Maybe it’s the statues that caught Andre Drummond’s eye last month, the Detroit Red Wings’ icons that rise up in Little Caesars Arena's spacious concourse.

Maybe it’s the 30-foot-high mural of Gordie Howe. Or the equally grand photo of Steve Yzerman, hoisting the Stanley Cup.

Maybe it’s all that Red Wing red, sheathing the 21,000 vinyl-clad seats, and the signage hawking beer and chicken, and the marquees that demarcate the sections.

Or maybe it’s that Little Caesars Arena started out as the home for a hockey team, from conception to the sketches to the bulldozing to the foundation, all meant to highlight the Winged Wheel.

Which it does.

And did Wednesday night, despite the Pistons opening their exhibition season against the Charlotte Hornets.

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Drummond was right when he said it felt like the home of the Wings a couple of weeks ago.

He didn't back down from that view after the Pistons lost to the Hornets,108-106.

Did it feel more like a basketball arena, I asked?

"I still feel the same way," said the Pistons' center. "But, I'm happy to be here, happy to play downtown, happy to have a new demographic of fans down here. I can't worry about the politics."

It's not politics as much as timing. The Pistons didn't work out a deal with the Wings until last November, long after construction had started. Still, it's striking how Wings-heavy the concourses and hallways outside the locker-rooms feel.

There, in the bowels, is the starkest contrast, where a wall of simple Pistons posters affixed to sterile concrete-block walls lead to their locker room.

By comparison, the Wings stroll past walls lit like a museum, an homage to their history, adjacent to a glass-enclosed restaurant and bar meant to welcome VIPs.

If it makes Drummond feel like his team is an afterthought well, I can't blame him. Especially from the views in the concourse, where all those statues and outsized murals and posters reside.

There are some Pistons photos, of course, including a 30-foot poster of Chauncey Billups, Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars. But it’s tucked high above the Southwest enntrance, and from several angles you have to strain to see it.

Over time, this should change, as the teams learn how to share the building. As for the basketball, in the arena’s bowl, it felt like an NBA arena.

Except for all those Red-Wing-red seats.

Everywhere else, including the court, the scoreboard, and the LED strips that ring the upper bowl, suggests Pistons, and hints at the spirit of the Palace.

"It's a great place," said Stan Van Gundy, the Pistons head coach. "It's exciting to be in this building."

There is no denying its sparkle. Nor its location. As Drummond noted, moving to Little Caesars Arena makes the team more accessible to a large part of its fanbase.

That was evident Wednesday night, when the seats and concourse were filled with as diverse a crowd as I've ever seen at a Pistons game.

It's hard to overstate what this means to the city, and what it should mean to our region.

Last month, when Drummond wondered why the Arena was so Red Wings-heavy, he unknowingly jumped into a debate most everyone feels but few want to openly talk about.

Which is: Can fan bases from largely separate parts of our metropolitan area, who carry different world views and politics, share the same seats?

Logistically, absolutely. It’s done in almost every other city that is home to an NBA and NHL franchise.

Spritually?

Well, we're going to have to get used to it. Despite complaints from some fans that didn't want to share an arena.

When Drummond spoke about the dominant hockey theme in the main sections of the arena last month, he wasn’t speaking specifically about the region’s demographics.

He was speaking about a sense of place, and how, when he looked around, he didn’t sense one for him and his team.

That should change as he gets used to playing in Little Caesars Arena, and the Pistons find a way to embellish their footprint in the place, so that their presence feels less like an afterthought.

As that footprint expands, and the team draws larger crowds – there were only a few thousand fans Wednesday night – the design and acoustics of Little Caesars Arena should make for noisy, throaty revelry, just as it once was in Auburn HIlls.

The truth is there is plenty of room for both teams and both sets of fan bases inside this new arena. A little more Pistons’ memorabilia and a few statues would help, and that should come in time.

For now, it’s about sharing -- and creating -- a new home. Physically, emotionally, and psychologically.

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