The 1988-89 NBA season was the Pistons' 41st season in the NBA and 32nd season in the Detroit metropolitan area. The Pistons moved from the Pontiac Silverdome to the brand-new Palace of Auburn Hills before the start of the season, which culminated in the Pistons' first NBA championship, sweeping the Lakers in four games in a rematch from last year's NBA Finals and avenging their NBA Finals loss.

The team's season roster is featured in the video games NBA 2K16 and NBA 2K17.

On February 15, 1989, the Pistons traded Adrian Dantley to the Dallas Mavericks for Mark Aguirre. Dantley was unhappy relegating the leadership role on the Pistons to Isiah Thomas, while Aguirre had clashed with his coaches and teammates in Dallas. Aguirre was more amenable to deferring to Thomas, and accepted his role in Chuck Daly's system. His ability to shoot the three, post up, run the floor, and pass was instrumental in the growth of the team.

After finishing with the best record in the NBA, the Pistons swept through the first two rounds of the playoffs. In the Eastern Conference finals, they faced the Chicago Bulls, whom they had defeated in the conference semifinals a year earlier. Although the Bulls were able to win two of the first three games, the Pistons' use of their "Jordan Rules" defense wore out Michael Jordan, setting up Detroit's second consecutive NBA Finals appearance against the Los Angeles Lakers.

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