Tom Hur shines positive light on Detroit. So what's with negativity?

There's a Detroit Pistons superfan who seemingly consumes 10,000 calories a day and teleports across the metro area faster than you can refresh your social media feed.

He has posed with your favorite athlete. Political and business leaders alike roll out the red carpet for his arrival. If you haven’t seen him, you’ve probably heard of him.

Tom Hur, known as @KoreaPistonsFan on X, is nearing the end of his vacation here. This is his fourth visit and longest yet – he arrived on Halloween and will depart Saturday, Nov. 14. He has been everywhere – including downtown Romeo, Oakland Mall, the intersection of Seven Mile and Gratiot in Detroit’s East Side and Blake’s Cider Mill.

The 33-year-old South Korean, who lives in Seoul and became a Pistons fan through former superstar Tracy McGrady’s brief stint with the team in 2010-11, has earned a strong following on social media as a passionate Detroit fan. He has been written about, including by yours truly for the Free Press last November.

The love has been real and widespread, but the reaction to the pageantry surrounding his tour has been more mixed.

Mayor Mary Sheffield publicly reached out to him on Instagram to connect. Pistons owner Tom Gores treated him to a shopping spree at the team store last fall.

The gifts he has received include customized merchandise from all four major professional sports teams in Detroit, a brand new Shinola watch and a brick – an actual brick – from the Palace of Auburn Hills, which was demolished in 2020.

Hur, who has used his platform to spread positivity, has done nothing wrong. But his reception – and the sheer volume of fanfare he has generated – has sparked debate about to whom doors are opened and closed, gifts are given or withheld, attention is lavishly doted upon or absent altogether. He’s moving through the city like a one-man parade, and some locals are feeling left out.

FLASHBACK: Detroit rolled out the red carpet for South Korean Pistons superfan

That’s not to say Sheffield, only a year into her mayorship, has ignored Detroit residents. Or that Gores, whose local investments include tens of millions of dollars into public parks, basketball courts and community recreation centers, hasn’t acknowledged the fans who have rooted for the Pistons for decades or built structures that allow young people to develop a relationship with basketball. The Pistons, too, regularly collaborate with local influencers and invite them to games and events.

It’s natural for residents to keep tabs on who their leaders cozy to, and where money is and isn’t flowing. In shining a light on the sheer size of the city and its diversity, Hur provided a window into the lives and culture of Detroiters, and the extent that communities can vary despite being separated by open borders.

And with that, Hur has become an unwitting lightning rod for issues that don’t concern him nor the local sports teams, but reflect the anxieties of the metro area.

A crucial part of Hur’s appeal is he does not discriminate – he has been to the whitest suburbs and the “hood” parts of the city, romped on a food tour through Dearborn and Southwest Detroit, dined in Madison Heights. Detroit is both diverse and segregated, and being an everyman opens the door for people to project their own frustrations or prejudices onto you.

Hur hasn’t been spared from conspiratorial speculation, either. In April, he published a lengthy post explaining he pays for the majority of his travel out-of-pocket and isn’t a “sleeper agent.”

He didn’t fly to Detroit for the first time in 2023 with the expectation he’d become a celebrity. As social media often causes things to, his visits have spiraled into something bigger.

But Hur isn’t popular just because he’s enthusiastic – there’s genuine journalistic curiosity behind his adventures and people enjoy being taken along for the ride. To follow Hur on social media is to be treated to an endless stream of discovery. He catalogues every stop. He wants to see every neighborhood. He has sampled every food that makes Detroit unique, be it pizza, corned beef, shawarma or Faygo.

He tailgated for the first time this past weekend before Michigan State’s football win over Michigan in Ann Arbor. He watched the Lions’ road win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday afternoon at Cosm Detroit, and was at Little Caesars Arena on Monday and Tuesday for the Pistons’ back-to-back home games against the Los Angeles Lakers and Washington Wizards. He had a beer Tuesday with MSU fans at a local bar as the men’s basketball team took down Duke.

Here’s the reality – Detroit is a cool city. There aren’t many places in the world that combine its food diversity, sports passion and density, historical architecture and welcoming locals. Many outsiders have discovered its joys. It is the place to be, even if there’s still work to be done to make it a city where its residents have equitable access to quality education, healthy food and reliable transportation.

Here’s another reality – Hur is an outlier. Detroit has long been portrayed in a negative light. I think some people don’t know what to do with an internet personality who has been unrelentingly positive about a city whose struggles have been well-documented. Hur called it the "greatest city in the world."

Hur says that despite dealing with some negativity, people have been excited to see him in real life and warm in their greetings.

Social media is real, but it’s also not. Bad things are amplified and good things often go unnoticed. People have noticed Hur. They appreciate his light in an online environment that often skews too dark.

The lesson, perhaps, is we can be better about sustaining the curiosity, positivity and respect toward one another after he departs.

Omari Sankofa II is in his seventh season as Pistons beat writer for the Detroit Free Press, and co-hosts the popular podcast, "The Pistons Pulse," streamed live each week on our YouTube page and available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify).

Contact Omari at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on X and/or Bluesky.