highly regarded around the National Basketball Association.

Among his accolades include being named the 1986 NBA Eastern Conference Outstanding Public Relations Director and assisting in media relations for the 1992 USA gold medal winning men’s basketball team.

“We feel it is important to honor his career in a meaningful way,” Palace Sports CEO Dennis Mannion said in a statement. “With the support of the Dobek family, naming the pressroom at The Palace as ‘The Matt Dobek Press Room’ is a lasting way to acknowledge his work.”

Dobek’s family will receive the Splaver/McHugh “Tribute of Excellence” Award from the NBA Public Relations Directors, which hands out the award annually to a current or former public relations official. Dobek won the award in 2010.

Dobek is a member of the Central Michigan University Journalism Hall of Fame and former sports editor at Central Michigan Life. He worked for the Pistons his entire career, after graduating in 1981, until he and three other co-workers were fired in 2010 for violating a confidentiality agreements in their contracts.

Dobek committed suicide shortly thereafter following a reported bout of depression.