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Ex-NBA Baller is New Detroit Mayor

A retired NBA star was elected to run the Motor City Tuesday, formally replacing the disgraced Kwame Kilpatrick.

Former Detroit Pistons guard Dave Bing nudged rival Ken Cockrel Jr., to become Detroit’s mayor.

Cockrel’s dad served with Detroit City Council and represented controversial court cases in the 1970s, and he became interim mayor after Kilpatrick's resignation last year.

Kilpatrick was convicted of obstructing justice after it was revealed that he and his chief of staff covered up a plot to illegally discipline police officers. The cops' investigation into mayoral security costs threatened to expose Kilpatrick's extra-marital affair with the chief of staff, Christine Beatty. Both served jail time, moving Cockrel Jr. into the mayor's spot from his City Council president post last fall.

Bing, a prominent businessman, launched a campaign challenging Cockrel to lead the city for the remainder of what would have been Kilpatrick's second term. Bing will serve as mayor until late 2009 when a new vote is held to decide who leads Detroit for the next four years.

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